It would be hard to deny my selfish habits, especially when it came hand in hand with competition –for that’s what this was- but at least I tried to broach the topic of recruiting with a shard of truth. The World’s Edge was not unlike any other land in the realm made up of various acquired tastes and wicked illusions. It would be wrong to lie and say that it was the greatest or the most extravagant, but such notions were born of the beholder… and as such, I was willing to forget myself for a time. Aye, a gentleman of my size had to learn how to navigate through the pines –but there were pathways- and he might become deterred by the mists –though they were beautiful- but every fine gesture was delivered with tact or a certain underlying message. That’s just how life worked and it wouldn’t soon be changing its ways. Everyone concealed a weakness of sorts; I guess I was just wise enough to live by mine instead of bowing to their whims.

The Zephyr at my back had become anxious and her emotions were all but a torrent of colors and ideas that stretched the tie that was our bond. She had not yet learned to fly and as hindering as it was, Sabine never let her own failures keep her from the things she desired. Even if it came at a price (of which I often paid). I had not warned Phaedra of the bird’s incessant need to investigate all that made her wonder and when Sabine had had enough of watching and waiting, she clawed and bit her way down my back in order to jump headlong toward the forest floor. Her little wings beat furiously against the autumn breeze and though I had never seen anything so ungainly as she, I respected her ability to strike the drum even when her notes had long passed.

I smiled as the mare of interest returned the Zephyr’s affection, but I knew that once the bird was close enough to mount her new conquest Phaedra too would suffer the discomfort of her talons against the skin. “I think the pleasure is all Sabine’s,” I informed with a hearty chuckle. “Though, I would watch your back… she has a habit of doing what she likes,” I stated while stepping forward to follow the bird in her attempt to approach the mare.

With Phaedra’s consideration swayed by talk of her past and the idea of belonging to one herd or another, I watched Sabine with a fixed and curious stare. She had managed to find her seat at the center of our attention and her golden gaze was pressed longingly against the dapples of the mare’s back. Tsk, tsk, I thought to myself. Of course I would be forced to tend to a companion with so little personal courtesy for others. My legs had gone stiff from imagining Phaedra’s reaction to the bird if she tried to climb her as she had done to me so many times before... I could only warn the Zephyr away from such ideas in hopes that she would return to my side, an obedient child.

But Ciceron’s sentiments all but ripped me from my attempts to discipline the little Roc bird (I guess you could say it was his kindness that truly stirred my consideration). Yes, I’d once been as just and righteous as he… but I’d also seen what it did for a brute (or really how little it did). I’d had a lover taken from my arms and murdered because of my kindness. I’d garnered the hatred of my daughter because of my kindness. I’d been taken for granted because of that kindness… What else would I lose if I decided to again turn my belly up in submission? “You wouldn’t be the first to experience a life so utterly foreign that it caused your heart to flutter. I’ve been in your shoes after all…” I answered in response to Phaedra’s admission of living solely with her immediate family. “But time can change everything and something you once thought odd might as well become natural. You’d never be alone in your endeavors Phaedra. I would guide you if you asked and I know that the family I come from would offer you the same. There’s a lot more to the “herd life” than you might imagine and our protection, our confidence, and our support would never leave you in the shadows of doubt.”


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