so i listen to the    wind for an answer

“I was no God, certainly. My brother and father controlled fire, my mother water. It was common for horses to control elements, though the strength of the power always varied.” Her family had been strong, part of what had landed them on the throne for so many generations. Lyanna could topple trees. Corbin could burn a forest. She’d never really seen just what her mother and father could do, but she’d heard stories. Apparently they’d met in a spar, water against fire. You can imagine who won, something that prickled her father forever. It was also, according to him, the reason he fell in love with her mother.

She listens as he talks of his own powers, something she’d never seen before. Powers like that did not exist in Morham, and she gives him an impressed look. “I bet you can still terrify your enemies,” she says with a bit of a grin, before turning serious at his next question. “There must be, which I admit, makes me sort of curious. Why?” Was it to start everyone in Helovia on the same playing field, or was it to give the Gods control? She had never been as powerful as Moony, but once, she had at least been a contender.

He continues, elaborating on the fact that it is indeed odd for him to staying in one place. “Well, for whatever it’s worth, I’m glad you picked the Edge.” The words are out before she even really considers the implications of them, but she finds she doesn’t regret them either. He’s easy to talk to, and she is unusually comfortable in his presence. “Can I ask you a favor?” She says, pausing for a moment but not actually expecting him to answer until he’s heard the favor. “Would you teach me to fight? I trained in Morham,” she doesn’t say with Corbin, because there’s something too painful about that, even now, “but I’ve never fought without the wind.” She wants to do everything she can to lead well, but she’ll make for a terrible leader if she cannot defend those she is supposed to protect.

Soon, the sounds of another catch her attention. She would be surprised to find that anyone thought her beautiful, particularly enough to follow. Lyanna’s not completely modest or a fool and she knows she’s pretty, certainly. However, she has never considered herself beautiful. Of average height and build, the only thing remarkable about her are the teal splashes on her body. In Helovia, even the teal isn’t remarkable, with so many others bearing scales or skin like the sea or the stars of the night sky. Here, Lyanna is easily lost in a crowd, or so she always assumed. That was sort of the point of staying here really, in a place where color held no significance.

Even when she lived in Morham though, she was the only black horse in her family, besides her father. Her sister and mother had been gold and white, her brother gold and black. Lyanna didn’t get the gold of her mother at all, and looked far more like her father than she might care to admit. Her mother had been beautiful. Adelene too, was beautiful. Though something about their beauty came in the way they held themselves, in the way they could own a room. Her sister captured attention by being young and adorable. Her mother simply dazzled a room, all charm and smiles. Lyanna could dazzle a face or too, but never the whole room. Sometimes Lyanna could have sworn the world stopped when her mother joined a crowd.

When the other horse comes into view, he’s familiar even if Lyanna doesn’t know him well. He’s quick to ‘search over there’, and she finds herself laughing slightly. If horses could blush, she certainly would be right now. Barty is the first to invite him back over, and Lyanna is quick to chime in. “Graasvoel, it’s good to see you. Come join us, please.” Though she has never spent much time with him, she greets him as warmly as she would anyone else. He’s a member of the Edge, after all.

lyanna