Welcome to Gaia! ::

It wasn't her fault, really.

Someone just HAD to be nosey, and they just HAD to try and go back on their promise. If there was one thing Rynne could never stand, it was someone trying to go back on a deal.

After all, she was of the Fae. Her word is her bond, and so were the words of others. Of course, she couldn't bear to go back on her own deals, that would be extremely hypocritical of her. No, no. that would not do.

And, as such, she held others to the same standards.

The stallion had asked her to lure away a rival for love, you see. And in exchange, promised her that the first foal he produced would be gifted to her. "Lost" at birth. Love made tangible, given to her to nurture and to raise as her own. Something she could have for herself, finally, considering her own endeavors at love had proven...fruitless. Not that it was something she particularly worried about- the right time, the right one would come along eventually, after all. In the meantime, she could do thinks like this without worrying that she would need to ask permission, or risk breaking the heart of someone she truly cared for. At least this way she was entertained.

Of course, the wording of the deal was airtight. It was to be *his* firstborn, and there was no time limit. After all, producing children could take many tries if one or the other had low fertility, something Rynne would never blame another for. And she could wait. she would wait. After all, love had to blossom with time and patience. It wasn't to be forced or rushed. And she. Had. Time.

And so the game had begun. The rival stallion was so easy to lure away, to make fall for her. It ended in the mare being comforted by the stallion that had wished for such a thing to happen, and in the end, his courtship was successful. T'was not the same for the rival that Rynne had lured, as when she was notified that the pair she had 'helped' were to have a mating ceremony, she dropped him like...well...like a horse down a cliff. But that wasn't the important thing. Nobody found out about that.

The important this was that the stallion- her friend, her client- decided that he no longer wished to honor their deal. Their contract.

Unpon finding out that his hard-won beloved was expecting, he sought out the Fae mare, looking to amend the contract. Silly stallion, his first mistake was admitting that he knew his mate was expecting. The second mistake was trying to go back on the deal. Or course, he did his best to plead, making ridiculous statements such as 'what if the child was ill?', or, 'what if they don't make it'? Well, then that would be her event to deal with. Not his. His firstborn was to be hers and hers alone. Alive or dead. Whatever his mate produced between the two of them was to be-

Well, she found out alright. Finding out the exact reason he was so dodgy, so cagey was...amusing at best. Infuriating at worst.

You see, she found out quite easily that another mare- not his mate- had presented baskets not long after he tried to negotiate. Both foals had telltale signs that he was the father. The first of those foals was his firstborn.

His mate presented baskets only days later.

A shame, then, that his mate was so willing to give a foal to the poor barren Fae Friend of her beloved.

No. He had not only lied to his mate, hurt another mare, but had tried to escape the deal.

It wasn't the first time she'd asked him to take a walk with her to discuss the contract.

In this case, it had led to...well, there was a river, you see? And the stallion, big as he was, was just too easy to get to back up and fall in. It certainly wasn't her fault they were right at the rapids, and it most certainly wasn't her fault that he'd hit his head on a rock. Oh, the waters tainted a lovely light pink for a few moments was a sight to behold, but it wasn't as if she had added the tint herself, right?

No, no, it was nothing worth mentioning.

What was worth mentioning was going on a stroll down the riverbank not a week later with a dear friend who made the days much more bearable. One who knew nothing about her....deals.

And seeing the bloated corpse.

"Oh...He landed here." She said, not really thinking before she spoke. And she- well, she forgot she had company. "Pity his skull didn't crack, It would have been a sight...to see..."

Oh. Oops...

There was an almost childish glint in her eye at the response. She had expected...something different.

An accusation. A judgement of guilt. An order to stand before the Oratrice Mecanique d'Analyse Cardinale a presider of justice to face what she had done.

Not...an inquisitive question. Not curiosty.

This was a secret she had been meaning to take with her to the afterlife. Instead-

"Oh, yes. No. It wasn't an accident." She admitted, not seeming proud, but not...as though she felt bad. She definitely didn't feel bad about ridding the world of his filth. "He...tripped. And fell. I didn't push. But he still...Fell. He went back on a deal and he did something...awful." She shook her head, her eyes now trained on the pungent, bloated corpse that was starting to...leak.

"...Would you be against helping me remove him...it from the water?" After all, the life was ended. It was a shell now. No 'him' remained.

Without waiting for an answer, she started to carefully try to move the rather large corpse onto the riverbank instead.

Ugh, it stunk. It now looked like how he acted.

"Went back on a deal." She said simply, swishing her tail. "Lied to me. Lied to two others. Broke hearts." As if that were enough to excuse her actions....it was. As far as she was concerned.

Watching Prism arrange the body, she couldn't help but feel a surge of affection for her friend. She now knew about this and was still around? Still willing to help?

"You have one too?" She asked, tilting her head curiously. No judgement, simply curiosity. Well, a little bit of judgement- in that it had better be as fun a 'secret' as the body they had just rolled away.

Listening intently, Rynne's wings fluttered. It was absolutely flattering to have someone not only speak about themselves so candidly, to admit that they had a personality so complex...It was such a warm feeling, feeling so trusted.

Ah, Prism truly was worthy of the little space she had all to herself in her heart.

Soft or edged, Prism was her heart-friend, and she leaned over to give the mare a gentle bomnp with her head. An affirmation.

"You are you, and you are my friend. We hate liars, we hate cheats. And i would never ask you to help if it would hurt you." She nodded. "And fire....fire can be wonderful. But..."

Her eyes slid to the corpse they had...well, they didn't hide it, did they? They just...nudged it.

"Let us go find beauty elsewhere. This stinks, here."

This was their secret now. Perhaps they should get matching bracelets to commemorate?

Or Arson. A Tiny bit of Arson between friends was fine, right?