A S T E R I O N
in sunshine and in shadow*
“Of course,” he says, and wonders if the other stallion had doubted his permission, even for a moment. More likely Rhone was only being obedient (more obedient, he thinks wryly, than some of the more headstrong members of his court) but even the notion that it might have been otherwise troubles him.
But those thoughts are gone (or if not gone, then settled like a stone in a pool) by the time he makes his own request. He holds the other bay’s gaze steady in his own, noting the unwavering expression there. It only reinforces his decision, and relief stirs within him. He does not know where their former champion has gone too; he wishes Euryale well wherever she is, even if his thoughts of her are complicated things, full of teeth and hungry sea beneath a full moon.
Rhone will be a different kind of champion, with a different kind of wisdom. And Terrastella is lucky to have him.
“Thank you,” he says softly, then his ears prick forward, listening as Rhone continues. He would blush, if he were able, at the word worthy - it isn’t one he’d associate with himself. It seems at once long ago and only yesterday that he was a dreamer of a boy, following nothing but his feet and his whim, looking for wonders everywhere and finding them. And now…oh, Rhone is more right than he knows. Asterion would never have guessed he’d fall into this path, and never would have picked it for himself; but there is nothing he would undo.
When the other man’s gaze lifts back to the doe, the king continues to regard his new champion. There is a smile curving along his own mouth, a mirror of Rhone’s; it’s almost a grin by the time the stallion falls silent again, and Asterion nods. “You have just proven again you’re the right man for this path,” he says, “though you may not even realize it.” And that, he thinks, is much of the reason Rhone will succeed. Power is not always safest in the hands of those who seek it.
“Keep me updated on your search for Erd. Any resources of the Court you need, you have. Good luck - and thank you again, Rhone.” For a moment longer he holds his gaze, and then he inclines his head and turns away, back into the sunlight of the late spring day.
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