This was her place and her life… right? Anath had come to love the Peak as it was and as it stood. She had come to that love for this place a long time ago. It had been her home and always would be… right? Things had changed, things weren’t right, times and eras had come and gone and still she was here. It must be love for the land and love for the family she had here. Anath didn’t know what was going on in her brain and what had been for a long time. With a sigh she would note change and move on.
The Peak’s hayday had come and gone. Anath had seen it all. She’d met the original leaders and followed in the steps of their feet. The champagne mare couldn’t think it through, couldn’t wrap her mind around it—why her? Why was she the one that was left? The mare had been puzzling over it a she paced herself a rut in the grass that covered one of the largest outcroppings on the Peak. It didn’t make any sense. The brash, forever young mare had been the one to stick around the longest. All the whys entertained her mind. They always had.
It was from her spot up the rocky mountain that she’d seen Thane come in. She’d watched the man on his frenzied run, on his dashing about. That was something she knew—that feeling. Running from one’s own mind was something beyond understanding for most. For Anath, it was a day to day occurrence. The man had been tired, she could tell. Her eyes turned to the sky, words coming gently to hang in the empty air before her face. ”Well, Miss Corinth, what should I do about him?” No one around to answer but a friend long gone, the champagne departed at a low jog.
The mare passively watched over Thane as he rested. It was breeding season and a dangerous time for her ladies. The champagne couldn’t tell you if the others would hunt down and drive off a man. Instead, she allowed herself to stand in the path of the wind, her scent filtering and mixing—the girls would know she had the situation under control. In all of Anath’s loneliness she had to sit with Thane now. It was weird being on even ground with any man… but this man? Technically unheard of.
There had been more love affairs between the Peak and Lagoon than Anath could count. They had come and go over the years, as had everything else. This was different. This was a different thing than a love affair. It was for love that Anath was still waiting. Her love. That was a creature that had gone off into the darkness and that would come back one day. Anath couldn’t let go of the hope that rested on the shoulders of the black mare. It was that hope that clung to every day. Without it, the champagne may not have made it so far.
By the time the stallion had woken up and started yelling, Anath had been drifting. It was an easy doze where she stood, an easy peace with the world. It was an easy peace with the Peak around her and Thane nearby. Was this what being friends was like? The dun mare couldn’t tell you. Their friendship had always overstepped boundaries—things like normal and acceptable. They were far from either, that was for sure. All in the same, it wasn’t likely to rip them apart any time soon.
”No need to yell. Been here the whole time.” Her words come gruffly as she steps from the shadow of an ancient elm, ears flickering forward. Though her green eyes betray little, what they do say is that she’s happy to see the smoky man. A million variables swim around her head, trying to tell her that it’s wrong. Every logical sense that the champagne mare has ever held onto is telling her that this is a bad idea. Then again, she’s never been one to listen to those little logics. Her steps are firm across the sun baked ground, coming to rest beside the Lagoon king.Anath "HEROES GET REMEMBERED LEGENDS NEVER DIE " |