There is a shared awareness between King and Spectre that the Storm Bringer can't truly describe. He has always been aware of Quilyan, since he'd first met the painted Prince. He knew where he was at almost any time. Though at first it had been because Kaj did not trust Quilyan with Resplendence's shattered heart and mind, it had evolved into something different over the seasons. Now, it was like they had shared a womb, and his acknowledgement of the Spectre had yet to cease. It was odd, but not unpleasant, for they were brothers in all but blood according to Kaj. Much like Ink had become to him, over the passage of time. But that was a wound still far too raw for him to graze over in his thoughts, and his cheek twitched with the desire to show how he felt. It was restrained, for he could not let his people see how badly he missed the stallion that painted with substance like night embodied, mute but also the greatest friend the lion man had ever had. But time had gone on, and in Quilyan's face he found the support and loyalty he'd always valued, the one thing he'd found so terrifyingly absent in Helovia.

They play a game far too intricate for anyone to understand, uninvolved as they were. But Kaj can play it well, though there is a certain warmth to his eyes that even he cannot conceal, for he knows once the two have parted from the conspicuous stances they take in the herd meeting that all will fall away like gossamer shrouds upon their hides. But Quilyan is quick to play his part, and Kaj watches as he pardons himself from the side of his beloved. The Storm Bringer regrets, in private, for he and his aardbei have slipped apart since the darkness invaded. He feared it could not be mended. She had Quilyan, after all, and what was Kaj in comparison? What could he offer as a brother that a lover could not? Tongue is held regardless, until the brothers are side by side, disappearing from the views of those who may wish to pry. The King is in need of the one who had supported his rise to the throne, for it is only in him that he can confide. Their Queen was too pure of heart and endearingly simple of mind to understand, and Resplendence and he...well, he had already addressed that fact.

It is Quilyan who speaks first, and Kaj smiles softly, though there is a certain weariness to it. "Not without sacrifices, my brother. I could have done better." His crown shakes sadly, but he inhales deeply, spreading the calm to the rest of his limbs, trying to make them understand that he can relax now. He stares up into the boughs above, to the sky beyond, and muses on the events that brought him to stand before the painted fellow. It had been such a long and winding road. He only hoped it would be worth it, in the end. Icy blue eyes fall back down and he smiles once more at the Spectre before him, trying to shake off the mood clinging to his shoulders like a phantom memory. "Tell me, broer. What does love feel like?" And oh the shame! He feels the flush of his face as he speaks it, smile awkward and strained as he tries and fails to hold Quilyan's gaze, moments later letting his own fall to awkwardly peruse the ground round his hooves. If only his flock knew that their King was so helpless in matters so simple.

@[Quilyan]