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It was the Ichsa mare's pale mane and tail that caught his eye, and her pretty face that held it, for a moment, before he realised he was staring. Meleager lowered his head to crop at the sweet grass, and wondered. Who was she? He didn't think he had seen her before; he would have remembered. What with the size of the herd, and new recruits that joined from time to time, it was hard to keep track, and it was quite possible she was new to the Hellenes.

The stallion glanced up again, surreptitiuously sneaking another glance at her. She didn't wear any of the six marks, that he could see, and he didn't think she looked or moved like a warrior. She was pretty, though. Not quite beautiful - if anything, she lacked the flaws that would have made her really stand out - but very pretty all the same. He did need a mate.

The dappled Reya sighed to himself. He needed a mate, he needed heirs, but he didn't want to start courting again... not while there was still some hope for him with Iris. She hadn't seemed interested in the past, but she also hadn't given him an outright rejection. But, he supposed, it couldn't hurt to see if there was any chance this mare was interested. Maybe the possibility of a rival would encourage Iris to act.

Meleager paced forwards, drawing level with the slim Ichsa, seemingly casually. As he lowered his head to graze, he glanced across at her to see if he could catch her gaze.

The grey stallion raised his head and returned her smile. "Indeed, I am," he replied, unsurprised that she had recognised him. "You have the advantage of me, I'm afraid," Meleager added apologetically, though he was now certain that they had not met previously, and there was no way he could have known her name, "I don't think we've met before. Are you new to the herd, by any chance?" He kept the smile in place, hoping to come across as more friendly than he had probably been portrayed. It wasn't that he wasn't friendly, of course, he could be, at times, and he rather liked meeting new people - it was more that he had a feeling that most mares liked potential mates to be nice.

Maybe not so much Hellene mares, though. Which was a good thing, since 'nice' didn't come naturally to the bulky Reya stallion. Certainly not as naturally as 'powerful', or 'imposing', or even 'irritated'. He could try his best, though, and hope to make a decent impression on the pretty Ichsa.

Now he looked at her more closely, permission granted by her choosing to speak to him, she really was very pretty. Especially her eyes - pale blue that stood out against her dark coat. The grey stallion's smile became less deliberate and more genuine, and he was pleased to note faint interest in her gaze.

“Kallisto?” A good Hellene name, although Meleager was slightly surprised to hear it belonging to one born outside the herd. “Welcome to the Hellenes, in that case.” The Reya stallion smiled down at the slim Ichsa, and went on, “As herdleader, I’m flattered that you wanted to join us – new blood is always good.” And if she had been brought in by the Omega captain, she was sure to fit in and have potential to be of benefit to the herd. Meleager trusted the dark-coated captain’s judgement.

At her comment about the size of the Hellene territory he chuckled quietly. “No, the Hellenes do hold a large amount of land – but then it’s only suited to the size of the herd. And if it was weakly held before, surely the warrior who can take it – and keep it – is entitled to the land he desires? …We Hellenes guard our land well, in any case, and hold onto it once we have it. It wouldn’t do for a warrior herd to be seen to lose something so precious.” The dappled stallion was still smiling, but his thoughts had drifted to more serious matters than flirting with a pretty newcomer. They had not had to work to hold their territories, either, in recent times. What if that made them seem weak? …Although Kallisto didn’t seem to think so.

The dapple-grey stallion sighed to himself. He was not here to think of conquest and battle; he had been here to relax and graze, and now he was talking to an attractive mare who looked to make a good Hellene citizen in the future, given her aspirations to one of the six marks. He looked at her closely for a moment – it was clear that she didn’t yet have the strength of a warrior, but perhaps she was a swift runner, or more steadfast than she appeared. “Which of the six were you thinking of?” he asked. She would have to train, and he could perhaps introduce her to suitable teachers and sparring partners, maybe spar with her himself at some point in the future.

Meleager chuckled. A bad experience with a herdleader? He supposed he should be pleased that she hadn't instantly disliked him because of that. "Well, I'm glad I've made a good impression on you," he replied with a smile. And he meant it. Kallisto seemed smart, was certainly pretty, and already showed a dedication to the herd. She was, on the surface at least, a perfect candidate for a mate.

"Hmm..." The grey stallion turned his mind to the brown-coated Ichsa's question. She seemed to be a good judge of her own abilities and how she'd fit in with the already established military system. "I can't tell how suited you'd be to the army, but in theory anyone can make it. As long as you're prepared to do the training, and to stick with it, you'll be fine," he added with a reassuring smile, and continued after a pause, "The standard for the marks is quite high - higher for the Lambda than Gamma. You need to be invited by one of the captains to be accepted into one of the forces, but as I said - do the work, and you're there."

The tall Reya paused, thinking back to his youth and his own training. It had been very different - but that was, of course, before Clytaemnestra and her reforms. He'd been impressed with her organisation; the army ran very smoothly, even when the Commandante herself was not present. As was the case currently... Meleager realised he'd been drifting into his own thoughts. He blinked, and shook his head slightly, then turned back to Kallisto. "Of course, it depends how well and how quickly you learn," he concluded.

The dappled Reya laughed. "I think I know what you mean about that. Ego isn't all bad." His own pride had certainly been an asset to him in the past, and he'd known Nequus whose ego had served them well. In this case, it was a good thing. "Also, determination will help you with the training, from what I know of it." The stallion's subconscious noted that the Ichsa mare had moved closer to him, and showed no sign of moving away again, and it was rather pleased by that fact. "I didn't do quite the same training, of course, the system of the six marks is quite new..."

But of course, she wouldn't be interested in that. In fact, judging by the movement of her gaze, she seemed rather interested in him... Meleager smiled to himself, and allowed his gaze to drift over the slim mare's body, obviously enough that Kallisto would note his interest, whilst still being polite.

The grey stallion shifted and stretched, then turned back to the pretty Ichsa. "Kallisto-hellene, have you been introduced to any of the soldiers who oversee the training?" he asked. If she hadn't, he could introduce her to someone suitable - and so ensure that she had a good teacher, and that he knew where he was most likely to find her again. She was someone he would like to speak with again, he was fairly sure of that, although he hadn't yet formed a definite opinion of her.

Excellent. Meleager smiled to himself, and then down at the dappled mare. She looked sweet, with that hopeful expression. He wondered at her following words – she wasn’t shy, she had spoken to him after all, and he was sure she could have found the right people herself without much trouble. But she had asked for his help, instead. That was probably a good sign; it meant she was interested in him rather than just thinking he was attractive. At least, Meleager hoped that was what it meant. He wasn’t entirely confident in his ability to judge her motives. There was no real way to tell if she was interested in Meleager the Nequus, or Meleager the herdleader, in any case. There never was.

The grey Reya shifted restlessly, and paused briefly to gather his thoughts before speaking. “I would be delighted to help you, Kallisto-hellene. Matters of state are not so pressing in these times of peace that I cannot spare you some time. Now…” he paused thoughtfully. “The Commandante and the captains are in overall charge of the trainees, of course, but it’s more the more experienced soldiers and some specialist tutors who do the actual teaching. I suppose introducing you to one of the tutors would be the best way to start. What do you think?” The bulky stallion turned to his shorter companion with a smile, pleased to be able to help her. Now she would certainly remember him.

“Hmm… this way,” Meleager said, gesturing with one wing. He would take Kallisto to where some of the younger Hellenes sparred, he had decided. There would be at least one tutor there, watching and giving advice, and some of the trainees the newly-arrived Ichsa would be learning alongside. As he began to head in the direction he’d indicated, he added, “ It’s no problem, truly.”

Glancing back at the blue-eyed mare, the Reya smiled. “I want all the Hellenes to be happy, of course, and if I myself can do anything to help that, well…” He shrugged. As herdleader, it would have been easy for him to lose touch with the Hellenes as Nequus, too easy to become caught up in politics and warfare, and to forget about their lives. Times like this, rare as they were, were his way of staying connected, of remembering that the individuals of Handrakai Hellene were as important as the herd as a whole.

“Oh,” he added after a pause, recalling her comment about her lack of experience, “Don’t worry about the fact that you don’t know much of fighting – even those born into the Hellenes won’t have seen much before they begin training, so you’ll be on a fairly level footing with the others.” Possibly better than some, he considered. All the Hellenes at least started the training, but there were always some who were entirely unsuited, who dropped out and became tacticians instead, or joined the ambassadors, or simply lived as civilians. Kallisto, he was sure, would not be one of them.