Such was the way of the world, and such was the way of the Dragon's Throat. They were built upon the backs of sweat and blood, tempered with fire and haloed by the sun. It would be too much, and too arrogant to believe that one could merely swan in and stake claim. That was why she had called the meeting, to drum up support and prove that she had the metal and the guts to be the roaring voice which struck out when words could no long satisfy. Balance was always needed and balance had been broken. While her opinion of the champagne Sultana had dwindled to a paltry offering of tolerance. She had been raised to be the diplomat, the Sun had chosen to elect her for the lack of warrior's bones which her flesh clung to. A healing light, as she had said — Sikeax had gone against the very reason the Sun had blessed her with a crown. It had been all too convenient for her to reappear at that moment after such a long winded absence without reason, too convenient to cast her mantle aside and take up the one that was empty. It was definitely convient for the Unicorn to try and unceremoniously remove the only one that had spoken up and dared to call her into question without owning up for her crimes. 

Sohalia hadn't earned the ire, and the disdain which Nephele treated those who had earned it with a pitiful tolerance level.

"It had to be done." She responded with a roll of her feathered shoulders, it should of been done sooner. Alas, she may have had, if life had not took her down the road to motherhood. An ironic thought is spared to the wingless gladiator, who dared to call her absence from the arena into question and further still her absence from the Threshold. If he looked past the end of his own nose, he might've seen the babes she had at foot, and the last lingering curvature which clung her hardened muscles — indications that she had been with child. Even then, without her appearance in the arena, it had remained empty because he had perhaps spent too much time on the mainland and the threshold — and had little to show for it for either of it. "No one else had dared, or had the courage to do so." The darker mare added after a moment of silence, her wings shuffled neatly at her sides. Sohalia's words at them not being as stagnant as she had said drew her maw into a thin line, but rather than let her voice cut across, she allowed her to finish.

"We are only as strong as our weakest link. We prided ourselves upon all that we achieved, and our military prowess." She began, a snorted sigh vibrated gently against the ring which decorated her nostrils. "I mean no ill will to yours nor our diviners efforts, though a quiet progression is no progression at all. We are not more wholesome for a church nor an academy which we know nothing about until we stumble upon it, or if it is a foot note in a passing conversation. How are all supposed to know what is happening, when those who are acting do not speak up and declare that there is movement? How are we supposed to protect that which is being built upon, when there is no one to guard it? We are stagnant, not to an extent where all is stopped. But enough that most are blind and unknowing." A nod is added that it was not Gaucho's nor their way, to see all which they and those that came before had worked so hard to raise up. "It is not just our warriors who are suffering. There have been thieves who have crossed our borders and made off with trinkets, our items are unguarded and there was not the sleuths to stop them, nor the fire power to catch them if they had been caught. It is also the healers as well. There are no healers blessed with the sun's magic, and there are wounded in the throat. We cannot have our warriors, what little there is, patrolling and fighting if there is no healers to bolster them."

Nephele stopped herself after that, a twinge of emotion bleeding through which surprised herself. A gentle emotion, not of her usual self. Not one she would share normally. "How are mares supposed to give birth without the knowledge that there will be someone to help them, if something goes wrong? You are a mother, no?" The question is peppered even more with it, a mother looking for another who did not only have themselves to look out for, but the future of those who would walk after they had gone to the beyond. "I prayed to the Sun God both times I was with child, and he saw it fit to deliver my children safe to me. What if he had not answered my prayers? There were no healers at my side when my daughters were born, perhaps it was because their father was beloved of the Sun that they pulled through, I do not know. What I do know was I delivered them alone. The ranks were barren when my sons came into the world. I ask myself, what would have happened if something had gone wrong then? I would buried my children, and perhaps myself would of perished."

A breath is let out that she hadn't realized she had been holding, held to fight back and supress the onslaught of feelings which assaulted her. The warrioress' head lifted higher then, long trailing tail lashed as it coiled around her hooves. A blooming flower of fire within her chest burned brighter as she looked Sohalia in the eyes. "It is not our way to be so broken, I agree." Broken off to utter a laugh when the pale woman admitted she was not a warrior. "Perhaps you are not, but it can never hurt to be wise on how to defend and escape your opponents, no? In the coming days, I would be welcome to spar with you." It is offered with a small smile, the corners of her war painted lips turned upwards enough to make a difference.


Sohalia's words that they should be working together hit a chord with her, not a chord of displeasure, but one of intrigue. Why shouldn't they work together? Just as she had stopped to listen to the pale mare for the fact they both wanted the same thing. Why couldn't they put their minds together and put a plan into action. "I would suggest appointing new healers first, not only so that our warriors can do their job without worrying if they can or can not treat the wounds sustained, but for the health of the herd in general. We are strong, but we are not made of stone or iron. Then, we look at getting our Gladiator to focus upon training his warriors, rather than spending his time upon the mainland and in the threshold. He is wasted there when he has duties here that he should be attending to. It's no good bringing, or trying, to bring home new family members if we cannot protect them." Her voice is laced with determination as she listed the suggestions off to the other mare, her odd eyes alight and glittering. "We need to be assigned sparring partners, so that our arena is put to good use, so we may brush the rust from our bones. Bolster and strengthen what little of us the Throat has at her disposal, before we recruit and train more. It would be unwise to inflate the ranks when there is already a red flag waving above our heads. It would also be a good point to send out patrols again, what little warriors we have can be spared to high interest lands with those patrolling. There is a creature lurking in the deeps. I have seen it, and I know not if it is benevolent or if it wishes us the ill fate the Rift Gods did. I would not have us unaware in case it is like them."





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