I wrote this in part because I feel like we need to see the lady hawks. We get Vika and Leanne, but only get a brief shot of some female hawks in one still at the end of Radiant Dawn. Another reason is headcanons. Headcanons everywhere. And considering three different people have three different ideas to why Tibarn doesn't have a queen, well, here it is.
The waters surrounding Phoenicis were calm. The sky above was a pale blue and dotted by wispy white clouds. There was hardly a breeze. The sunlight not only caused the water to sparkle like a gem, but also warmed the rocks of the cliffs.
It was the type of day that was perfect for being lazy, and lazy was exactly what three hawk women had in mind.
The trio had forgotten their original reason for being out after the warm sun hit them. It did not take long to spread out on a ledge and begin sunning themselves. None spoke for several minutes as they enjoyed the heat against their wings.
It was Iria who broke the silence. "You know... this really feels good. I don't see why we don't do this more often." She laid at the very edge of the cliff, one arm dangling over the side. Her other arm pillowed her head. A faint smile played at her lips.
"Because we're usually busy," Gauri answered. She was on her back, hands behind her head. She watched as the clouds blew by. Even they seemed like they were in no hurry. "But," she added as she rolled over onto her back and stretched, "we should make sure to do this more often."
"It does feel nice," Zara admitted. She was between the other two, on her stomach with her chin propped up in her hands as she stared off towards the horizon deep in thought.
"Very relaxing," Iria admitted with a yawn. She could have easily napped there in the sun.
"Maybe we should all take a day like this," Gauri admitted. A light breeze blew at her pale hair. She swept a strand out of her face. "As tense as things are, we all really need it."
Zara sighed as she began to subconsciously kick her feet. "But can you really see everyone out here enjoying the sun? King Tibarn, for instance..."
Gauri laughed. "Tibarn is more at ease tearing into Begnion sailors," she admitted. "But, ah, couldn't you just imagine?"
"Doesn't he regularly tear into the Begnion troops?"
"Not what I meant, Iria!"
Iria pouted, though neither could see it. "I know what you meant, Gauri, I was teasing," she said, her tone a little hurt.
"Don't start, you two," Zara demanded. "Or I'll leave the two of you alone out here."
Iria continued to pout. She and Gauri differed greatly, and sometimes that came out in arguments. Instead of letting it escalate, she returned to the subject at hand. "You know who else would be very cute sunning himself? Reyson."
Gauri giggled and said, "Well, if you like them stringy and sickly..."
Before another argument could begin, Zara butted in. "You might want to forget Prince Reyson," she said gently with a glance toward Iria. "King Tibarn is far too protective of him."
"Makes sense," Gauri added. Having been unable to find a comfortable position, she sat up and tucked her legs under her. Her wings rustled a bit as she adjusted herself. "He is one of the last two herons, basically the last as his father is bedridden."
"That's true... but all the more reason to find a mate, right?"
The other two ignored Iria's small crush on the heron prince. Instead, they exchanged looks of confusion with each other. "Can a heron and a hawk mate?" Gauri asked.
"I'm... really not sure..."
"One would assume... maybe..." The question had stumped the three of them. As they were both bird types, surely it would be possible. It would be much more different than having a relationship with a tiger or cat. Were it possible, the herons would not die out. If not, that would be the end of the heron line. It was a thing none of them wanted to think of, as they had grown close to the prince under Tibarn's protection.
He had managed to fit in, after all. Though even Tibarn lamented that he acted less and less like a heron as time went on.
They lapsed into a silence, broken only by the distant sound of crashing waves. Zara found the sound soothing and had nearly fallen asleep when Gauri's voice broke the silence.
"You know, I did overhear something very interesting the other day. Apparently, some of the men think it's past time we had a hawk queen."
"Really?" Even this perked up Iria. For the first time since settling down, her head popped up and she looked to Guari. Usually when conversations came to be about a queen, it was from the female hawks, some wistful and some annoyed. "Do tell!"
Gauri shrugged. It was not much to tell, things that had been whispered among the hawks, the only difference was it was coming from the men instead of the women.
"They think he's taken quite a long time to pick a queen, and he can have anyone he desires."
"Ooh!" Iria, excited now, actually leaned over Zara to get closer to Gauri. "Hey!" she cried as one of Zara's purple wings hit her. "You know, I have never heard a reason why we don't have a queen. Just speculation." She pushed Zara's wing out of her face and looked at Gauri.
"It's none of our business," Zara began. Her tone was annoyed, but she could feel her cheeks growing hot. She twitched her wings again in an attempt to get Iria off her back.
"Well, no, but it also kind of is," Gauri pointed out. "Having a queen affects all of us."
"It does," Zara admitted, "but we don't deserve a reason to why we don't have one."
The other two ignored her and began to talk excitedly about gossip they heard, or their own ideas.
"What if he had someone and it ended badly?" Iria asked wistfully. She cupped her hand to her cheek and sighed. "Some tragic tale of romance and a grizzly end?"
"But wouldn't we know of it?"
"It's not hard to keep secrets, even in a close community like ours." Zara then groaned as she realized she was yet again ignored. She rolled her eyes as they continued their gossiping. But what Gauri said next would never have crossed her mind.
"Honestly, I'm sure he could just take a harem."
Iria's mouth dropped open, but she collected herself and then slowly started to nod. Gauri had a point. Someone like Tibarn could certainly collect a harem. There were many ladies in their kingdom who had expressed interest, time and again, over the hawk king.
In her own attempt to rope Zara back in the conversation, Gauri poked her in the ribs and asked, "What about you, Zara? One night a week would be better than nothing, wouldn't it?"
Zara narrowed her eyes and shook her head. "While I am sure many women, you two included, would not mind having to take your turns as a part of a collective set of mates, I don't share."
"Oh, so you would want all the perks to yourself?"
Zara began to wiggle as Gauri's poking turned to tickling. "What is it you want, Gauri? King Tibarn, or the perks of being queen?"
"Well..." Gauri's green eyes glittered like the sea below them.
"Hey." Iria's voice broke through her thoughts. It was soft and a little frightened whereas just moments before it was excited and eager. Gauri and Zara immediately turned to her. She pointed below them towards the water. The calm surface had been broken by a ship approaching the islands. "Is that... a Begnion ship?"
The three of them stuck their heads over the ledge. "It sure looks that way."
"Do you think we could take them?" Gauri sounded as though she longed for a fight.
"Just the three of us? Are you mad?" Zara pushed herself up from the cliff. She turned from the sea and stretched her wings.
"Where are you going?"
"We need to let the others know." She looked over her shoulder and was not surprised to see Gauri's lips twisted in a pout. "At least wait until a full force comes with you, the three of us against one ship isn't going to do much." What she really meant was the two of them, as Iria would not be willing to attack a ship.
Gauri nodded and the three of them took flight, their lazy time in the sun quickly left behind.