Sohalia

the Transcended

Slowly, carefully, the mare felt herself settling into the diplomacy that had marked her brief reign over the Dragon's Throat.  It was almost pleasant, after her initial reservations, her embryonic discomfort:  this miracle that she was able, still, to share the space of others without her shattered soul seeping through the cracks.  Astraeus, noting her calming mind, perched easily on her withers, preening his wing feathers, relief washing through him.  That the mare could still feel anything other than anxiety was a blessing, one that he relished.

"I suppose we are, aren't we?" she replied to Kiuaji, a slight smile playing once more at the corners of her lips.  She had never stopped to consider that her name might be strange in any way; it was, after all, what she had been called for her entire life.  That others might have plain or boring names, as Kiuaji seemed to suggest, was a novel concept.  Still, she supposed that the stallion had a point.  Their impromptu trio was, at the very least, united in that their names had a certain foreign ring to them.

It was bittersweet to hear of the prosperity of the World's Edge, though it shamed her to presume to be so judgmental of their deity.  There was a part of her that could not forgive the Moon Goddess for her actions in the murders that had plagued Helovia - that the goddess had possessed her mate and murdered one of her daughters was a blight on the Transcended's past that could not be erased.  But to divulge that would be to reveal too much of herself, to present herself with her soul laid bare for these two strangers to see.

And it would be quite rude.

In any case, she nodded politely and, carefully masking her discomfort with all that hailed from the Moon's home, remarked, "I am glad to hear that the Edge prospers."  She was glad, for them - for the mortals that the Moon held under her murderous hooves.  The stallions had been nothing but kind to her, and she could not bear any ill will against them.  "I hailed from the Dragon's Throat, once," she admitted before she could stop herself.  She immediately regretted it.  "But I have not flown across those sands in some time."

Mbwene tottered forward, garnering Astraeus's attention.  He had always been intrigued by the companions of others, finding them to be kindred spirits in their views of their bondeds, at the very least.  Sohalia chuckled softly at Kiuaji's compliment, watching the elephant move across the clearing.  "Thank you, Kiuaji," she murmured.  "It has been some time since I have wandered in the night."  The newly-hatched babe came closer still, and the ivory mare lowered her head slowly, warmth in her eyes as she made herself available, should Mbwene choose to investigate further.  "Hello, vezhven naqis ato," she whispered.  Brave little one.

"Talking."
--Astraeus.--

@Tembovu