i dream in phosphorescence Posted on November 23, 2024 at 05:44:05 AM by Helios
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The stallion watches Nyimara with a quiet, fascinated curiosity as she edges closer. The scent of her wafts into his nostrils as she reaches to tug at a wayward lock of his mane. Despite the urge to reciprocate with a similar gesture, Helios does not. He only smiles warmly at the silver bay with a pleasantly amused chuckle rumbling in his throat and a thinly veiled desire flashing in his eyes. "But of course," the male asqueisces, allowing her to take the lead toward the oasis pool close by.
She apprises him of Asmodeus' rise to power, taking the stallion Quinn's place. He hadn't met Quinn or, at the very least, hadn't known his face. And Helios knew of the rise already, of course, but said nothing. Only nodding at the information as she went on. One thing the copper stallion assumed was that Nyimara was, in fact, still queen. No news he'd been told had said otherwise.. not yet anyway.
The warmth of her hide brushes against him as they walk side-by-side, distracting him from the importance of their conversation. Every sensation sent a prickle to his nerves, always reminding him of his baser desires. He nodded and smiled at her sentiment. Every passing season was a challenge, and still they survived. It was something he was grateful for: that most everyone made it on to the next chapter as time ticked on. Not all were so lucky.
Helios waited for her to drink her fill, if not out of courtesy then out of a want to covet every inch of her. Flicking his ear, the stallion traced her shape a moment longer before allowing his eyes to dart elsewhere. Her next words pique his interest, though the copper male trained his expression to hide the fact. Instead, he demonstrates a cool, polite interest throughout her speech.
He had considered the Desert an ally since their first conversation when she had offered the relationship freely. Yet now she talked of a monarchy, uniting the herds, which made the stallion balk inwardly. This monarchy was not something she had mentioned in the past, and it made him uneasy. A single horse in charge of an entire island seemed impractical, not to mention unlikely especially on Salem.
There were many questions that sprang to mind about this fledgling proposal of hers. The foremost of which were these: what benefits did she think there were to this idea of a conglomerate herd, and who exactly did she think would take the throne? His expression was still one of polite interest, but the stallion took care with the words he chose and their tone.
"To be honest, Nyimara, I'm not sure that such a thing could happen on Salem." It was a reasonable statement. Sure, the Dunes remained allied with the Hills as far as he knew, and he had assumed that the Desert was also an ally. Yet the Badlands.. ugh, it left a sour taste in his mouth. He doubted the Badlanders would ever submit to an outsider, and Helios would never consider bowing down to Raegar. It was nigh on unthinkable to allow someone else to have power over him, and yet..
"Besides, who do you propose would be capable of such an undertaking?"