The wait was not long, in fact, it felt as if no wait occurred at all. The day stretched by her like a lazy cat - it's heat brushing against her dark limbs as if she could reach out and caress it herself. It was a thick heat, the kind that emerges in the deep of summer; something she hadn't experienced very often. Hiedrun had decided in her second year, when she had the gall to abandon her mother and the icy wastes of their home, that she did not enjoy the summer months. At least not here, in the southlands. It did not help that her skin was so dark. While many individuals would turn their dislike inwards, it was not Hiedrun's nature to dispise herself - especially when it concerned something so petty and so out of her own control, such as the weather. But the heat here was stifling. She was thankful that the man appeared with such speed, and she found herself thanking the fates for providing her with some semblance of success in this venture. Whether he was the right king for her was another question waiting to be answered; even as he appeared, pulling back just in time to beckon her close, Hiedrun grew wary. Her mother had told her stories of Helovia. Of the various types of men, and their temperaments. She was cautious as she paid heed to the man's summon.

Ears pivoted towards him, intently listening to the rumble of his voice. It was soothing, in a way. Tired, maybe, if she had paid that much attention. How many women had he coerced with that tongue of his? His scent was strong and masculine. She found herself reaching out with her head first, extending to get a better look at him as she grew curiouser and curiouser of the stranger. When Hiedrun finally began to stride over, such curiosity transformed in to uncertainty as he introduced himself. He was a king, indeed. Named in a similar fashion to herself; in a language that their parents probably shared. She stopped walking when there was only a meager distance between the two of them, and in that moment she studied him up-close, silent. He was handsome, but there was something odd about him.

As Hiedrun observed his body, as those molten brown eyes slid across his dusty skin, she noticed a strange growth on his shoulders. At first she saw nothing but hide and hair. Having never seen a horse with wings in her lifetime, Hiedrun was at a loss - cognitively - for identifying the odd shapes. It took a moment for the small limbs to register in her mind as actual wings, and then as the moment stretched on and her silence became overbearing, she felt herself withdraw slightly. It is like seeing anything for the first time - the alienation of it, the otherness of it, made her recoil. It was then that the girl forced herself to look away from the petite figures and watch his face. She pulled her own head in and, without meaning to, gave small glances towards the wings. Hiedrun swallowed her fear as best she could, but it was clear by her subtle change in body language that she was nervous - fearful even, to the extreme.

But her manners won out in the end, and she ended the pregnant pause in order to introduce herself. "I am Hiedrun. I... I apologize," a blink, and a side-step so that she could adjust her weight. Hiedrun tried to adjust her posture so that she seemed more open and welcoming, but it was difficult to get over the fact that this man had wings - real, physical wings. Could he fly? She thought to ask, but then held back on such an invasive (and possibly insulting) line of questioning. "I have come a long way and, well... I have never seen something as magnificent as you before." the woman pursed her lips as she silenced, and then slipped her gaze away from his wings fully in order to observe him. She lowered her head submissively in his presence, as she did not wish to deter him. Hiedrun wanted a home after all, and he was offering one.

As an afterthought, the dark woman became aware of the questions he asked and she had not answered. It was rude to ignore them, but she felt so strange in his presence. "I seek a home. I have heard stories of Helovia from my mother, and as she is passed, I do not wish to live on my own. Such a lifestyle is.. Dangerous, after all." Again, she fell to silence. This time she was expectant - waiting for him to respond, to perhaps promise a place among his ranks. She was eager to hear his voice again, and grew listless. The woman shifted slightly as she stood before him, exhaling a quiet breath that she had not been aware of holding; Hiedrun was not always so skeptical or fearful, but this... This king, he put her out of her comfort zone in such an instantaneous moment that she was unsettled. Deeply unsettled.