PYRRHA TOLLAIRE

Pyrrha has had time to herself. Time to think, dangerous game that it was. With the conversations around the Mire situation concluded the new heiress let her thoughts drift to things she herself was more concerned with. On a personal level. Caladan had a new Queen that was not her mother. And in the wake of it her parents for the first time openly acknowledged Pyrrha's position and intentions. Something the young woman still felt unsure over with the lack of test and lack of having bled for it. She could not show it, she refused to. Instead with a blustering bolstering wind of confidence Pyrrha began to seek out the other victor of that day for a more personal meeting.

She reached what looked like a den site at the end of the scent trail. Pyrrha sat down a number of feet away from what she figured might be Yuna's den or at least a place of frequent and without calling for the Sovereign merely began to wait for the woman. See if she'd appear eventually and what she might do about this surprise visit.

@Yuna

lineart by corvus & code by me

She's a killer queen

She keeps her Moët et Chandon, In her pretty cabinet, "Let them eat cake, " she says, Just like Marie Antoinette, A built-in remedy, For Khrushchev and Kennedy, At anytime an invitation, You can't decline, Caviar and cigarettes, Well versed in etiquette, Extraordinarily nice, She's a Killer Queen, Gunpowder, gelatine, Dynamite with a laser beam, Guaranteed to blow your mind, Anytime, Recommended at the price, Insatiable an appetite, Wanna try?

Although she'd rightfully won the crown against Lagertha, there was evidence currented through whispers. Unperturbed against disgruntled residents, she'd made plans to meet individually with as many members as she could. As dusk approached sinuous, tawny frame drifted towards her den tucked into a seaside cliffside, seeking refuge from political encounters.

Upon approaching seaside cliffs, filled with sonorous waves lapping against the shore not far off, glacial gaze hooked against the pink form hovering near her private chambers. Recognition of the youth being @Pyrrha, daughter of Kvar and Sunder, brought forth curiosity towards the girl's inclination to visit. Pyrrha, wasn't it?" Sand spans between them, polite distance enough for conversation, but not intruding on personal spaces. "What brings you to my chamber?" Wary inquiry carries tan haunches against granules, adjusting for a decent-length visit.

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PYRRHA TOLLAIRE

"Yes. And you are Yuna." She says calm, as the heiress moved to sit upon the Cove soil she curls her tail up tight around her hips and neatly places her paws all close together in a neat little bundle. Her chin tipped upwards, head held proud and confident in the shared space with the new Sovereign. "I won't waste your time beating around the bush. I want to know your reasons for answering that challenge when you did." She'd ask the same of Lagertha if her mother's other mate had been successful. Either of them could have stepped up sooner, and while there is some relief having a Sovereign on the throne Pyrrha was not content with one she knew as little as Yuna.

"And what your plans now that you have it are." She narrows her eyes a bit, suspecting there had to be something going on in Yuna's mind. And for once Pyrrha was not content to be patient and figure something out slowly and methodically.

lineart by corvus & code by me

She's a killer queen

She keeps her Moët et Chandon, In her pretty cabinet, "Let them eat cake, " she says, Just like Marie Antoinette, A built-in remedy, For Khrushchev and Kennedy, At anytime an invitation, You can't decline, Caviar and cigarettes, Well versed in etiquette, Extraordinarily nice, She's a Killer Queen, Gunpowder, gelatine, Dynamite with a laser beam, Guaranteed to blow your mind, Anytime, Recommended at the price, Insatiable an appetite, Wanna try?

Appreciation for the girl's remembrance brought a subtle smile against cinnamon lips, watching the youth warily as she considered the unrest throughout the cove. Hopefully, they weren't all angry with her ascension, though she felt tension from @Pyrrha near palpable as the youth rested against granules. "I answered because it was what I wanted. Since I joined here, I was to become a queen under Kvare's tutelage." Cream lined hips lowered to the sand, pale eyes considering the girl for a moment longer before drifting towards the shore. "And I respect Kvare enough not to unsettle his wife from the throne, when she held it." While the high sovereign might hold an ego bigger than his balls, she did hold respect for the wine beast; after all, he'd not forgone his promises from whence she'd joined the pride.

Attentions returned to Pyrrha's young face, seeing those fingers inching towards cracks to widen them, peering inside. "To rule alongside Kvare." No choices were her's solely to make, for she wasn't so foolish as to think the Tollaire male would allow her over-arcing power over the residents of the cove, when he himself couldn't delve deep enough into those crevices. "Don't worry, Pyrrha, I'm not going to try to wrestle the pride from Kvare, or displace Sunder forever." Or was she? What was she really doing, taking the crown beside that devilish man?

code by corvus

I see Oh how disappointment fell across Pyrrha's face. A brief breath of judgement found lacking sweeps across her features and through her gaze as she watches Yuna and listens. Kvare. Kvare. Kvare. She could have wanted to learn from Sunder. After could have worried about disrespecting Sunder. All she will learn from Kvare is how to sit on a throne someone else has built. Pyrrha's features quickly turn neutral, numb instead of disappointment building. Shame. Maybe this woman could have been an ally if she wasn't so smothered in Pyrrha's step father's shadow. She will be a small road block. For the disrespect shown to Sunder this day Yuna has earned no place in Pyrrha's kingdom.

The strawberry heiress smiles politely and shrugs. Oh I am not worried about that at all. Pyrrha is quick and merciless in her judgement. No amount of tutelage could ever bring Yuna close to Sunder, close to the heights Pyrrha sought after. She wasn't going to sign up to be some man's trophy. I hope you won't take it personally when I come for your spot. Or maybe Kvare's. If Pyrrha's mother didn't retake the pride first that is. Simmering malcontent bubbled in Pyrrha's gut the longer she looked at Yuna, removing this Queen would be enjoyable.

@Yuna

code by me & art by rabbit

She's a killer queen

She keeps her Moët et Chandon, In her pretty cabinet, "Let them eat cake, " she says, Just like Marie Antoinette, A built-in remedy, For Khrushchev and Kennedy, At anytime an invitation, You can't decline, Caviar and cigarettes, Well versed in etiquette, Extraordinarily nice, She's a Killer Queen, Gunpowder, gelatine, Dynamite with a laser beam, Guaranteed to blow your mind, Anytime, Recommended at the price, Insatiable an appetite, Wanna try?

Upon joining, she'd seen Kvare's devilish nature, but also a confidence bearing the crown of Caladan that had invoked a surety that he held something important to learn from. Should @Pyrrha confide details of her parents' and why she bore more allegiance to Sunder, then perhaps her own perspective would change. Darkness tethered her, undulated around her, an outsider among those established along the sea. Yet she was strong, would persevere against judgement, even as they kept her in the dark.

A brow rose at the young heiress's next words. Distaste towards the pride's high sovereign colored statements. "What is it that you dislike about Kvare?" Not that she disagreed, for the man remained vulgar at times where she remained intent on securing her loins for someone worthy, and that vulgarity had ruled Kvare out almost instantly. "I hope you aren't judging me based off seeking him out. He is the high sovereign and was when I joined. There must be something that keeps him there?" Intrigue nearly has her leaning forward towards the youth, scratching at a surface she assumed held deeper insights. If only she'd formed friendships earlier in her residency.

"Would I shy from your challenge? No. You see, it's the desert I'm after, not the cove. If you so desire to restructure your family's home, that's not my place to judge. I'm here to learn how to be a queen, so that my people will respect me when I take the throne." The Azar bloodline ruled desert sands long ago. A lineage born under whipping sands, baking suns. Stories passed down from her mother and father, gifted to her to never forget their royal lineage.

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What does she dislike? How honest to be with @Yuna was a difficult question. There was no reason for this woman to have greater loyalty to Pyrrha than to Kvare. Anything Pyrrha said out of turn could be turned against her, this the young heiress knew. She also knew she would mourn the chance to not be the one to tell him these things first and see his most honest reaction to them. She did not want to give someone else that weapon. But... on the flip side she did not want to lie to Yuna. She did not need to give Yuna reason to be more loyal to Kvare. "Him specifically? There is little I dislike, there is equally little I like. I get sick of hearing his name. Of seeing how much the world seems to love him." She dislikes things far bigger than one soul. He is the catalyst, in the crossfire, as Pyrrha learns just how harsh the world could be. How unfair it was.

So- Pyrrha takes a breath and focused, unblinking and unafraid on the older woman. "I am judging you, because you want to learn to be a Queen from a King." It was impossible for him to teach Yuna, or Pyrrha for that matter, everything they'd need to know. He did not have to navigate the world as they did. He did not have the steep mountain laid ahead of him like she did. Simply being a woman. Not being a son. He couldn't prepare a Queen. "You could have learned from the Queen. She is the entire reason Kvare is a King here at all." There is a bit of pain in the tail of Pyrrha's breath, the last wisp is angry but remorseful. A reminder that no matter how great any of them were it wasn't enough. "And her prize is to be 'Kvare's wife'" Not Sunder. Not Queen. A trophy. "He will make you a into King's wife, not a Queen." She says in a way of subtle challenge, wondering if Yuna has evidence to suggest otherwise.

code by me & art by rabbit

She's a killer queen

She keeps her Moët et Chandon, In her pretty cabinet, "Let them eat cake, " she says, Just like Marie Antoinette, A built-in remedy, For Khrushchev and Kennedy, At anytime an invitation, You can't decline, Caviar and cigarettes, Well versed in etiquette, Extraordinarily nice, She's a Killer Queen, Gunpowder, gelatine, Dynamite with a laser beam, Guaranteed to blow your mind, Anytime, Recommended at the price, Insatiable an appetite, Wanna try?

There'd been no prior knowledge of Kvare, nor Sunder. Time among Amaryllis's residents portrayed a highly patriarchal society, thus she'd sought a king experienced enough for proper etiquette as royalty. Although the man's personality might be somewhat distasteful, everyone held at least one amiable trait. Such a bold gesture that @Pyrrha offers, seeming to hold disdain towards the man - her father, as Yuna understood matters. "Is it the world who loves him, or is that just what you see?" Brow rises somewhat, for she'd not seen Kvare at the many challenges she'd attended, nor had she heard his name vastly used among those who catered towards pride life. Seemed odd, that Pyrrha might see the man as such an incredible source of public opinion, when he seemed to garner little fame.

"What is a King or a Queen but leadership? Should they not hold equal value to one another?" More questions posed back to the younger lioness, finding Pyrrha's logic seemed flawed in places, almost consuming. "Everyone seems to hold such high regard of Sunder. I hope to know her as intimately one day." Not as a lover, but the prior queen's name brought defensive gestures from nearly every pride member she'd met since being crowned. "There's truth in the things you say, I'm certain. Why doesn't Sunder retaliate against being a King's wife, if she wishes to be more?" Young Pyrrha's views of a queen aligned more with her own beliefs, though she is also intentional upon placing the same burden on both a king or a queen. It perplexed her, that someone as strong as Sunder, spoken very highly of by her people, wouldn't balk against the authority Kvare dominated over.

Under Kvare's watchful eye there were things to think about. Others couldn't fathom the ideals she wrung between tired paws, nor sought to rise to, just as Pyrhha wished to fill her mother's paw-steps. Long ago her family might have heralded royal bloodlines, but the most recent Azar weren't so prominent. She hoped to bring forth a stronger cementing of her family name written across time. Most could understand this, but she wasn't as greedy as Kvare, nor as timid as Sunder in making sure that a man knew the separation between he and her. Equality existed, if only the boundaries set, and the hillside climbed.

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Is it real? Is it her perception? "I am a harsh judge of him, it's true. But if it's not him, it's another King. Another husband." An Arkyn perhaps. Or any other risen King, tested man. Her perception might have been focused on the brightest, the closest. But Pyrrha highly doubted that this was all just in her head. She couldn't be wrong... not entirely.

"You're not asking the right question. Should they be? Yes." She purses her lips a little and then her features subtly frown. Has Yuna been so lucky to live longer than Pyrrha and not be jaded so? "The question is are they? No. There will never be a King who can teach a Queen how to deal with what she will face in her life. The world does not require perfection of a King at all, but it will demand it of us." Her eyes narrow a bit and there's a rare moment where Pyrrha feels a lack of control and her façade slips into a vulnerable anger. "A king cannot prepare his daughters to hear their brothers will get the throne and they are not an option. A king will never have to fight, defend, and rule while their bellies are swollen with children and the unwinnable situation where they must risk the future for the present." It was very very easy to be a King and just as hard to be a Queen. She clenches her jaws slightly, her breath comes hot and heavy through her nose a few times and then like a gentle wave it is released. She looks calm and collected once again. "Unless the entire world allows a Queen and King to be equal, they are not the same thing."

Yuna poses an interesting question, one that Pyrrha has wondered about herself from time to time. Any answer she's gotten she has had doubts over, she's felt unconvinced and confused. "I am unsure why she tolerates as much as she does. She has her reasons, he has his uses, but I do not understand them." Maybe it required love to comprehend? Pyrrha had seen how useful someone else could be. She's seen the ways to wield a tool. But she would not be cut by hers. "But I assure you, she is more."

code by me & art by rabbit

She's a killer queen

She keeps her Moët et Chandon, In her pretty cabinet, "Let them eat cake, " she says, Just like Marie Antoinette, A built-in remedy, For Khrushchev and Kennedy, At anytime an invitation, You can't decline, Caviar and cigarettes, Well versed in etiquette, Extraordinarily nice, She's a Killer Queen, Gunpowder, gelatine, Dynamite with a laser beam, Guaranteed to blow your mind, Anytime, Recommended at the price, Insatiable an appetite, Wanna try?

Men brought fascination due to their affinity towards roles under power. Yet she found they were much simpler than given credit, not bad nor good, something in-between. No man needed a woman, no woman needed a man, unless they wanted one of the opposite, but there were also those who wanted the same. Neither held more power than the other, among the grand scheme of things. Except here, Caladan Cove, where women seemed to find themselves among precarious ledges of self discovery.

Uninterested in Sunder's exposure to husbands, for the way @Pyrrha worded such business felt rather cumbersome in nature. Emotions left over from past excursions, perhaps feeling left out from those who came after. Instead she focused on their discussion, inlaid under opinions swirled around one another, clashing titans.

"That seems to be quite the expectation." Perfection, expected of women, this was a new concept which she'd thought little of. Still thought little of. Perhaps Pyrrha was surrounded by those who would expect perfection, but Yuna would not look for such among those she ruled beside. What she sought fettered itself in innovation, fresh ideas unschooled from the norms painted across Pyrrha's world. "You do not think the opposite sex bears any encumbrances as women do? An interesting concept but likely untrue. We all carry our own burdens, whether they're immediately visible or not." Man or woman, did sex really define anyone's struggles? She'd seen some men fight inner battles equally as hard as childbirth (even if she'd not experienced childbirth herself, it was a natural fact of like that women bore that unfortunate pain to bring new life into the world). "I think we can forge beneficial relationships with both men and women. It doesn't have to be all give and all take. Perhaps you feel slighted by men?" Tan brow raised lightly, a quiet inquiry towards Pyrrha's coveted feelings. Regardless, she felt empathy for the younger woman, having not known the weight of a patriarchal society but a convening of two souls who lead each other.

Of course there is the matter of Sunder, intertwined with the whims of men, as Pyrrha sees it. "Perhaps she is." Unconvinced that Sunder, whom many women spoke highly of, held the inner strength they thought - perhaps the woman was more grounded in feelings for a man than these resolute followers understood. "I hope, for her sake, that it's love that binds them." Consideration of an alternative brought an inward sadness; how miserable life would be lead next to another which oneself held no love for. An empty, barren life. Maybe Pyrrha doesn't see that, either.

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