Knowledge had always been something Sloane had valued. There weren’t a good many things that the mare ever really cared about, but surprisingly, knowledge had been one of them. Knowledge led to secrets and secrets could be bought and sold to the highest bidder. In her days of wandering, Sloane had been known to deal in secrets and she had become quite good at it…even if some of her secrets had been collected less than honestly.

You see, before coming to Novus, Sloane’s powers of invisibility had been unchecked. They were powerful and she had wielded them with grace and expertise. How many times had she lay hidden in the shadows for secret lovers to stumble into her trap. She had gathered knows of affairs, of plots to kill the king, and of things has mundane as who took the cookie from the cookie jar. She had been the ghost in the corner, haunting others with her knowledge. People had come to her to pay her to snoop on others, to plant lies, and to exchange a secret for a secret. She had been great once.

But here, she was nothing…a nobody. Here, people didn’t know of her reputation for the buying and selling of secrets. So in her quest to perhaps make a name for herself, Sloane traveled to the library. She was intent to sift through scroll after scroll of history and ancestry trees. She would look through anything to find some type of dirt on someone.

She meanders the halls, trying to find a contender. But as she rounds the corner, her eyes first rest on the owl. She’s seen that owl before. Somnus is here. And just a few steps later, she eyes him settled neatly upon a pile of pillows, his eyes resting on an open book.

She is weary of Somnus. She’s never been one to be ruled by another, so having a “king” was a strange thing. Sloane, not caring whether it might offend him or not, simply thought of him as an equal - it made her feel better about herself. But this was not the time to dwell on her hatred for monarchs. Instead, she needed to at least be tolerant of him today. After all, she needed information. “Can you point me in the direction of a book on ancestral trees?” He didn’t need to know why she needed to know who was related to who. Sloane hoped he would simply point her in the right direction without any unsolicited questions.

@Somnus - OMFG, I’m soooo sorry I forgot about this thread D:

Sloane didn’t trust the owl. She had seen the way the bird studied her, as if she might know more than she let on. It was a shame that Somnus’ bonded only spoke with himself. Because, Sloane would be highly interested in what went on in that pretty little head of hers. The thought of just how many secrets she was privy to made her lips curl into a grin. She could give her so much information and yet…Somnus would never share his owl’s secrets. Unfortunately really. Ignoring the way the owl popped her beak at Sloane, she kept her attention on the golden stallion. It was he that could help her with her agenda for today, not his owl.

Her attention turns to Somnus, watching as he reacts to her approaching form. And when she asks him about the books she’s looking for, she can almost see the way the wheels are turning. He’s curious, even if he doesn’t admit to such a curiosity just yet. He returns her rather abrupt greeting, giving her something far more friendly and pleasurable than she had given him. Niceties were not her specialty. Whereas he was friendly and conversational, she was abrupt and on a mission.

Finally he seems to understand what she’s asking of him and he is lost in thought for a moment. Sloane uses this quiet moment to look around her, to study the name of the book directly in her eyesight. She waits patiently, which is saying something, for him to figure out if he could help her or not. And when she speaks, she cannot help the coy grin that spreads across her lips. “All of them.” If the people here would not give her secrets to buy and sell, then she would find her own secrets. Some might call her intentions blackmail, but she liked to think of them as opportunities to jumpstart her business.

She steps closer to Somnus, keeping one eye on the owl. She didn’t trust the bird. She was always looking at her with such judgmental eyes. Perhaps she should be judging her. After all, there was a lot of things about Sloane worth judging. “We can start with Delumine, if that’s easier for you to locate.” She wanted to study them all. Surely there was a bastard here and there, a murdered family, or some other sort of goodie just waiting for her to uncover it.

@Somnus

She looks at him curiously, when all that leaves his lips were “interesting”. He didn’t need to know the specifics, but she was not dumb enough to think he didn’t want to. Truthfully, she would be a little hesitant and cautious too if someone asked her for information on something that seemed to small and strange. He knew her well enough to know that it wasn’t nighttime reading that she was looking for. But that still didn’t mean he needed to know why she was looking for the information she was.

She watched him try to stretch, his eyes on her questioning and telling. But she did not let it phase her. He could question her intentions all he wanted. But as of yet, she had done nothing to cause him to think she meant Dawn Court any harm. However, he should be happy to note that she had no immediate plans to shake up the court. She was simply okay with living on her own little private island and watching the squirrels on the next island over, burn it all to hell.

He finally offers to show her the scrolls and books that she’s searching for and she nods her head slowly. Admitting that she needs help has always been difficult, the mare prideful and independent. But she sucks it up if only for a moment and follows him. Perhaps this would stop him and his bird from being so distrusting.

She watches as the bird swoops down over her, landing on the rump of Somnus and watching her with those strange beady eyes. Owls had always given her the creeps, so his bonded was no different. As they walked, Sloane could not help the words that were spoken beneath her breath, but perhaps loud enough for Somnus to hear. “You don’t need a body guard today.” Tomorrow, maybe, but not today. The fact that the owl was just there staring at her made her uneasy, but she did not show it. However, just as the owl watched her, she stared right back.

It is Somnus’ words that catch her attention. Although she does not look at him, her eyes resting on the owl, her ears flick forward to take in his words. “You speak as if my acts should have gone unnoticed.” While she could be stealthy when she wanted to be, when she made herself known, she didn’t exactly go about doing things quietly or the easy way by the standards of others.

But, he has a point. She had been in Dawn court since the time of the squirrels and she cannot think of a single time when she found conversation with any of them. If they didn’t want to try to get on her good side, then it would be their loss later. Sloane was not one to run after another. Either they were on her side, or they were an enemy. “It seems as though many have been preoccupied.” Preoccupied being an understatement. But, it was no loss to her. “The little island off the coast has suited me well enough.” She liked the quiet. The hustle and bustle of court life was simply not for her.

@Somnus

She follows behind Somnus rather quietly, her eyes resting on the barn owl. If she was going to enter in a stare down with Sloane, she needed to realize that Sloane could win every time. At least this wasn’t a true staring contest. Owls had this strange ability to keep their eyes open far longer than necessary without blinking. It was disgusting if you asked her.

It was only Somnus’ words that caught her attention. She was quiet as he explained his true intentions. Perhaps she was so used to people not appreciating her in the least bit that she just assumed Somnus had a problem with how she conducted herself. But she supposed stranger things had happened. “No one has ever paid me compliments. They feel foreign.” In fact, she wasn’t sure she knew what to do with a compliment. Some days, she just wished people gave her insults. Insults she knew how to handle. She’d return them with quick sarcastic whips. But compliments? How the fuck was she supposed to respond?

Instead, she simply followed him in silence until they came to the small room where she supposed the information she was looking for was housed. Her eyes ran over the scrolls and books, and for a brief moment she wondered where she ought to start. But it was Somnus’ words that caught her attention. He spoke of the founder having no children. She scoffed. “That you know of. Bastards are everywhere.” She was a bastard, not that it really mattered. A bastard and an exile. But again, none of that mattered.

She eased alongside Somnus until she was looking up at the shelves that stood before them. She perused the book titles, trying to find something that might be of interest to her. And then she found one. Grabbing it by the teeth, she pulled it from the shelf and moved to set it on a stone table in the center of the room. She opened it and began to skim it’s pages, forgetting to tell Somnus ‘thank you’. She didn’t forget, truthfully, she just never thanked anyone for anything.

@Somnus