Quilyan

There was a breath of peace between the mare and the stallion as they watched over their daughter together. "Myrrine --" he murmured, almost urgently, prepared to tell her all the things that he had yet to divulge, to vow to her that though he was not the mate that she deserved, he would offer himself, heart and soul, to her and to their child; but the moment was interrupted by the intruding presence of a new, large, intimidating stallion. The prince's immediate response was a flattening of the ears and the adoption of a protective stance, despite the fact that the unicorn could easily have destroyed him. But then the newcomer was offering his congratulations, and Myrrine was smiling up at him. Quilyan relaxed, albeit only slightly. Then, the stallion's eyes turned to him.

Again, the prince was struck by the hardened gaze of the unicorn. He was unsure what exactly he had done to earn the man's enmity, but he was not one to pick a fight. He lowered his head slightly, his ears flicking back in a modest display of submission, as though to show that he had no quarrel with the Elephant King. Myrrine spoke for him, but the prince's eyes never left Tembovu's. "I will," he responded to the terse query, "if Myrrine will have me." As though on cue, the mare stumbled slightly, and the prince moved as though to catch her, his left wing flaring into the air. If she allowed him, he would catch her, allowing her to lean on him with is wing across her back. A slight frown marred the steed's face, concern beginning to appear in his eyes.

A crashing caught the steed's attention, and suddenly a spotted stallion (what is it with all these STALLIONS?) appeared. Again, a certain protectiveness overtook the prince, but the light-colored draft did not seem interested in harming the mare or the filly. Instead, he was croaking for a healer. It did not take but a moment, seemingly, for one to appear. Quilyan, who still offered his side for the pretty butterfly mare to lean on, did not turn to look for the source of the spotted stallion's concerns. In his heart, the slightest inkling of something having gone wrong had taken hold, and in his sudden desperation he hardly heard the painted doctor call his name. He looked at her without truly seeing her, though it would have done him little good even if he had. His memory had long since been wiped clean, and though Alysanne would remember him well enough, he would not recognize her.

As the healer approached, the prince quickly caught wind of her little game. He remained where he was, close enough to offer support to Myrrine if she again wobbled on her feet. He did not turn, so did not see the tendrils of darkness moving to heal the pretty mare. Instead, he smiled brightly (perhaps too much so) and offered his own addition to the conversation. "Laume is a beautiful name, m'lady," he told Myrrine with a nod of his head. "She has strength and spirit, just like you." The words felt strange on his tongue; it was not that they were untrue, of course, but it was almost as though they were meant for someone else, as though they had been said before. Zarina might have pointed out that he had been through this with Resplendence, but she chose instead to chitter her approval in her foreign, marmoset tongue, so that the butterfly mare would hear.

"Talk talk talk."