Rilke eased further into relaxation as he watched his neighbor smile at his mention of friendship, mirroring the other with a light smile of his own. He was glad the first leader he had met seemed to be of a similar mindset, allies were always preferred over enemies, or worse, those you had no idea where you stood with them. With the verbal agreement from Zevulun his rumbling voice simply answered, “I’m glad.” The sun began to lower as the day passed into the afternoon. Fall had begun, its nip felt slightly in the air, but it was not far enough into the season to be considered quite cold yet. He thought about how he had been here almost a full year and had yet to make his way beyond his borders other than to certain parts of the Crossing Isle. His intention was to visit every territory, meet all of their leaders, but the time just always seemed to escape from him. It was luck that brough the Prairie leader to his home, one who was both knowledgeable and agreeable. Life may not be all together for him, but at least he was given this, and he silently thanked whatever it was out there for the gift of this potential alliance. There was strength in numbers.

As the prior Forest queen and her situation were mentioned, he nodded consolingly. It must be hard to lose a friend, a respected leader, a trustworthy neighbor. But that was life and the older you got the more you learned you had to roll with the punches. This was an ironic piece to think on since he wasn’t capable of that for himself when push really came to shove, yet he had made it here to the other side and he fully intended to hold onto anything and everything good that came his way. Like this moment now. Like the moments with Talya, Kestrel, and their newest member to the family, Daffodil. His heart warmed as he thought about the children of the Forest; there were never enough it seemed, and he hoped there would be more in the very near future. Or perhaps even in a year from now… He had come across a few mares recently, hoping to give them a home, and foals by their side if they were inclined. The idea of it was at once painful and healing; he did not want to forget nor replace his lost son, but he loved children- whether or not they were his own.

When the spotted cream stallion began on the topic of the island politics, he knew when he was in for a ride when the man took a breath to begin. He did his best to remember everything he was told, listening intently, and making as many mental notes as he could possibly cram into his brain. Being older he had learned to quiet the distracting thoughts in order to focus on more important things, and with this probably being the most vital information he had been given to date, he made sure to pay extra attention on the things spoken to him. From what it sounded like, Salem was the island to watch out for. He was glad it was the furthest away from him, although that didn’t make it impossible for the drama to come to their Luthien. Since it was breeding season too it could cause wandering stallions to make their way further from their own homes in search of open mares. An ear flicked back at the thought, his other still tilted forward to Zevulun as he continued speaking.

Once he finished, Rilke nodded slowly, still churning all of the details given to him. Taking a breath of his own as his thoughts settled into words, he let them out to share. “Thank you for that,” he started, “It seems like there could be some churning under the still waters… I do agree it would be best to stand together as well, as allies.” He looked at Zevulun; the words were said more as a statement than a question, but he said them with the idea that they already had an unspoken agreement that an alliance would be best. “And in fact, perhaps we should speak to the other Luthien leaders and see if they think that best as well?” This would also help push him to reach out to his neighbors, the goal he hadn’t quite gotten to yet. Two birds, one stone. Almost as an afterthought, he added, “I’ve met Solomon. I don’t think I left a great taste in his mouth, I stepped into the middle of him claiming a mare-” he stopped short, eyes wandering to the sky as he thought on Carpathia and how his heart nearly exploded upon meeting her despite the calm demeanor he had shown at the time, “Which I normally have better manners, I was just... I never believed in love at first sight before.” Usually, his head was on much better than that, but there is always a first time for everything. And it had been so long since he had felt anything before that; it was almost as if it had built up that entire time and the sight of her had burst the dam holing it back. Shaking himself back on track, his champagne eyes looked into Zevulun’s blue ones. “I’m not sure how to make amends with him other than apologizing, but I’m not sure if he would even take it well. You know him better, is there a way to fix this with him?” It wasn’t just that Solomon was a King, but also that he was a peer, a fellow leader, and Rilke had done him an injustice with his rudeness. It was the last time he’d let his heart take the lead like that; losing the good graces of a potentially strong ally, a friend, wasn’t worth the price of a mare. ‘She wasn’t just a mare though,’ he justified himself to these thoughts, ‘I… I loved her.’ However, she had disappeared since then and he was going to have to move on from her. It hurt. But he had learned to live with the pain life dealt as best he could.