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"My win, I believe."

Meleager grinned down at the Reya mare he had pinned to the ground, his horn at her throat. She scowled back at him. "Yes, Meleager-hallah."

With a nod and a satisfied smile, he let her go, stepping back to allow her to get to her feet. "That was a good session," he commented, "But I can tell that you're not too experienced. You lose focus too easily, and get sloppy when you get too involved in the sparring. Be more careful. You've got a good future ahead of you if you keep improving."

"Thank you, Meleager-hallah," the mare murmured with a nod of her head. The herdleader returned the nod, and walked slowly away from the sparring arena. That had had the makings of a good fight, but the young mare had got too carried away, too quickly. He wasn't satisfied yet; he could easily spar again with only a brief rest. There was a group of others, resting themselves, in the shade of a group of trees only a short distance away. Perhaps one of them would want to spar again - in any case, he was sure to find some decent conversation for a while. The muscled stallion headed towards them, and halted at the edge of the shady patch, stretching out his wings and back. He sighed. That was better.

There were only a few Nequus here he knew by name, most of them from the Earth force, like the mare he'd sparred with previously. There were more he recognised, but all seemed engaged in conversation, or eating, or dozing. A couple were watching the sparring matches closely, and he smiled in approval at that. Always the way to spot new talent.

And speaking of new... Another grey stallion was approavhing, but he was Jala, unlike the herdleader, and had a strange coat of feathers on his head, claws, and a beaked muzzle... Meleager had met him once before, at his first entry into the herd, but had had little time to speak with him. He'd been assured the stallion's odd eating habits did not make him a danger to any other Nequus, but they still bemused him. Perhaps this was a good chance to talk to the newcomer properly, to get to know him a little better, and get a better idea of what he brought the the Hellenes.

Meleager shook out his legs - he couldn't afford to stiffen up as he stood here considering the other stallion - and trotted over towards him. A cough to catch his attention, and he asked, "Sanue, isn't it?"

Meleager smiled. "How are you finding the Hellenes?" he asked. "I've been told that many find it takes some time to settle in after being solitary." He knew nothing of it himself, of course; he had been brought up among them, in the good times and then the bad. The idea of wandering alone was incomprehensible to him. Wasn't the best strength in numbers, and in strong relationships with the rest of your herd?

That was what he was here for; at least Sanue had come around to that point of view now. Or Meleager hoped he had. The power of the Hellenes came mainly from their army, but within that, from the sense of identity and willingness to fight for one's comrades that came from being part of a Mark.

Sanue had joined the soldiers, he remembered that much from their brief meeting, but not which force. Well, that was something more to talk about, and hopefully put the feathered stallion at his ease. He was just being friendly, and he hoped that came across in his voice and stance.

"Ah - it was Ignatius who introduced you to the herd, wasn't it?" Now he remembered that, it made perfect sense. IThe scaled Reya had his own spectacularly strange appearance, and it was really no surprise that the two knew each other. Meleager was rather pleased, actually - for Ignatius to bring another to the herd, and relatively soon after joining himself, meant that he must have settled in well and truely feel a part of them. The herdleader smiled. That was always good.

Now, just for him to see if he could help Sanue with that... there was no rush for him to get back to sparring. With a sigh, the bulky Reya sat down beneath one of the nearby trees, folding his legs underneath him with surprising grace. "Ignatius joined the Sigma force," - and became Castor's bodyguard - "what do you think you might do? I assume you're thinking of the army, too," he commented, with a glance behind the other stallion at the sparring grounds. Hmm. There was no one likely out there at the moment, although he spotted a class of youngsters over to one side with their teacher. Perhaps he'd wander over to them once he'd finished talking to Sanue.

Meleager frowned. That was a difficult one; he didn't know the beak-muzzled Jala well enough to know what else he could do. He would certainly be good as a soldier, simply because he was unusual, a new challenge for the others to contend with. With his birdlike mutations, it was no great surprise that he did well in flight, but Meleager wouldn't have risked guessing that based purely on appearance. It was only Sanue himself who would able to tell what he'd be good at - so far, anyway. Meleager made a mental note to find out who was supervising the feathered stallion's transition into the alpha force, and ask them to report back to him.

"I don't know what other services you could offer the herd, Sanue," he said simply, "since I don't know anything of your skills or experiences so far, or what you're interested in. It's up to you, really. There are things like becoming a tutor to the youngsters of the herd, teaching them both life skills and how to fight - or, you could do something like Ignatius, and become a bodyguard. The ambassadors and tacticians sometimes need such protection... although Castor is a bit of a different case."

Sanue might make a good bodyguard, Meleager thought; he was pleasant company, and by the sound of it a good soldier. He wasn't sure if there was any need for such personal protection amongst the other herdmembers currently, but he could find out, if Sanue seemed interested. If he seemed interested, Meleager repeated to himself.

Meleager smiled. He did seem keen. That was always a good thing in a soldier. The only problem was, he wasn't sure what there was available for the feathered stallion currently. It was a time of peace; their few ambassadors were never really in need of protection... But, he considered, it would look quite impressive for an envoy of the Hellenes to have such a creature as Sanue beside them. It would certainly make others think twice about the herd.

Suddenly aware that he had drifted off into these musings, Meleager looked up at Sanue again, and nodded slowly. "I think you may make a good bodyguard. I'll mention you to Iris-hellene, if you like. She'll know if there are any ambassadors who require protection. And I can pass your name onto Castor, too, although the tacticians are less likely to require such services. And someone will need to speak to your commander in the alpha force, of course, but that's easily sorted out. So, if you truely do want to become a bodyguard, it shouldn't be too hard to find you a position," he concluded.

This conversation had not gone quite the way the Reya warrior had expected it to. He seemed to be handing out favours to herdmembers a lot recently; not a bad thing, he supposed. In this time of peace, he had little to occupy him, and being kind to the soldiers and citizens was one good way to ensure their loyalty in less stable times. But it did mean he had nothing better to do - and that was less of a good thing. The herdleader sighed to himself, wondering how Sanue would react.

Meleager smiled. "It's no trouble." Well, it was a little trouble, but only a little - and it meant one more thing to talk to Iris about to stave off the slight awkwardness he felt around her now he was with Castor. "It always pleases me to be able to help herdmembers get to where they want to be."

Glancing round from his position under the tree, the Reya saw a group of soldiers he half-knew getting up and heading down to the sparring arenas. They seemed to have picked up a couple of unfamiliar youngsters - a big piebald Reya stallion, and a comparatively slim Jala, both of whom would, if he knew that group, be both skilled and promising of more to come. He caught the eye of one of their companions briefly, and nodded to him in greeting. The older stallion nodded back, turning to mutter something to the others.

Now he was bound to go over and speak to them. Meleager sighed to himself, half-regretfully, for it had been nice speaking with Sanue. He turned back to the feathered stallion, who he was sure had seen the exchange, and smile apologetically. "I ought to return to sparring now; mustn't get out of practice, and I've just spotted a couple of likely youngsters," he explained as he stood up, "But I will mention you to Iris when I next see her. I hope it goes well for you."