Meadow

I left you in charge, he roared back, and Vanya's head lifted at the challenge, her dark eyes glittering with fury. She, who had no claim over the land. She, who had no claim over the mares without his authority backing her up. And she, who had never wanted to rule alone.

Yes, he had left her in charge of a broken and dying herd, but when the crown no longer suited her and the seat at her side sat empty, she had abandoned it. Vanya would likely never admit it, but she was nothing without a partner. She was not Nyimara, or Marcelline or even Titania. Ruling alone had never interested her, and she was not about to start masquerading as if it did now, even if it would suit her or lessen Rougaru's ire. Paradise had had another Queen spot open if Rougaru had so desired a mare to pretend to be him in his absence; doing so was not Vanya's prerogative.

Despite his anger, she was pleased to see her lover come to life as she touched him, and reveled in the restoration of sensual tension that had always existed between them. It was the glue that kept them together despite their differences, always pushing them to take risks for each other, even when the known outcomes were certainly not always in their favor. How else would she have borne Rougaru so many children, or wear the crown?

Vanya would never be thankful for Titania's presence again after what happened in the Commons, but she found herself almost grateful that something broke the moment before she gave in and allowed herself to get too close to her long time lover. A harsh chime of laughter escapes her at his soft cooing of reassurance and she shifts her weight so that she stands more firmly separate from him. "Mmm," she hums, eyes narrowed. She knows just how dear you are to me, he continued on, and her skin shuddered in remembered rage and acrid fear. She had been certain that Titania would kill her that day - and while she did, probably, deserve it, it did not change the fact that it was the first time she had ever truly feared for her life, and the feeling was hard to let go of.

Either the comet-marked mare was more in love with Rougaru than she'd thought, or the damned man was lying. Unfortunately, in both cases, it would be far more in Rougaru's favor to lie than it would be for him to tell the truth, and she had very little context to judge with. Tilting her head, Vanya forced her expression to soften and her body language to be less hostile as she prompted him with another dubious question. "She found you and let you go?"

The problem was that she wanted to believe him.

Vanya was not a creature prone to loving anything beyond herself. Even the way she raised her children was centered on pride rather than affection, but if there was any creature in the world that had managed to touch her heart, it was Rougaru. The odds that he had managed to restore himself and had bargained for Titania's help were so incredibly small that they might as well not even exist, but she so badly wanted to believe that it was true that she wanted to risk it.

She didn't decide to move toward him then. Nor to run her lips along his skin as she cradled herself at his side. Or to lift her pale muzzle to his ear to whisper, "then take me home."

But she did all of that, and more if he would ask it. Regardless of the risk. Regardless of how likely it was that he was worth nothing more than pretty words, or worse, that he was deceiving her for some unknown reason. She did it because no one was ever quite as good at deceiving Vanya as Vanya herself.

And she still wanted him.