In Dire Straits

The queen paced the edge of the lake restlessly. She'd been anxious and nauseous and in foul tempers the past few days, despite having been given no reason for it. She stared at her reflection in the lake a bit, seeing the scars along her abdomen, now fully healed. Seeing the bright glitter in her eyes. The paladin, like all paladins, felt like she needed to be doing something, something important and desperate, but she did not know what. Everything was peaceful and still and all the queen could do was pace.

Appreciate the quiet, she told herself. It never lasts long.

At the sound of a rustle in the bushes, she turned. Ears pricked towards the interloper, eyes narrowed. She had thought for a split second that the wolf was Ghost, so similar were they in build and coloration, but no. This must be his father. The wolf that had left Inaria for greener pastures mere moments after Haylyn became a mother. The golden wolf had little patience for those who abandoned their kingdom, or their family. She sat down on her hind haunches, yellow gaze piercing.

"Omega." She said in cold greeting.

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The walls of the infirmary were normally a soothing balm, strong and sturdy against the Omega's bulk. He was almost hidden away like a secret, shoving his too large frame into the tight den that Setebos had provided him to rest and recover in. That was... days, weeks ago now? He had grown lazy in his recovery, as if his position wasn't dangerous enough already. He awaited the day one of the messengers would come, or even Ghost or Haylyn themselves. To tear his scruff and force him away. Was it a mistake to return? Should he have kept his mouth shut when his ghastly saviour had rescued him?

Perhaps... But he hadn't truly tried yet, had he?

The Omega lumbered out of the tight den, his chub rubbing against the tightly packed walls. His teeth latched onto the rabbit that was left for him, not wanting it to go to waste. Kieran's breath misted in the air, the approaching winter weather approaching slowly but surely with each passing day. Heavy paws took the man deeper into the Healers Garden, the sweet scent of lavender filling his nostrils. Setebos... Though there was no sight of the Medic, much to his... disappointment? The man was gruff, even rude at times, but he was honest. There was no cloak and daggers, no skimming the topic nor dodging around it.

But the Medic wasn't here, and so Kieran lumbered on. Charcoal ears flickering as he approached the lake, wanting to be soothed somewhat by the lapping waves. Creamy paws took the Omega through the small bushes, his bulk pushing aside the twigs and leaves with relative ease as he went out in to the open. Teeth dug sharply into the rabbit as sapphire eyes locked onto the Queen. Not Haylyn, but wasn't Haven just as bad? Setebos had brought him up to speed on the current monarchs.

"Omega."

Kieran took a second or two to respond, the big brute frozen like a deer in headlights. Finally, he snapped out of his rigid stance, head bowing low, low, toward the ground until his chin brushed the grass stalks. The rabbit fell from his maw onto the ground, his ears pinning back as he bowed, belly kissing the ground. Did he look ridiculous? Perhaps, but this was the world he lived in now. Nose pressed the rabbit closer to the golden woman, an offering despite his rumbling stomach.

”My Queen. Are you.. well? Are you hungry?”

The omega smelled of healing wounds and lavender. The queen could tell she'd startled him, his eyes wide and ears pinned. She watched as he lowered himself into a bow, dropping his meal at her feet and lowering himself into the dirt. The gesture was obsequious at best, and her face wrinkled into something like mild disgust. She huffed and squared her shoulders. "I don't need your meal." She nosed the rabbit back at him. "Get up off the ground."

Her face a solemn and humorless line, the queen, looked right at him with a quiet hm. "Those who relish using their power to debase others are insecure with their station." An ear briefly flicked back at her own words, the only hint into the mind of the stoic queen. She was appraising him. Trying to see what he was. "Surely you don't imagine you deserve that sort of treatment."

Did he?

Not Haylyn, but wasn't Haven just as bad, the omega wondered silently to himself. Haylyn's crown had been her birthright. She had just been a child when Haven met her - picking up a bloodied monarchy off the ground, where it had fallen from her brother's severed head. But Haven had won her crown from Dragon's fangs, and from the hearts of her people, and from an obstinate and implacable sense of honor. It had taken both of Inaria's queens to rebuild the kingdom. Every kingdom needs a sword as well as a scepter. The golden queen, the queen of swords, had grown to love the silver dire as a friend and confidante. They had both cared deeply for Cappella, for their mutual friend in Moons, and for the future of Inaria as a whole. Haven now trusted Haylyn's son, Kieran's son, as she had once trusted Haylyn herself.

Haylyn wasn't a queen anymore. Depending on how you felt about monarchy, it was safe to say that Haven was not only just as bad. She was worse.

"Despite what you did to my friend."

Haven

Kieran~

Haven