You do not know heartbreak
Not until you've lived as long as I

It had seemed that world paused for a slight second, that the steps echoing in her ears, nearing her, had paused in their pursuits. Her expiration must've been loud, carried with the wind far enough to bring the attention of another. A single ear tipped back, listening with a vividness and wariness that she never had to use before but encompassed her now. Her body was stiff, muscles coiling and tightening under the amount of what ifs (what if I am in danger, what if I should run, what if...?) that plagued her mind. Safety was guaranteed for her in Isisi, she did not have to live in fear, the feeling itself was one that she never would've recognized if the great trees did not tell her in her ventures to lands forbidden and forsaken. She was at least thankful for that curiosity, it allowed all the new things and ways of life to not seem so new, for if Katerina had stayed within the walls of her castle, Helovia would be the death of her. 

Deep, masculine baritones awoken her travels in the stars, her silver gaze turning to the striking one of Tembovu. She remembered their meaning, her questioning, and of Dorboo, as well as his own question, one that she didn't get the chance to offer, but promised one day she would. In the little time that she had taken residence here, Tembovu had been promoted as lead, but as he spoke, she did not feel the self-absorbtion and self-inclinement that royalty gave so many. He spoke to her with no masks, no veils, but rather like who she was, a horse. 

A small smile drifted on her lips, soft but still weighted with change. Katerina assumed that she didn't do well with change, considering that she had never experienced it a day in her 94 years. She would be alright though, in time that was. She felt his eyes on her own, the attention not unwelcomed, but rather unused too. Her words fell out silky, the slight french in her accent lacing with her english. "Yes, the new skies of Helovia are quite captivating, I must say." She spoke, glancing once again at the new stars and constellations that twinkled above the king of creams and the mare of silvers, both of foreign descent but both managing in a world they weren't born in, perhaps they weren't that different at all.

Turning her windows back to the azure gaze of the man, her lips parted again, her intent to answer his question not escaping her thoughts. "The pattern you see upon my skin is named after me, Katerina Stella." She paused, unable to look at him in those moments that her real name floated between them. Gathering the strength that she knew she had, Katerina turned her crowned head to look once more into his vibrant blues. "Over time, it was to expand as I did, and so would the stars in my sky. When I was young I was taught how to read the stars, and each constellation allowed me to read the story of the one who bared it. I marveled in the new teachings, it appeared that the stories of my brethren helped make the blank blacks of the sky not so empty." It was true, without the onyx's of the heavens the stars that glittered could not glitter, could not be seen, but the stories that did glitter on all that darkness, made it bearable. Katerina loved this idea, and as a filly she wanted to have a story worthy to shine in the sky, and to this day, although much had changed, that had not.


OCC: whoops, I sorta got carried away LOL
@Tembovu


"Talk?"