a new world hangs outside the window
beautiful and strange
it must be I've fallen awake
I must be

Wasp's amber eyes watch as the young stallion seems to smarten up. His demeanor changes. His body stiffens. He doesn't look like a lost little boy quite so much. She cocks her head to one side as she notices this change, but continues to cast a stony glare in his direction. Two dark ear lobes flick forward and at attention as he begins to explain himself. So he's not the bad guy, Wasp thinks to herself, logging this information away for another time.

The mare from the Peak can't help but roll her eyes as the stallion explains his father's quest for a monarchy. Gosh, are all stallions wired the same? What sort of pride or value does this bring to their lives, or more realistically, their egos? Wasp had been out of the Peak for just a short time, but had seen enough of the underbelly of the world to understand why Macabre had fought so hard to keep her away from it. Everyone was out to get someone else, just so they could get ahead. Stallions, it seemed, were the real leaders in this viscous cycle. Poor, kind souls like Liland just didn't stand a chance.

"So you're just some servant boy then." Wasp spat back with the bob of her heavy head. "A pawn trained to do whatever he tells you. Do you even have your own brain?"

Her words were unkind, she knew. Maybe there was more to this stud than she was giving him credit for. After all, he didn't rush at her in an attempt to claim her or keep her here against her will. Or at least, he hadn't yet. But it was not in Wasp's nature to just roll over and make friends. Not with the enemy. Even if he was just a cog in the machine of the enemy.

She thinks about turning now and leaving. The shoreline is just behind her - she can hear the waves lapping gently over the rocks in the distance. But then he speaks again. He has thoughtful words to say about Liland, which make her jaw clench. But she studies him again - he seems to be genuine. "He's too good for this place." She said somewhat absentmindedly, her eyes leaving the stud to glance around the trees and the earth around them. "It sounds like no one sees eye-to-eye with this Warsaw... Unless they submit to a life of being underneath him."

Her stare falls back onto the stallion again now, her eyes slightly more empathetic and less hardened than they were before. "You know, there's more to life than this - than conquering and stealing and collecting mares just to do it." She says, her thoughts spewing from her whiskered lips as if someone forgot to turn the faucet off. "Maybe you should think about what you want. Not what he wants."

W A S P