My thoughts are the cold kind,
I've got storm clouds brewing behind my eyes

Erthë laughed with the other mare and relished the feeling of the warm body close to hers, savored the sound of their mingling voices as it echoed between the trees. This was indeed what homecoming should be like! If it was like this every time she came home, the thought of leaving might soon not be as tempting as it usually was. Or perhaps the itch to go would get even worse, if only for the sake of receiving this kind of welcome upon returning. Erthë couldn't decide, and it didn't matter because it was such a trivial line of thought, so carefree that she felt even happier than she already was. Life couldn't be that hard if she had time to ponder meaningless things, could it? The world must truly be at peace, mustn't it?

Of course, such a blissful feeling of relaxation couldn't last long. Lyanna burst her bubble quite efficiently with the news of the herd meeting - by the gods, she'd missed another one - and the changes that had been announced.

Much of it she already knew, after attending the Moon viewing. The defense projects had been planned there, the plan accepted and prices laid down by their Lady. Erthë failed to see the need for these measures, but perhaps Tembu knew something she did not as he had been working on this for as long as she had known him - his struggle to turn the ruined glass wall into something more functional before his ascent to the throne was still fresh in her memory.

As for Elsa's abdication...

"I wish I could say I'm surprised" Erthë said slowly, "but somehow I feel like we should have seen this coming. Elsa hasn't exactly been working her butt off, has she... I don't know, maybe she's been doing things in the quiet that we haven't heard of, but whenever she's done official stuff lately she hasn't looked very happy."

Still, for the mare to step down so soon after the Goddess named her queen was unsettling. Was it lack of gratitude over their Lady's trust and high regard? Somehow the young mare did not think so. She didn't know the snow-white pegasus well, hardly at all in fact, but nothing about the quiet woman had ever struck her as ungrateful or irreverent. Better then to assume that Elsa had simply discovered her own limitations and decided to act for the greater good of the herd. Erthë preferred that line of thought, it left a better taste in her mouth.

"I don't think there's a problem with having a healer for a lead" she continued, her mismatched eyes lingering on Lyanna's face as she noticed the flattened tone of the mare's voice. "I can't say I know Alysanne, but she's been around for a long time. Longer than Tembovu, from what I hear, and if he's comfortable with her then I guess we'll just have to wait and see how things turn out. I really hope she'll prove to be as good a ruler as our king is - there's been a lot of changes in leadership lately."

Frowning slightly as she pondered this, Erthë gently peeled herself from the dark-skinned girl and folded the wings to her sides. How many times had they changed monarchs again? Mauja had been queen when she came to the Edge, ruling beside a very absent Torleik. Then Mauja had stepped down, Tembovu had taken up the mantle and the Lady Moon had replaced Torleik with Elsa, causing the black steed to leave the herd altogether in protest. A nasty business indeed... and now Elsa had stepped down, another queen had been crowned and this time it was the herd that muttered.

Sighing, Erthë shook her head. It was a mess, not a good sign at all. Every tale she'd ever heard of Helovia in the past spoke of changing leads, followed by hard times. War, bickering between herds, invasions and death. Tumult, chaos, turmoil and all it left behind was suffering.

"What do you make of all this?" she asked Lyanna, as she slowly began to walk down the path that led deeper into the forest. "Do you think there will be trouble in the herd if Alysanne stays on as lead?"

The mist that had cloaked her began to fade and Erthë let it disappear, too occupied with thoughts of politics to be bothered by the heat of the day. Absent-minded she adjusted the enchanted bracelet that kept the bubble of night around them, and focused her attention once more upon her new friend, keen to hear her opinion on the matter.

Erthë

And my heart will be blacker than your eyes
when I'm through with you