Liquid Confidence ! Private, Konane.

[Harlem Cader]

Well... he'd done it.

Somehow he had been selected, out of the mass of competing stallions, to become the co-leader of the current reigning Queen of the East. It hadn't quite sunk in for Harlem, and it was rather strange to walk past the horses who had days ago been his equals and see them now bow their heads towards him and to even hear some of them call him 'Your Majesty'. News certainly traveled fast around the herd, he hadn't even been King for a week yet. However, Harlem didn't mind all the attention he was getting, and to see the stallions who had often pushed him around throughout colthood because they thought they were tougher and better than him... Well, karma worked in brilliant and amusing ways. The tobiano stallion sighed as he traipsed through the long grasses bordering the Narrows, a breeze uncommonly chilly for Spring ruffling his short chestnut brindle and white coat. Honey eyes gleamed with amusement as he remembered the look on his mother's face when he told her the news.

'My son, finally, the King!', she had squealed with joy, and she swooned over him, bombarding him with questions he didn't even have the answer to yet. His father had just smiled a weary smile, uttering a 'Well done, lad,' in between the excited tirades of his mate. When his siblings found out, it was surprising to see not one ounce of jealously in their dispositions. However, it was a real relief to Harlem, pleased that both his brother and sister were happy for him and didn't harbor any resentment. It would have surprised him somewhat if they had, after all they showed no interest in a high rank and the responsibilities that came with it. They just wanted a quiet life, with children, as they had both already found mates. Harlem was pleased for them, and knew that his life wouldn't be quiet like that whilst he held such an important rank, but that didn't bother him one bit. In fact, he found himself becoming rather excited about it all, but instead of frolicking about and nickering like a colt, he kept calm and attempted to look dignified.

All things considered, he was doing well so far... or so he thought, anyway. The stallion came to a halt at the spot where Konane said that she would meet him. If he was doing anything wrong, he was more than 100% sure that she would let him know about it. The dark blue-gray and white mare was someone that he had known since childhood. They weren't best friends, but they had no issues, and Konane obviously liked him enough to elect him as her co-lead. He rather looked forward to meeting with the pretty mare, and a small smile crept across his lips as he waited for her to make an appearance, passing the time by listening to the rush of water.

[Konane]

Konane wasn't entirely sure what to make of recent events. No sooner had her head stopped spinning from her own crowning and having the title of 'Queen' bestowed upon her than did she receive a counterpart with whom to govern. Harlem Cader. She knew the name, the face too. It was hard not to, both of them having grown up within the safety of the Zexis herd. There weren't too terribly many of them after all, so she hadn't been surprised when the name announced was one of great familiarity.

She didn't know Harlem all that well; what she did know of him wasn't particularly strong one way or the other. She did know he possessed a smooth tongue and a charm that she herself lacked and she wasn't entirely certain what to make of that. Perhaps her own simplistic, no holds barred personality had been deemed too weighty and in need of metering out and Harlem had seemed to the powers that be to be the appropriate neutralizing balance. Whatever the case, Harlem was the King to her Queen and she was going to have to learn to like it, one way or the other.

Placing her hooves with great care, the Queen made her way in no particular hurry to the appointed meeting place, a sense of apprehension (or was it just nerves, butterflies, whatever they called them?) in her gut. It was no small thing, meeting the individual with whom you were partnered in order to govern an entire landscape and species with. Much rode on their ability to work together and independent of one another to lead the Zexis in what was a time of peace, but still undeniably tense. Blood and war were still too fresh in the hearts and minds of the Zexis for anyone to be relaxed with the foreign sense of peace that had settled uneasily upon the Eastern lands (and the other regions too, she assumed).

Rounding a corner, the uniquely marked stallion came into view and the Queen halted some distance from him, overruling her initial reflex to bow her head out of respect. They were equals; she needed to remind herself of that. A good Queen had to recognize and respect authority, but not defer to it. She was the authority. She would treat him as the equal he was and expect nothing less than the same of him. Nodding her head in his direction simply, the silver-blue mare spoke up, her voice sounding stronger than she herself felt. "Harlem Cader." She acknowledged without much in the way of ado, she herself not wanting any formal introductions with 'majesty' or 'highness', at least, not when speaking with him. "Congratulations; how are you adjusting?" Practicality trumped most things in her book, and this seemed a very practical question. And what's more, it would give her some insight into his thought process to know how he was responding to the new context of his own name and title.

[Harlem Cader]

It wasn't long before Konane rounded the corner, and once honey eyes met with navy blue, she bowed her head and he mirrored the gesture, the small smile still gracing his features. "Harlem Cader. Congratulations; how are you adjusting?" The brown brindle and white stallion looked up and nodded over at the mare, the smile growing wider as he responded to her query. "Konane." The name rolled off his tongue easily, and he took a step closer to the mare, but felt at ease with the proximity between them and decided to stay where he was for the moment. He certainly didn't want to crowd her, after all, and despite the fact that he was her equal now, Harlem still felt that she was more important than him and therefore most certainly didn't want to do anything wrong, especially during this crucial first official meeting. "Thank you. It's all quite new to me, obviously.... but I think I'll get used to it, I'm sure. It's an honor." And it really was. The fact that he'd been chosen over stallions who could very well have had more experience under their hooves, more maturity, more wisdom... the list goes on and on.

As if she was standing right behind him, he could still hear his mother cooing in his ear, practically feel the waves of pride radiating off of her even though she was probably miles away, off with the rest of the herd. She was probably more pleased for herself than she was for him, glad that she could now call herself 'the mother of the King'. It sounded better than 'ex second in command', or plain old 'herd mare', didn't it? Even if it didn't give her any extra responsibilities, it was all about appearances and social status with her. Not that he resented her one bit, she was a strong mare, and he admired her, even if she was a bit 'in-your-face' and power hungry most of the time. Lukas, of course, was so henpecked that he didn't really have any will of his own anymore, and almost everything he did was monitored by his overbearing mate. He didn't dwell on the relationship of his parents, though, because he had much more important things to dwell on right now. Also, the thought of getting himself into a relationship where he was as henpecked as his father, and the mare had control over everything he did, looking over his shoulder, constantly nagging and questioning him....

It made him shudder.

As King, he would never let himself get into that situation. He knew that now he not only had his looks and charm, but power as well, there would be many mares after him. But right at this moment, he wasn't interested in settling down. Suppressing a smirk at Konane, Harlem wondered if she was interested in having a mate. She most certainly seemed as if she didn't need a stallion to protect her, and she looked happy enough single. However, looks could be deceiving, but to ask her such a personal question when they weren't even friends yet would be silly. He kept his curiosities silent, and after a few more seconds of silence, he finally voiced himself. "Is there anything politics-wise I should be filled in about?" He felt rather stupid asking the question, and no doubt he could have worded it better, but of course he was all new to this and she knew that. Harlem would hate to be kept in the dark about anything, and if he didn't ask... then maybe he'd never find out.

[Konane]

She supposed that was one of the differences between him and her. He said he'd get used to it. Konane doubted that she ever would. She'd been trying to tell herself this, trying to assure herself that a Queen's bearing and mindset would eventually descend on her but such a thing had yet to happen. Not that she'd been at this for much longer than he had, but it was still enough of a concern for the mare that it hadn't yet happened that she now wondered if ever it would. Or would she forever feel that she was a filly playing in a mare's world, her hooves too small to fill the role she was being asked to play?

Her only answer to him was a nod of the head, lacking anything productive to add to his belief that with time he would grow accustomed to his title. At the very least, if never she did, at least it seemed that soon he would. Mayhaps this contrast between them would simply be an area where one of them did well enough for the both of them; a very yin and yang type thing. Or maybe this was just the first instance of many to come in which her exceedingly average nature would mark her a step below her co-leader.

Enough; it is a foal's errand to think such thoughts and worry needlessly. She scolded herself, turning her attention to studying him more intently. Everything was seen through a different lens once you were a title bearing individual, she realized. Things that, as a commoner or a sentry might seem permissible, or fine or even like a positive thing were not always so once you took the mantle of power. She wanted to be sure that such was not the case with Harlem Cader. There could be no sense of buyer's remorse in who she ruled alongside and so she would need to get to know him better and make certain that he had indeed been well chosen.

His first question pleased her, though she had naught in the way of a very good answer to return to him. Nothing which you do not already have knowledge of, I should venture." She responded simply, offering him a shrug of sorts. "The herd's numbers, as you know, are rather low, so I'd like to organize parties of the sentries to ferret out those of our kind that remain hidden away in the common lands, apart from their brethren. I myself plan on making a few attempts at bolstering our numbers. That aside, things are relatively quiet, for now." It wasn't easy to believe, after so many years spent fighting, that peace should now be dawning. Konane was hesitant to announce peace as being present. To solidify it, to make it a real thing, it seemed a dream. And she was still very afraid that dream would prove to be a nightmare. So she erred on the side of caution, though she herself longed to venture and see what the other species were thinking. Perhaps though, a march to meet the other sovereigns would not be the best idea at this moment.

But soon. Soon she wanted to at least attempt to forge ties. Peace would have to stand the test of time for now though, before she dared make such a gamble. But those were own personal, unofficial thoughts; Harlem was not privy to those, title or no. Trust was earned over time, not carelessly bestowed. King or no, Harlem had to prove himself to her and she to him. Trust would be forged in due time, if their rule was to be successful. She blinked slowly while she eyed him, aware that much was expected of them, both as individuals and as a pair. She knew she had needed a stronger personality to rule alongside her, but Konane strongly believed the herd had an ulterior motive behind electing their King instead of allowing the King to be her chosen mate. They didn't think she would have chosen a mate, was her guess, and so they had sought to present her with a potential one, one she would be working closely with. Nice try, but I'm not that easy. A co-leader, she had needed, yes. But a love interest? Konane was nowhere near ready to begin assessing those yet. Her focus was clear, and a mate, a predecessor in the form of a child, those things? They were not on her radar. Nor, she hoped, were they on his.