never had a day go by we were sober
sitting in a cold room wide awake

“Good,” Valencia remarked quietly, seriously pleased that her brother was back on the right track. She barely knew him, really, yet she couldn’t stand to see someone who she was so closely related to, and had only ever showed himself to have a kind heart, in so much discomfort and ill health.

El Aran, as Encantador had now introduced the dark mare, still seemed speechless. So she was the lead mare. That explained why she had approached a random arrival in the Desert, but otherwise only served to further Valencia’s voyeuristic hopes and curiosity regarding some kind of relationship between her and her brother. However, she did not look particularly comfortable stood on the edge of the conversation, and she seemed determined not to say anything else on the subject of Gods and Goddesses that might confuse things further.

“It’s nice to meet you,” Valencia said simply to be polite before El Aran averted her gaze to admire the landscape surrounding them instead.

Still eager to learn more about the intriguing mare, but not wanting to press the matter further when she seemed so uncomfortable, Valencia returned her attention to Encantador and spent her time gladly on renewing her acquaintance with her half brother. She returned his playful smirk with a short bark of laughter as she tossed a tangled, caramel forelock out of her eyes. She readjusted her position, her hooves whispering in the sand, relaxing further before replying.

“Not quite,” she teased with a smile. “I’m a very busy woman—lots of places to be, people to see. You know, that kind of thing.”

She was only half joking. While she had no home or herd to guard or serve, she did have an insatiable curiosity and passion for adventure the consumed most of her free time. This was only the beginning of her journeys across the Lost Islands.

“Anywhere you’d recommend for my travels?” she asked playfully, curious to see if Encantador had any interesting connections. “The Meadow gets boring after a while.”

She shot a brief glance at El Aran as she spoke, unable to ignore her completely and not wanting to miss anything she might say or do if she suddenly decided to return to the conversation.