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There was the sound of hooves outside his little den. Solid black hooves moved underneath him, collecting himself, stirring the green carpet of needles dead and soon to be dead underneath him. Small, furry ears flicked forward attentively, and for a moment his heart lifted- was Snö finally back? No. The footfalls were too heavy, and the shape that appeared, silhouetted in fiery gold of the sun, was not his princess' fine form.
For one very, very brief moment, Rapha allowed himself to let his eyes settle on the mare's rich form. In that split second, he took note of every one of her features. A coat of obsidian, adorned with four neat socks, a simple star-and-stripe combination upon that haughty face. She had every right to be haughty, of course- she was not just a unicorn, but a Lady, a Master, a Mistress, a Queen, favoured by the Time God to rule. His soft brown eyes took sharp note of the equine teeth and feathers of every color and length woven throughout a wild shadow mane. Eyes of cold, hard, amber gold, and a twisted horn engraved with a red rune at its base. Unicorn. Almost at once, even as he shifted his gaze downwards, did he feel that intense lust to be one of them, to be one of the glorious unicorns. Not your place. He reminded himself.
There was silence, for a moment, quiet he welcomed, as the stallion (really, he should be a gelding) curled his forelegs underneath him, slithered into a bow before her, clumsy with fear, mouth suddenly dry. All of Snö's warning jumped to the fore of his mind- grostesque stories of death and torture at the horns of unicorns hungry for blood, mad for horse-blood, and not as willing to take on a pitiful pony as a slave. Stories- so many stories. Was Psyche ready to kill him, tear out his teeth and string them into her wild mane? Snö wasn't here to protect him, after all. But somehow Rapha couldn't get himself together, couldn't get more paralyzing fear at the thought. No- if she had wanted him dead, she could've killed him right when he stepped in front of her to protect her.
She didn't need protection. That's where he had gone wrong. And then the silence was interrupted by the imperial Lady. What had possessed him, he wondered? But he must speak. Speak now, before she would yell at him for not being quick enough. Knees unfold and legs straighten, yet the pony keeps his head low and deferential, eyes down at her hooves.
"My Lady, I... h-he... uh..." Fear clenched at his heart. Calm down. "My Lady, please, it's just the way of things. I serve... I serve my master, and..." His gut twisted. "And he was bothering you. It's not his place to bother anyone- anyone higher in rank than him, and especially a u-unicorn as you, because... because... unicorns are so above me..." What possessed you? "I am not even a lowly servant, I am not close, and will never be close to in a thousand years, to being your equal, but he was abusing his equality, his position as unicorn, one of the gods' favoured, by being so. He c-can't just get away with it, and... it's my place to be killed or hurt or tortured for you should it ever be needed." And then Rapha cursed his rambling tongue silently and prayed the unicorn would forgive his on-going speech.
.i'm lost without the unicorns.
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