Urna wanted so badly to challenge him. To stake her own claim as a leader-candidate for Verdantis, to call for others to see and hear and witness her. To test Gabriel again (had their own spar been so long ago?)
But this wasn't the time. Gabriel would be a good leader. Most in Verdantis knew him already, and his plain and matter-of-fact approach to things meant he was honest and well-liked. He knew how to temper peace with force, as well as force with peace.
She...couldn't be that kind of leader. (How she'd changed since the day she'd limped away from her clan's ancestral territory. To think that she'd stand so close to power and let it pass her by.) A wry chuckle burbled from between her teeth.
Lifting her head, Urna met Gabriel's two-toned green gaze with strength and defiance—not of him, but for Ohr's chosen. After fire, after frost, after drought, life always returned. Under his guidance, Verdantis would flourish.
The new arrival had Urna skipping back a step, her hackles rising. She seemed harmless enough, if oblivious. "You speak to the leader-challenger of Verdantis," she growled. "He calls to see if any defy him. And I," Urna said, taking a step forward to put herself Fawn and the new monarch, "do not."
But this wasn't the time. Gabriel would be a good leader. Most in Verdantis knew him already, and his plain and matter-of-fact approach to things meant he was honest and well-liked. He knew how to temper peace with force, as well as force with peace.
She...couldn't be that kind of leader. (How she'd changed since the day she'd limped away from her clan's ancestral territory. To think that she'd stand so close to power and let it pass her by.) A wry chuckle burbled from between her teeth.
Lifting her head, Urna met Gabriel's two-toned green gaze with strength and defiance—not of him, but for Ohr's chosen. After fire, after frost, after drought, life always returned. Under his guidance, Verdantis would flourish.
The new arrival had Urna skipping back a step, her hackles rising. She seemed harmless enough, if oblivious. "You speak to the leader-challenger of Verdantis," she growled. "He calls to see if any defy him. And I," Urna said, taking a step forward to put herself Fawn and the new monarch, "do not."