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Garden garden~ Cymbeline loved working with plants. Once upon a time, when she was just a little filly of a thing, she would spend all day growing and studying, singing to her plants, giving them the very best. But then as Heir, it had been politics and adventures, fog and smoke and destruction...

But not always in a bad way. After all, she had her sisters. And Pesty. And had never realized how DELIGHTFUL blood could be.

Cymbeline pricked her finger again on the beautiful, delicate plants, this time pushing against the thorns to draw even more blood. She let out a cheery cackle. If she did th-

Oh?

The heir turned on her heels, standing and turning in one smooth motion, the tattered edges of her clothing swinging like a skirt of feathers. "Come, aren't they just the most beautiful?" She said it like she talked to the flowers, but holding up one finger it was clear she was referring to the droplets of red.

"Hmmm?" The heir's crazed look fixed on the little horsewoman, and her grin grew. The Famine horsewoman might not have been as tall as her sisters, but in those heels she walked like a godess amongst men, not a mere gardener amongst her roses. She strode right up to her new company, and leaned close as though about to impart a great secret.

Instead, she ran her hand down the side of Ying's face, leaving a trail of bright red blood from cheekbone to chin. "Use your apron for what, little one?" She drawled softly. "A new wrap for my hair?"

At that distance, the Insanity was evident in her eyes, but also if one dared look deep enough, calculation. It was easy to pass Cymbeline off as the crazy one, who often went off into the woods for days at a time, talked to shadows and dead things, and hung off the Conquest heir like the giggliest cloak in the clan. But the dark kohl lining her eyes was precise, as was the red smudged over her eyelids. It would be a mistake to assume the Insanity had dulled her mind or her senses.

Cymbeline didn't back away, but her gold eyes followed the other's hand movements. "Mmm, no need for that."

The heir stuck the bloody finger in her mouth, and then giggled like a little filly. Not all had such a taste for blood as she did. Not even herself of younger years. The little dandelion who lived amongst the cacti and stones of the Famine clan had never liked blood. That one had reason to keep blood on the inside, but the Protector of the four clans had learned how much fun could be had with blood on the outside. Human blood, that was the best blood to spill. But a little drop of her own now and again would not go unwelcomed. It reminded her that she still lived, and her heart, tainted and ill as it was, still beat strong.

She watched the younger horsewoman with an amused smile, those cunning and crazy eyes silently asking, what would happen next?

"Miss Famine~ Miss Famine~" Cymbeline singsonged back, her lips twisted in a bizarrely innocent smile. "Lend me rope to examine, we shall tie knots 'round bark, and swing until dark~"

She unwrapped the brown shawl around her head, letting long ringlets of the palest gold cascade down her back. Her hair was about as long as her tail, which dragged through the dirt behind her, and appeared uncharacteristically well cared for. But whether she brushed it out herself, or had one of the other Heir's help, it was a rare sight.

Of course the young Protector paid it no mind, and playfully wrapped the tattered length of fabric around the conquest girl's own head. Then she giggled once more. "Are they truly in need of fixing? Should it be one's goal to remain whole, or crumble to dust and drift away on the wind? Have you ever seen the air choked with dust? So thick with sand your very skin could be scoured from your bones?" Cymbeline giggled, and plucked a rose from the bushes around her. It's thorns bit into her skin once again and she welcomed it.

"It can be beautiful. That line... Beyond it, it can be beautiful."