oh, you saint
i could never love you
i could never love you
I
t did not take long for the others to arrive - it would seem they all had the same punctuality, the same loyalty to their silver king that dragged them out to the canyons without knowing where they were going or what they were doing. Toulouse watched each of their faces carefully, tucking them away in his mind. A black, gold-chained man with white on his legs. A white-faced, dun mare with the most curious of facial markings. The bay turncloak who had preceded them all.
He had seen them before - how could he not? He had spent enough months in Solterra, had paced the same halls and walkways, sneaking around corners to catch whispered ends of conversations. There were few faces unfamiliar to him now. Toulouse had become quite at home within the desert Court.He does not move as they come and make their introductions - although they were poor introductions at that. No one offered a name, no one asked. They knew what they were here for, and it was not for social hour - still, Toulouse would rather know the people he was working with. Names knit people together, gave them connections - reasons to trust on one another. How could they carry out a mission successfully without being able to rely on the others to get the job done? His scarves seem to shiver as he shakes his head. He would give them a chance to introduce themselves again later, as they were parting.
For now, it was time to talk strategy.
A speckled ear flicked to Abel as he spoke, listening actively even while his demeanor gave off the impression of being sleepy. He couldn’t decide yet if he liked the Denocte-turned-Solterran man - but it didn’t matter. He had lived in Denocte. That information would be invaluable in a mission like this.
”If we are not stupid.” His lips pulled back into a smile, his wolfish teeth gleaming in the darkness of the cave. “I can’t speak for any of you,” he said quietly, his voice whispering through the air, “but I wasn’t planning on it.”
Laughter punctuated the end of his sentence.
“The note said there were three stores for us to destroy. It’s best we split up, take them all at once. We can be out before Denocte even wakes up enough to realize what’s happened.”
He takes a minute to study their faces, silently gauging which of them would prove useful. He didn’t know them, didn’t trust their abilities the way he trusted his own or his brother’s - he would be stupid to think he could. Toulouse wasn’t even sure yet if he trusted the king, but whether he liked it or not, it was what it was.
He was not going to turn down an opportunity, nor fail at it.
@abel @Targwyn @rufio | "speaks"
