The day Warsaw returned was a moment of elation for Vita Nova.
She'd sat secluded with so many troubling thoughts for weeks while her King was away. Thank God for Tavas, who doted on her dam so diligently during that time. But while Vita Nova physically recovered, her mind was far behind. Internally, she was fraught with conflicting feelings, some induced by her own daughter. This was a pinnacle point in the Queen's life. She had a role to play in the war if she wanted it. because she was in a unique position after all, given her strong connections to both sides of the fight. Nevertheless, she couldn't bear the idea of living in the world without Warsaw or Shamwari.
But now it was over, for better or worse, and everyone she loved was still breathing. Vita Nova was nearly recovered from the labor that almost ended her life, but Warsaw, was bruised and beaten nearly beyond repair. Seeing him now in such a sorry state filled Vita Nova with a sense of love and adoration she'd feared she'd lost for the great grey stallion while he was away. Her heart pined away for him now, and she rarely left his side. She was filled with fondness in the chilly nights where they returned to one another, a pastime she had so greatly missed, and she watched over him carefully each day, monitoring his slow recovery.
She was grazing quietly with Brunhild and Tavas, while Warsaw rested not far away from them in the brush, when the call of a stranger cut through the brisk morning air. Vita Nova lifted her dished face, and flashed a stern look to both of her daughters. "Watch Brunhild." She spat at Tavas, before sauntering off through the trees to find Warsaw. Her brilliant blue eyes were trained for the familiar form of her stallion, but she didn't find him until he'd already somehow limped his way to where the intruder stood.
A chill ran the length of the ashen mare's spine as she studied the strange stallion, a cream-colored and lean creature who nearly matched Warsaw in his impressive height. He looked dangerous. And so she fired off a shrill bugle to both stallions before ambling down the rocky path toward them at a three-beat canter, only slowing once she'd reached Warsaw's side. Instinctively, the Queen of Tinuvel pinned her sooty-colored ears as she sized up the stallion, her grey nostrils flaring as she took in his scent. He smelled of their island, curiously enough, but her prickly facade hardly changed. One blue eye flicked to Warsaw as he asked the stranger for his name. Vita Nova followed up his request with a snort and short stomp of a forehoof. "You should know better than to think we would be accepting visitors at this time, so soon after the war." She spat at him, raising her head high over her withers and staring sharply down her nose at him.
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