Common

until the lion learns how to write

Lakota remained quiet, her body language neutral as she watched the painted stallion. Despite his calm demeanor and approach, she still half expected him to behave as she'd been taught. To drop his head, pin his ears and drive her from the common lands to whatever place he called home. Demeaning for her, to be sure, but predictable. She had decided that the possibility of that was still better than the gray nothing that her life had become. She did not have a wanderer's heart, despite doing her best to make a go of it. For better or worse, like both her blood and adopted mother's, she did not like being alone.

He spoke of Luthien, and of the Forest, and while she watched him with deepening interest she did not immediately answer. She knew of Luthien as she imagined all island-born children did, but it was the Forest that was most interesting to her. Lakota had never been, of course, but she had grown up hearing of the war that had once raged in the Forest. Of the battles between Persephone and Warsaw, of Rougaru and Shamwari. Of Vita Nova and Kendry. She wondered if they were all dead, like her grandsire, or if some relics of that long ago time remained.

"That is... far more generous than I expected," she said simply, when it became painfully obvious that he was waiting for an answer from her and was not about to list his demands. "I don't think I've ever met a stallion that advertises the ability to leave his home in the same breath that he offers it..." She trailed off, and then allowed a smile to touch her pale lips to let him know that she was only teasing. Genuine interest colored her next question, and her head tilted inquisitively. "What is it that keeps your small herd with you then, if not for your iron fist?"

She couldn't imagine her father ever willingly allowing a mare to leave. He had separated from them due to their dishonesty or betrayal or other character faults, but never had he openly told the mares he cherished to leave. That loyalty was one of the things Lakota cherished most about her father, and she hoped that she might find someone similarly bonded to her someday.

As he formally introduced himself to her again, she inclined her head a bit more deeply and then returned the favor before lapsing into silence to wait for his answers. "My name is Lakota de Ironclad, and it's a pleasure to meet you."

young mare // Mutt // gray // 15 hh