[AW] Nothing's wrong but nothing's true

[Asterion]

Asterion in sunshine and in shadow* Asterion is more glad than he can say to be welcomed, but the thought makes something inside him twist, uneasy. Has he become a stray dog, that he’s so hungry for a scrap of companionship? He’d never been bothered by loneliness before – he’d been content to be a pilgrim, after all. An adventurer. This place is changing him. But the mare seemed a grounded presence, still and proud, the image of a warrior with her fiery eyes and straight back. She did not look discontent - and why should she be? Ah, if he could only quiet his heart. “Just wandering,” he confesses with a small smile, and turns his dark dreamer’s eyes back to the horizon. “Though I wondered if I might see my sister. Er, Florentine.” Perhaps he should have said ‘the Queen,’ though that seemed such a stiff mouthful for what he knew of his half-sibling. Also, the idea that he had given simply Florentine a small scar above her eye in their training scuffle was much less guilt-inducing than the idea of injuring a queen. At the sound of his name he glances at her again, the smile curving more true on his dark mouth. He dips his chin in a nod but says nothing – he is surprised, in truth, that she knew of him at all, much less remembered his name. He knew first-hand that he was far from the only bay stallion around; at least one of them looked similar indeed. Her earlier statement, though, has him tipping a curious ear toward her, and he narrows his eyes at the bright snow, as if expecting to see the shapes of enemies rising from the white banks. “Keeping watch – do you expect trouble? I got the impression that this world is…” he trails off, searching for a word that didn’t sound offensive, that didn’t hint at his strange disappointment at things being so safe, so routine. “Sleepy.” He knows he is a fool for wanting any kind of trouble; but then, he is still little more than a boy, and he has never seen a war. @Israfel eee sorry this took so long!!