One of Dracaena's ears flicked back as the sound of the retreating mares melted away into the forest, but otherwise kept her eyes locked on the pale stallion before her. Once it was silent, it was as though a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. Her face was still hot and her heart was still racing with anger, but finally she was alone again with the male specimen she'd sought out to begin with. At last she could focus on the task at hand without having to concern herself with the clucking hens of the ridge.
The liver chestnut mare listened to Ailill's speech and, slowly but surely, the slightest hint of a smirk appeared on her lips. This young stallion was clearly full of ideals and a fighting spirit, but it was clear from the rip in his ear that he was no match for Vodnik, and he stunk of desperation. Not even the two mares he had history with could be swayed back to his side, even after strolling right up to the boundary of his home. Dracaena almost felt sorry for him. Almost.
"Sweetheart," she began, her accented voice thick with condescension. "Let me give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you have a brain between those two ears of yours, or what's left of them. No doubt you realize I could be a bargaining tool for you. If I come to your side, and Vodnik sees that I'm gone, perhaps you hope that he would offer to return your little darlings to you in exchange for me. I can tell you with no ounce of doubt that that will not happen. I am nothing but a thorn in Vodnik's side. I came to him of my own free will, offered myself to him with no strings attached, and he did not give one shit."
Her smirk was gone; in its place was a vicious scowl of barely-concealed fury. Clearly this was a sore topic for her. "Even still, I have no intention of leaving. I know a real man when I see one, and you, my dear Ailill, do not fit in that category. I came here only because there is something you can do for me." She lurched forward suddenly, pressing up against the stallion and rubbing her body along his, stealing as much of his scent as she could manage. Then she twisted away, just in case he decided to retaliate with hooves or teeth, and glowered at him with dark, glittering eyes.
"Danke," she said, and flashed him a venomous smile before trotting away in the direction she had come.
DRACAENA
5; flaxen liver chestnut sabino; 15.1hh |