He was relieved to hear Nicodemus speak so passionately about his plans for the Inlet and for Tinuvel. He was no closer to making his decision as to who should succeed him in the eventuality of his passing, but it did assure him that this small piece of Tinuvel would remain strong and cared for in the days that would follow. If nothing else, if no monarchy remained after he passed, he wanted Tinuvel to at least remain a safe haven for his other children. A place where they would know they could return, no matter what happened, and find someone to love and care for them until they were ready to start again.

"I am glad to hear that," he answers honestly, ears perking forward. He spoke then of the mare he had named as his queen and nodded, though he held his own reservations about the practice of naming your first mare your queen. He knew how easy it was to do so, to lean into that first special connection, but he also knew how hard it was to remove her if she was not the best one suited for the job. Solomon had once believed that if there were a better candidate for the job, they would fight for it. That the strongest mare should hold the highest title, the way the strongest stallion did.

But physical strength was not the only quality a Queen needed, and arguably wasn't even the most important. Which was why he had created a second position expressly for the care of the herd, not just it's defense. He could not even begin to express how much the presence of a mare that was invested in the daily well-being of a herd made a difference.

Nico named a few other oddly-named positions and Solomon nodded, gleaning from the context clues that the Aeldormen were basically beta stallions, and that Rada was more or less just an advisor's position. It was kind of him to keep a rank for his sister, and he nodded his approval. "It sounds like the Inlet will be well protected, then. I am proud of you for the steps you are taking."

His son was clearly on the right track with the way things were going now and he couldn't wait to see how things unfolded and how he developed. "Do you have any questions for me?"

Solomon