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Viserys could hear the doubt and even disdain in Zenoskelis' voice. He would never admit as much to anyone... but these were familiar responses. THis was one of his more clear-minded moments, and in his clear-minded moments he knew that his position was a tenuous one. He had nothing but words and a few fancy trinkets to back up his words, and words were wind. He made every effort to visit humans often and keep himself well-curried and with manes brushed to a silvery shimmer, but he had little other than his appearance for proof.

In a less collected mood he might have ranted and railed against Zenos for daring to doubt him... but Viserys had mastery over his emotions today. He felt the frustration but didn't let it show. Not yet, at any rate. Rather than lashing out, he forced himself to laugh, as if it was all some sort of joke for him.

"There are seven herds, yes, but I won't need to subdue all of them. Even now I still hear stories about how they await my return. There are seven herds in the land of Westeros, but they will not all be our enemies."

Viserys snorted and tossed his head, as if Zenoskelis was being ridiculous. "Our family ruled over those herds for hundreds of years. We've been out of power for merely a wink of time compared to our long history of just rule." This much was true. The first member of the Targaryen family had flown to the shores of Westeros several hundreds of years ago. According to legend, his ancestor had conquered the herds with the help of a massive dragon, the size of which had never been seen before and hadn't been seen since. Viserys' sister Daenerys had dragons, but of course those were pathetic runts. No one could go conquering with a beast no larger than a foal in size.

That was a familiar question for Viserys. He had said some form of the answer what felt like dozens of times, maybe more. Sometimes it seemed like all of his life had been spent going from leader to leader, searching for help that was promised but never seen. His heart was cold, but his tongue remained sharp.

"We do have allies, a great deal of them," he explained, as if he possessed nothing less than absolute certainty. "But the Usurper has many as well. He has had all these many years to spread lies and disinformation about my family, and some of the fools of the Seven Herds have believed him." Viserys grew dark as he remembered the most vile of the lies told, that his father and the king of the herdlands had been transformed into a skinwalker. Such a travesty had to be nothing more than deceit.

Zenoskelis grew bored. Viserys could tell this. The look of detached disinterest was another that he was acutely familiar with, and he seized upon one of his methods to combat it. "If you promise forces to join my army, I will not forget you when I become king again. There is much that I could offer you, if you'd let me."

He shifted his head ever so slightly but in a way that he knew would shift the jewelry around his neck and set the purple gems sparkling. Such displays were callow, but they often had the proper effect. A subtle reminder of the value of riches could sometimes be more potent than a more obvious one.

Now it was Viserys' turn to be skeptical. He noticed that flash of irritation pass across Zenoskelis' face. That didn't look like someone irritated by a snake interrupting their conversation. It looked a lot more like he knew something that he just wasn't letting on. It wasn't the first time that Viserys had ended up somewhere that he thought might be unsafe, but it was enough to give him some misgivings. What was it really back there?

"A snake, you say?" asked Viserys. His tone was one of amused curiosity, not openly showing his doubt. "Perhaps we should take a look. Where I come from, the snakes are wretched little creatures to be crushed underhoof. I've heard that you have much more impressive breeds out here in the jungle. That much was true. He'd already seen some of the massive serpents himself.

It was as he suspected, there was something back there that the part-kalona didn't want him to see. It was disturbing, but not necessarily alarming. They had been conversing quite well without any signs of danger or harassment. Perhaps the kalona had a good reason for hiding whatever it was back there. Still, Viserys didn't know that this was a situation he wanted to remain in much longer. He lacked guards and allies. If he was attacked by the honorless oaf, he might get seriously injured.

"Yes we were, weren't we," he belatedly replied with a winning smile. He certainly wasn't going to push the issue. Whatever pathetic thing was back there was on its own.

"It really doesn't seem like it," said Viserys. His smile never left his face, not even as he decided that he needed to make a swift escape for the sake of his safety. His eyes flicked back towards where the sound came from, but he caught himself quickly and made himself focus on Zenoskelis, as if nothing had happened. "Well, it looks like you have matters of your own to deal with." Matters that might have to do with eating or otherwise harming whatever hapless soquili was back there. Viserys felt distaste for whatever barbaric tradition he had walked into, more distaste than sympathy.

"I'll come find you later when you're more free, shall I?" He was starting to draw away now. Glancing at the wings of the other fellow, he wondered if he could fly with those torn membranes. He rather hoped not. It would be a simpler escape if Viserys could fly and Zenos was unable.