Like always, Eli had wonderful timing. I saw his beautiful daughter first as she moved around to stand close to Eroica, who’s eyes turned to glare upon her pale sister with the same animosity she held for me. She was in one of her moods, and I already knew that things were going to get much worse before they got any better. I stared at my silver daughter as she sized up her sister, and I prayed that she would not strike out at her, for I knew if she did Eli would tear her apart. Luckily enough, once Eli reached my side Eroica’s attention fell away from the ivory girl and refocused on her mortal enemy: her adoptive father.

I turned my eyes towards my beautiful beloved, as he placed a gentle touch against my shoulder. My face was etched with worriment and my dark eyes darted between his beautiful pools of blue with a silent plea to not antagonize Eroica too much, though I knew she deserved it.

“Yes my love. I am ok.”

I pressed my muzzle into Eli’s pale shoulder before turning my gaze upon my daughter as she stood opposing us, looking as if she were summoning some internal darkness that was beyond this world. Her body was rigid, and any small movement she made was sharp and quick with agitation. I could see the very slow expansion of her ribcage beneath her silvering pelt as she inhaled very slowly, the first sign of real restraint I had seen all day. I pressed into Eli’s side as a go-ahead to say something, but once his words tumbled from his mouth I began to feel an ominous feeling welling within my gut. This premonition could not mean something good.

With every word, Eroica’s posture became more aggressive. Her head was held high on her growing shoulders, but her chin was pressed into her neck so her eyes peered up at the ebony stag out from under her salt and peppered forelock. I could see the want in her eyes, the want to lash out at Eli. She had shown that she had no regard for boundaries already with me, so I feared that she was bold enough to challenge her superior, despite him being a stallion.

I was happy to have Eli by my side to say the things that I was much too afraid to say, but I think the timing was wrong, and once he made a reference to Eroica’s father, I knew immediately that this was going to end badly. Like a gun, Eroica’s eyes widened in slight bewilderment before refocusing on me with a snap of her delicate skull. I shuddered as she held me in her gaze, rage rebuilding itself quickly. I didn’t look away from my daughter to meet Eli’s glance, but pressed into his side a little more trying to hide my sheer terror.

Eroica was fuming now. I could feel the burning hatred as she tighten her eyes over me, marring my soul with her revulsion. I wanted to look away from her but she held my gaze as if I was under some kind of spell, and I couldn’t bring my eyes to peel away from her infuriated expression. She looked like some evil, wild beast, stalking her prey with restraint, waiting for the opportune moment to attack.

Thankfully, her eyes finally turned from my face, to find the blue orbs of my beloved Eli, who had had stolen her attention with the whip of his tongue. I had though he had said his piece but apparently he had a little more to say, and I wished now upon everything that I have, that he had just stayed quiet. As soon as he offered the ultimatum to leave, my head snapped to Eli with a pleading look, but he pressed on, focused on my daughter. Eroica stood like a stone, eyes narrowed, and muscles tight. I could tell she had something to say but she bit her tongue, an incredible feat for her. Every word that fell from Eli’s tongue, pieced my heart as if he were saying those horrible things to me. I had to remind myself that the things Eli was saying were the true, something Eroica needed to hear, but it was one of the worst feelings I had ever felt, to see my true love and my first child at war with each other.

After Eli finished saying what he had to say, I automatically shrunk back as Eroica’s eye fell to the ground and her body began to convulse with anger. I knew what was coming, and I wanted to run away so I didn’t have to witness the outcome. Tears poured from my eyes as I imagined the dismay that was about to unfold. Then out of the lingering silence that surround us I heard her say in the lowest voice, a voice that I couldn’t believe came from a feminine creature,

“You know nothing about me.”

It was so low that it was almost inaudible, but after she said it silence resumed and I stood hesitant to believe that she was finished. And like every mother knows their child, after a moment more, Eroica’s eyes turned up to meet the bodies of both Eli and I with another quick snap of her skull, and I could see the tears that were rolling down her silvery cheeks. I opened my mouth to say something, as no mother wants to see their child cry but she silenced me with one harden look, pushing the tears away from her eyes, engaging her defensive posture: teeth bared and ears snapped tight against her skull. Then with one deep inhale, out came a flurry of words that she had repressed until this moment,

“You know nothing about me, you fucking bastard! I fucking hate you and your stupid whore, and I hope you both perish in this shit hole together, with all the rest of your precious family, as I have never and never will be or want to be, a part of it! You’re not my real father because you couldn’t be half the stag that he is! I might not know him but I know that he is triple the stallion that you could ever imagine to be! You can’t even find a suitable home for all of your whores to live in! You want me to leave?! Well thank the fucking lord, because I will be more than happy to get away from you two idiots! You two have fun with yourselves and your precious baby! I hope it dies!”

Every sentence her voice became a little more strained, until her words were barely understandable as they squeaked from her voice box. But after she was finished, she didn’t hesitate to leave, and after throwing me a hateful glance, she took off at a dead gallop over the shifting sands, trying to put as much space between us as she could. I stood frozen next to Eli, numb from her words. I wanted to cry but I was so much in shock from what she had said, that I could even remember how to move. I just gazed wide-eyed after my daughter as she faded into the distance into a cloud of sand as it covered her trail behind her.