If it were possible for the marmoset to find a tree and beat her tiny head against it in a mixture of agony and rage, she would have done so, if only to avoid the tiny mare's wrath. It was entirely understandable, of course, but it was quite unpleasant all the same. Zarina sighed sadly, shaking her head and deciding that it would actually be in her best interest to not be on her prince's back right now. She scampered to the ground to halt a stride or two away, watching Valiance warily. If roles were reversed, she would be ready to breathe fire right about now - and the dragon could actually make that happen. She had no desire to get burned just because her bonded was a moron. Truth be told, she probably would have been better off as Resplendence's companion - but, alas, that had not been her choice in life.

The stallion could feel the marmosets dismay through the bond that she claimed tied them. The longer he was awake, the more compelling he found her argument. He felt every lurch of her emotion, and somehow he recognized that she could feel his, too. At the moment, he was feeling a strange mixture of bemusement, dread, and, now, anger. If the mare was his mate, and they had a child, then why couldn't he remember any of it? Furthermore, why did he have a mate and a child in the first place? And, if it were true, why was their child missing and/or dead? Who did this mare think she was, that she could come and yell at him - him, of all equines! - out of nowhere? Oh, wait - right, she thought she was his mate.

This was all entirely too confusing for a stallion who just woke up.

Maybe he hadn't woken up. Maybe this was all just a dream.

Jumping back into the sea was starting to sound lovely - perhaps that would wake him up.

-You aren't asleep,- Zarina insisted. -And you'd better answer fast. The dragon's going to burn you.- She didn't know that, of course. But it's what she would do.

The prince hadn't noticed the dragon until it dove at his face. He had ducked his head out of the way quickly, snorting with surprise. Now he took a second look, raising his brows with trepidation. Dragons? Real, fire-breathing dragons? What kind of sick world had he ended up in, anyway?

"I... I'm sorry, but I really don't... remember..." he trailed off awkwardly, trying to find some way out of the predicament he'd found himself in. Perhaps he had an evil twin somewhere? One who had clearly made this mare very angry?

"The last thing I remember is..." Shit, the rebellion! The anarchists! His words tumbled out in a hurry. "Anarchists were attacking my home. I fled with my brother, and I think we came to a new land - you and the little monkey over there said that this is Helovia, right? So I suppose this is the land that we found. Anyway, I just woke up in the sand with the little lemur -" (-Marmoset, you ass!-) "-marmoset, whatever the fuck she is, telling me that I have some bond in my head that let's me talk to her and we're in some unknown part of a land called Helovia, and apparently she can't remember anything since... the... falls? And I've never even heard of this place."

He sighed, looking away, as though searching for something. His dignity had been ground into the dirt somewhere along the way, but it did not seem to be lying nearby. He made eye contact again. "Look, if what you say is true, then I am sorry for... I don't know, whatever it is you're yelling at me for. But I do not remember. If you can help me, then I would appreciate the assistance. If you can't, then I humbly submit to your rage, and I suppose when you're done berating me, I will be on my merry way."

"more words."

Quilyan

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