I don't really like myself without you
He did not come this way because he saw her. At first, he did not see anyone, but suddenly her red skull was placed in front of him. He wasn't quite sure where she had come from, another ghost from his past, but he defiantly didn't think she was real. Everything told him she was, though. Her scent fills his nose as the flashbacks flutter over his blue eyes. Father pushed her close, both of them much young than they were now, and told him this mare would one day be his Queen. At the time his mind was still dead set on Xiomara. He had been so foolish back then to not see it. Xiomara was never his no matter how much he tried or what he did to prove himself to her. If only he could have been smart back then. His other relationships wouldn't have crumbled as this betrothal did because of his obsession. Someone like this red mare might have been given the time of day.
Father had picked for her a reason unknown to him. He knew his father always had his special reasons for pushing his family towards certain mates, but they usually weren't out of the interest of his children. There were his own motives he was after. Perhaps things might have been different with Firestorm. Ironclad was supposed to take over the legacy with Letavice so having Firestorm at his side may have been a power move his father was predicting for the future. She may have become the ultimate mate and Queen for him. Maybe she would have pushed him in his training...maybe he wouldn't have failed. boy-king, he snorts. "I am no longer a boy or a King," he spits at her hooves. The disgust in the grey stallion would surprise his old friends. Not that Firestorm stuck around long enough to know much about him, but if Medusa ever found him again...she would hit him for sure.
Honestly, he hated saying those words. The fact that he hasn't been a King for years was still something hard to explain. There were too many details to tell to explain what lead to his ultimate failure. "I'm surprised you even remember me," he scowls. "The years have changed everything about me to the very look in my eyes. You, however, look just as fiery as ever." He does remember how much she struggled against Warsaw. She fought every step of the way until she was able to escape to the sea. He snorts. "You nearly made me forget why I am here," he begins. "Where is Rougaru?"
He would never let these mares cloud his judgment ever again. At least, not one like this who hasn't earned his trust.