What was it about this enigmatic beast that had so completely and thoroughly drawn the queen in to his life? She knew him from a handful of meetings, of chance interactions, and yet as she looked upon him she knew peace in a way that had eluded her for some time. Perhaps it was the fact that she knew he had secrets the way she had secrets, just a few, that she would not (could not?) share with the world. Perhaps it was the way he was steady when the world around them seemed to be full of chaos. Perhaps it was something else, something primal within him, which just made her feel safe. Whatever it was, the queen was glad to know the feeling again, now, here in his presence.

She ignored his hesitations at her yelling, disregarded the wary way he watched her stomping hoof and proud head, and when she bounded forth and was welcomed, she felt safe and home. He was, or perhaps would grow to be, a brother to her instead of just a friend. She could feel it in his laugh, in the way he pressed his head against her, hid in her hair and burrowed into her body. To hide? She knew the emotion well. She hadn’t, when she had first met him. Life had given her trials and tribulations, but none so terrible as Mauja’s. But she knew it now, in some ways, as she still dealt with the knowledge that she was a murderess. Lucky then, that she had forgiven the Frostheart so long ago, or she might never have forgiven herself.

Watching his owl settle back into her resting place, Kahlua closed her eyes and tried to imagine the same of whatever was in this egg. Was it an owl, like Mauja’s pair? A songbird like Onni’s Lhyty? A dragon to join the draconian song that frequently filled the forest? Or something land bound, perhaps… She knew not what secrets were hidden within the shell, only that she feared its coming. She wasn’t ready for this… not ready at all. But she hadn’t been ready for the queendom either. There were so many in this world that had faith in her- faith that she would be their friend, faith that she could come to know the meaning of love, faith that she could care for a herd, care for a companion, put the needs of others before the needs of her own. They had faith in her, but she no had faith in herself- not for matters of such vital importance. She was middle-aged nearing old, but she still had (and might always have) the heart of a child.

She opened her eyes to the sound of his voice.

“A gift from him,” she responded. “When I was glazier I made each herd a gift- a scorpion for the Basin. He made it in return.” She did ever so like the thing, never knowing what nefarious purpose it truly served. But then, she had no mind for such thoughts and intricacies. “He made this as well, more recently, up on the floating island,” she added, lowering her nose to touch the button on her music box. A song started to play, cords and notes tinkling out as the machine made its turns. The birds above chirped along, adding body and fullness to the Engineer’s song.

“How did you do it?” she asked then suddenly, her mind jumping back to her thoughts from before as the song continued on softly, for it truly was the question of the ages. How had he been king, how had he managed. Was she destined to become like him- like Ophelia and Psyche, like Phaedra and Ktulu, like Lace and Thor, like so many others who had cast aside their crowns? Had she known the history of the land, of how many rulers had come to cast their crowns aside due to the pressures they held, she might have thought that ruling was something no horse was fit for. She might have thought that no horse at all should be burdened with such weight and duty. She might have wondered if she was destined to fall from her throne like so many other great names in the history of Helovia.

Perhaps the throne was not a gift at all, but where the gods sent horses whom they wanted to break.

She was close to being broken herself. “How did you lead the herd and not go mad?” Her bright blue eyes turned sad and in looking at him she wondered if she was seeing her own future. Would she be the one wandering across shattered borders, trying to mend a shattered heart and shattered past? Would she be left to wander the wilds, to be lonely as she had called him? She wanted to know that it could be different, that it could be better than a tragic end, but as she looked at the fallen Frostheart she doubted that she would ever find a different truth. And as the song from the music box faded into eternity, Kahlua thought she could sense her own life beginning to fade in that direction as well. She was drowning in pressures not meant for a child's heart- who would throw her a lifeline to save her from this ocean of doubt?