elif
She was mollified, a little, by his openness in revealing how new he was, and how ignorant. Many she knew would be loathe to divulge such information, even if it wouldn’t be taken as weakness - the pegasus’s people were a proud race (often to a fault) and admitting something as simple as being new would be harder for some than swallowing a burning coal.
Elif regarded him with her spring-green eyes, and then shook her head. The short bristle of her mane still gave her the appearance of an angry housecat, and the line of her mouth did nothing to dispel it; the memory of standing before the silver king on his ill-won throne made her want to shiver or to spit. “He challenged our queen, and killed her, and now he rules with cruelty and disregard. It would please him to watch us wither and die.” For that reason alone - for the grim joy of refusing his wishes - Elif promised herself that she would live. And not only live, but thrive, and help Raum’s stone rule shatter.
It is lucky that she is distracted enough not to notice the way he glanced at her. Not for a long time (not since her brother had died) had anyone concerned themselves with wanting to protect her, and it had been even longer yet since she would willingly allow it. Instead, she didn’t look his way again until the big stallion was eyeing the oasis around them. “That’s putting it mildly.” Her voice was still serious, hard-edged as the canyons beyond them, but even so she wanted to laugh. Elif swallowed the impulse.
His question caught her off guard in its nonchalance; now when she studied him, she tried to guess whether he was a mighty warrior or only an overconfident fool. The girl decided it could be either. He was handsome, she supposed, pretty in the way that some foolish boys were - but he was also so big. Well, perhaps it was lucky for him that she was here to provide a word of warning.
“The best thing to do,” she said, relaxing a little beneath the shade of the palms, “would be to leave the way you came, and quickly.” She cast a look at him, brow raised, wondering whether he would believe her at all, and then she sighed and shrugged, shuffling her wings against her sides. “But if you are determined to stay, and find yourself within sight of his basilisk, don’t meet it’s eye. Where’d you come from, anyway? There are much…friendlier…courts in Novus.”
