Eyes narrowed shrewdly as Rhanna watched the stallion, he seemed to be wary of eavesdroppers. What delicate secrets was he so eager to share her? And the dog was so damn watchful and wary, it was almost enough to put the mare on edge, but she let it roll off her shoulders. If the stallion had an army after him, he’d hardly stop to chat, and it’d been a rare occurrence that anyone tried to pick a fight with her.

As he spoke, Rhanna let some of her attention drift to the dog again. Still listening to his master, she lowered her head and began to approach the little beast. Her ears pricked forward, curious and not unfriendly as her head drew close. She had heard that some equines had bonds with smaller creatures like this, and she wondered if this was one of those strange companions. Maybe it wasn’t. Rhanna wasn’t the biggest fan of magic. Her nostrils flared, pulling in the dogs scent, and then gave a little snort, what an odd creature to cart around with you but like the stallion had said, not useless. It was an intelligent thing for sure, it’s bright eyes were alight with it, and if it was anything like its larger, wilder cousins, it probably packed a good bite too.

As Ricochet started ruminate on his plans, she raised her head again and returned her attention to him. The stallion had more about him than she’d thought; planning to eradicate any non-equines was certainly ambitious. So far in her life she’d mainly tried to avoid them but after years of convincing herself that it was hatred instead of jealousy that drove her dislike, she was ready to believe it. Rhanna, at her core, was a creature of self entertainment rather than blind ambition, power gave you responsibilities and put you on to many people’s enemy list She’d been content to skate through unscathed with no cause worth losing life or limb. This stallion’s intent went farther than she’d considered, more active where her distaste had always been a passive thing, but she couldn’t deny that it intrigued her.

“Seems a fine idea, but not an easy one to see though. Move too fast and it’s simply suicide.” Her voice had changed from its playful lilt, sarcasm dropped and replaced with a direct and deliberate tone and she continued. “I don’t know much of this land, Helovia you called it, but in what I have seen of the world beyond their numbers are equal to the pure race, if they don’t outnumber us already.”

She considered what he’d said before with more detail, his band must be small but he hadn’t been to specific on their numbers. “You’ll have a difficult time recruiting, too many of our kind are to tolerant. I’ll come with you, help you if I can, but I’ll tell you now I’m not going to die for a fool’s errand. I’ll keep your secret, and my silence to.”

The black giantess gave a short nod of her head to the stallion. He seemed capable an cunning, but it’d be a little whole before he gained her total respect, and even then loyalty would be harder to earn. She’d never make a power grab, but she was a selfish creature, if it was in her best interest to leave his leadership, she probably would. A smile cracked her face again, and a bit of her brazen manner returned. “So darling, if you’ve got to established territory, where can I look to find the other members of your little band?”

-lainespeak-
Notes: Sorry for the wait! Crazy week! And oh no, he's been consumed by darkness!