Sun Mar 31, 2024 6:53 pm
- Link
Garnet Thornsk
It had been a beautiful night, a beautiful run. All of her suitors were worthy in their own way, had shown bravery and strength in different ways. She had not intended for the stream to be as treacherous an obstacle as it had been, tripping up several of her chasers, but watching someone's failures and how they reacted and recovered from them could be more illuminating than how they responded when they were in complete control.
She appreciated them all: The strange blue who'd recognized her own strength; brown Kaask, with his stoicism making his every word count; proud Odalisk, his own strongest advocate who nonetheless had shown no signs of discouragement or frustration at losing his footing; bronze Goranask, the most talkative of her shadows, and the only one to praise her beauty alongside her power; Cynerysk, a fellow garnet, who understood that strength was nothing in the face of a unified pack; brown Zinsk, another quiet wher, but one with the patience to slow and correct his missteps; and finally, the latecomer, a wild wher with no words at all for her, only his silent presence keeping pace in the race.
All are worthy, she assured the whers following her. All are brave. Any would make children strong. But must choose. She whirled, turning back to face them, finding her choice: Zinsk.