For all the time she's spent missing her mother, even wondering at times over Kvare, Pyrrha's thoughts had rarely drifted to her younger siblings. Before Drauhir came back she had not thought to miss them. And at first she hadn't felt much optimism or joy from his return. In time that's changed and become simultaneously very true and very false. @Thaïs brought even more complicated of feeling. Pyrrha had always said she'd fight her brothers, prove it wrong that they were so destined and perfect for this throne. She'd never had such feelings over her younger sister. But had she ever really thought twice about Thaïs? Just one more woman in the shadow of men it seems. Pyrrha as guilty as any of putting her there.

She seeks out the young woman today- poking her nose into the breeze and scanning the horizon for sign of her. A more personal reunion long over due.

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Theirs was not a fair childhood, and hardly one that left Thaïs with as much appreciation for her sister as she should. There were few who cared to keep the family going in the absence of their kingfather, and though Thaïs had been sent away long before any could see their downfall, she still suffered the crime and consequences of not being there when she should have. But if she feels any sense of guilt or grief, it does not show. Rather, the once-princess has made herself quite comfortable, bidding her brother's soldiers to wait on her hand and foot for as long as she could get away with it.

And her appetite for sleeping and lazing about is insurmountable.

When Pyrrha appears on the horizon, she is doing just that. Sprawled across the face of a boulder brushed clean of sand and dirt. The sun, peaking from between furling white clouds, basks them both in a warm, golden glow. She peeks open one glacial eye as the blurry, rosy form of her sister-queen begins to take shape.

An audience with the queen? she drawls, her tone equal parts playful and condescending, though not uncharacteristic of her even in the presence of family or royalty. It must be important—or has Drauhir finally slipped and fallen off a cliff?

---

@Pyrrha ♔

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Her innate response comes in a teasing tone and the gentle fluttering laugh of a quiet chuckle. "We can only hope for as much." A treasonous statement regarding a king but a perfectly normal sentiment between siblings. Was it not part of their job to get on each other's nerves once in awhile? And who else could Pyrrha possibly share this sentiment with? Perhaps some day they'd share in news of Drauhir suffering the consequences of his actions, or even just being made to look a fool. Today was not that day.

She settled down into a seat near her sister and lightly placed her paws beside each other. "It is a matter of a importance however- of sorts." In a more literal way. The topic was not unknown and important. The topic was importance itself. "I need to figure out our value to each other." Or lack of.

@Thaïs

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We can only hope for as much.

Ah, yes, there's a reason why Thaïs likes Pyrrha. Though Thaïs's idea of liking may not be traditional, and more akin to tolerating. True affection and gratitude comes at a great cost for a girl who has been handed she's everything she's ever wanted except for the love of a father and the pride he had for his sons. But, at least, she is not alone, which is a fact she is now reminded of.

As Pyrrha eases herself beside her, Thaïs rolls back onto her belly, lifting her head from the sun-soaked rockface so she can peer at the rosy queen. Whatever jesting there was before is now replaced by steely seriousness, and with a question that is enough to sober even the unruly sister.

Silence settles in reply for long moments after. She wears a look that betrays nothing.

Until she smiles, and reaches out to place a paw upon one of Pyrrha's own. We're dragons, she purrs, We're sisters.

For however much Thaïs likes to create and perpetuate havoc, she knows the importance of family, and how despite the shadows cast upon her and the feelings of inadequacy, for them she would burn everything in her wake.

But if her own family was set on eating itself? If she was one day pit between brother and sister?

I have no desire for your crown. I want only a comfortable life, she continues, quirking a brow. She is no threat to Pyrrha, and little to Drauhir. But she has not hidden her displeasure at her brother's conditions—she may not want a throne, but she at least deserves a pretty title and just enough power to throw around, thankyouverymuch. But—

She leans forward, her voice lowering.

—I suspect that is not what you're asking.

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@Pyrrha ♔

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Her eyes dip down and over responsively to the contact of their paws. Her younger sister's hand dipped in dark resting against Pyrrha's blushing complexion. The Queen's eyes wander to Thaïs's face, to that single folded ear and with the sight comes a reminder for Pyrrha of her own torn away ear- that she is more looking in a mirror now than before. She looks away to the horizon and clears her throat. Sister. Dragons... Neeha.

"That is not a concern of mine. If you earn it, it will be yours." Pyrrha's voice is dismissive and one of her paws waves the thought away into the air. If Thaïs was speaking true and she was uninterested then so be it. If she was lying, or changed her mind, they'd fight and Pyrrha would defend her crown as expected. Either was fine. And besides, Pyrrha couldn't fault her sister if she did want to grab for the crown when Pyrrha herself would do the same to her brother's position...

Ah yes. "Of course." Pyrrha did not need reminded of their blood ties and the labels they had for each other. There's more to this. She leans in close as well - aiming a few tugging licks around the base of her sister's ear to give the appearance of grooming as she speaks quietly to her. "We have more in common with each other than either of us ever will with him..." Her eyes dance across the Cove's landscape around them. "... I'm just saying if there's ever anything he does that might compromise our pride- your beloved comfort- I ask you tell me." Thus far Pyrrha has had little issue with Drauhir's handling of his position, much to her surprise. But insurance didn't hurt.

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Pyrrha looks worse for wear.

War-forged and war-torn, as if she's aged a thousand years. Yet, there's always been something of an ethereal beauty about the queen, a fire that refuses to be trampled and snuffed out. Unyielding, unrelenting, and so very unlike Thaïs in almost every way. She could not say that she would suffer the same scars and tired look in her eyes, unless the call for duty finally overpowers her own vanity.

Perhaps it was a mercy Kvare sent her away to a softer, cushioned life. He certainly did not spare the same mercy for his other daughters.

But even a gilded cage is still a cage.

We have more in common with each other than either of us ever will with him... her sister-queen begins, and Thaïs quirks a brow. ... I'm just saying if there's ever anything he does that might compromise our pride- your beloved comfort- I ask you tell me.

Oh?

He is our brother, she begins, at first low and seething. But as she continues, the hardened edge of her words soften, until she speaks just barely above a whisper. But I don't think any of us would want him to tarnish our good name.

She is loyal, after all, to the Tollaire as much as him.

To Pyrrha, as much as him.

To herself, most of all.

And she could not have a comfortable and easy life with the cushion of nobility if Drauhir is set on making enemies left and right. He has never been known for exercising decorum or holding his tongue. He has left even her warring and wanting for more—what would that spell for the more ambitious of them?

She knows a few already who would see his head on a pike, dragon-blooded or outsider alike.

Drauhir has lived so long in the light he cannot see the shadow he casts, she continues, It is our duty as sisters to remind him that they do still exist.

By any means necessary.

---

@Pyrrha ♔

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Pyrrha knows the duplicity of tone one requires at time. A face for one, a different for another. It's even more complicated by matters of blood and crowns, worlds that she and her siblings now played in. So it comes with little shock to hear the hallmarks of blasphemy in @Thaïs's rolling hiss of words only to have her immediately soften and express a logic Pyrrha agrees with. Her crown nods. He is learning. But we know him, what he is. If we have to protect him - And, unspoken and veiled in a parts - us. -from himself we will do so.

None would be able to understand like the Tollaire women. None quite suffered against the opposing forces of conquering and unity that seemed ingrained in their blood. Well, maybe not all blood thinks Pyrrha.

She gradually drops to lay beside her sister- paws curled close to her body and features alert to things going on around them. The horizon, the sky, the grass dancing. Agreed. Her eyes watch the shadow of a bird pass over the ground as it flew near them and then beyond. Has he asked you to marry as he asked of me?

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If we have to protect him from himself we will do so.

There's a heaviness in that declaration that even Thaïs cannot deny. No amount of cavalier disregard for her responsibilities could hinder the way it tempers her into silence. Protecting one from oneself is a tread on the thin line between preservation and usurpation. One might see things a certain way while another doesn't, and Thaïs knows the benefit of mutual understanding long before the sword ever need be drawn.

At least she knows Pyrrha's intentions, now.

And she can say that they are not far off from her own.

With the air proverbially cleared, Pyrrha's presence at her side is even more welcome than it was before. By virtue of being daughters, they had more in common with each other than either did with their king; but now, more than ever, she feels she has an ally within her family's leadership. With Drauhir, it has always been impossible to tell if they're as inseparable as they appear, or if he is one thorny insult or slight away from disinheriting Thaïs entirely.

It is a mystery even to her.

Has he asked you to marry as he asked of me?

She blinks.

No, she finally seethes after a moment of terse, held breath. How dare he. He should, lest I sink my claws into one of his handsome soldiers.

But perhaps even Pyrrha knows Thaïs would never marry down. If Drauhir would not find her a proper match, she would make one for herself.

Has he secured you a betrothal, dear sister? To whom?

---

@Pyrrha ♔

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She is a slight bit surprised Drauhir hasn't tried to utilize his littermate as another marriage token yet. But perhaps now that they're back in Caladan there's more to offer to potential friends and allies than just a woman's entire future. How kind of Drauhir. If the opportunity presented itself... She says under her breath at the mention of soldiers and men. She shrugs just a bit as she speaks it and lets the thought drift into silence. Thaïs, knowingly or not, had sparked an idea of potential in Pyrrha. The more in roads and connections they had the stronger they were. This went outwards to political alliances but it also went within, strands of the spider's web they weave.

To the Savante Family. It was part of our alliance talks before he was able to retake the throne. A piece, a tool. But the specific lion? That was my choice. She could only hope that by letting her sister know that Thaïs might have leverage to make the same demand of their King Brother. Wretch whatever little bit of control back into the pockets of Sunder's daughters.

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If the opportunity presented itself...

Thaïs is a woman of claiming every opportunity, regardless of its outcome. A moment left unseized is a moment wasted, and queens who are not forged of wisdom and patience are ones hewn from capriciousness and dauntlessness. If Drauhir does not find her a husband out of a prince or a king, then Thaïs would find one personally.

And a husband is necessary, of course. To fight her battles, to keep her bed warm, and to appear the monstrous and brutal visage needed in a world that loves to devour its women. Thaïs plays the game the only way she knows how—using her body as a tool, and her mind as a weapon.

To the Savante Family. Thaïs lifts a brow as Pyrrha speaks. It was part of our alliance talks before he was able to retake the throne.

She scarcely remembers the Savantes and the ruckus that had been caused between them and her father and some challenger of old. But what had become of it escaped her, until now. Clearly, level heads persisted, and so had their flimsy alliance. Now, it is even stronger—and backed by marriage.

But the specific lion? That was my choice.

Who did you choose? she asks, endlessly curious.

Hopefully someone strong, handsome, good in bed. Or any combination of the three. One might as well enjoy herself if the expectation is for her to merely tolerate his company and push out his heirs.

Someone malleable, perhaps. Pliant. Controllable.

At least, that's what Thaïs would choose.

I must admit, I did not take you for the married type, she continues with a sardonic smirk, Did he ask you, or did he tell you?

---

@Pyrrha ♔

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