The mare mare of dappled dusk is not left to her own thoughts for long. A single raven tipped ear flickers at the responding call and instinctively she turns her head to allow silver stained eyes to watch the pale mare approach. Curiosity peaks her interest now, causing her to shift position so that she could fully face the stranger who comes to an easy halt at her side. The golden mare tilts her head slightly towards Khar and likewise the fierce mare inclines her own, her lips twitching upward. ”I suppose you could call me that, though for how much longer that is remained to be seen…” she begins, letting her words trail off into the stiff mountain breeze that swirled around them.
The news that rumors were spreading across the islands of the Peak’s dwindling numbers is upsetting and tightens the grip of growing guilt tightly around her heart. Ashen lips press together firmly and her brows knit together as the rise of accusing and demanding questions swirl unending in the back of her mind. Did the Peak have spies among their numbers? Were the Lagoon bachelors encroaching unchecked? Were the mares abandoning the sanctity of the Peaks for protections of stallions and herds? All of them made sense but none were thoughts that she liked having to give validity too. The truth was, the Peak’s numbers HAD been dwindling; dwindling for years. Where once the great stone mountains had been a sanctuary to those seeking refuge from oppression, now it was a stone monument over the grave of what had once been.
The mare’s next words draw her away from such darkened thoughts and bring arise to new questions. ’I have left my position as queen of Tinuvel to aide in your cause….’ A queen? For a moment she is silent, shuffling through the distant memories of her time in Tinuvel but her time on the frozen island had been brief and though familiarity still tugged at her, Khar could not place a face to the name. She had however, heard of Solomon the Ice King.
She did not know much about him, aside from the fact that several of the elder members of the Peak often left their positions to visit him again and again. Why? She could not rightly say but she had a feeling it was something she was all too familiar with. False promises, undying devotion and other such frivolous emotions that stallions usually attempted to gain enough favor to get what they wanted. Solomon. The simple fact alone that he was male was enough to leave a foul taste in her mouth. Even her own son would soon be forced to leave the protection of the mountain mother soon. But that was a thought for another day.
The golden mare still waited patiently and Khar forces the smile once back onto her lips, shuffling the name of the ice king back into the recesses of her mind. ”My name is Khar’pern. I am the minister of the Peaks and any mare willing to join our cause is welcome…” she begins, dipping her finely dished muzzle slightly before raising her startling pale eyes once more to stare into the blue eyed stranger’s face. ”However I cannot help but to find myself curious… Why would a queen abandon her position and family? Has something happened that we should be made aware of? Queen…..?” she finishes, letting her words trail with the flick of an ear. Perhaps a name would bring memories more easily to the surface. Regardless, she still felt there were quite a few unanswered questions the mare needed to answer and if she was as sincere as she seemed, no doubt the Peak would find itself with a powerful ally today.
