Loretta eyed the tigress carefully, her amber eyes wary of the unknown creature. It was around her size, a shrunken version of her larger ancestors built and designed to bond to horses, but Loretta knew strength and power when she saw it. She did not feel fear towards this striped creature, for Mandrake's claws were much larger and much worse, and Loretta knew the halflinger mare to be a kind one, but there was a silent respect that the malamute gave to the feline. Glancing towards Archibald, the bitch watched as his stoic face softened a little, his posture still formal but comfortable in the wake of the mare.
Archibald shifted some, left hind hoof tipping to balance his weight in a relaxed manner. Even after all this time apart, the Dauntless felt comfortable in Romani's presence, and now they looked into each other's eyes as equals. He was no longer her leader and teacher, she no longer his warrior and pupil. Her cerulean eyes had not changed much, they were bright and hopeful with pools of kindness and forgiveness in their depths. She may have aged, yes, and he too had aged, but the willful mare he had welcomed into his home was still present before him.
Her question triggered swirling thoughts to dance about his mind, fighting for the spot of his tongue. What was kindness of life? Surely, there had been blessings in the life of the Dauntless, but also trial and strife. Did she know, or have any whisper, of his activity since his fall from glory? Did she knew of his time in the Grey, of him winning back the Foothills in blood and gore? What about the woman he had taken as his own, the daughter he had lost to the first snowfall? Was she present for the invasion of the Edge and Throat, of Loretta killing Lace's white dragon? Did she know Of his sons, strong and able beneath his and Circe's watch?
Would she think differently of him if she did?
"I am Captain of the World's Edge now, victoriously standing alongside Ktulu the Constrictor, a close friend. I have two sons, twins, Reginald and Abraham. I would say that all is well, currently." Archibald nodded briefly, tail swishing over his hocks. "How have you been?"
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