The feel of his warm breath and blunt teeth upon her roan flesh gave Xina a sense of relief. A sigh forced its way from her in a breath she had not realized she had been holding and she finally and completely relaxed. Hind leg raising so only the tip of her hoof touched the sand; she shifted her weight into a resting position and resumed the grooming upon his golden skin that she had started. Silence stretched between them but it was a good one, not one filled with tension like it had always been before. Eyes becoming heavy from the warm sun on her back and the grooming, she allowed them to fall halfway closed when he paused and his voice broke the silence.


Pausing in her grooming, Xina twisted an ear back to him and was curious as to why Mera had never mentioned this when she had returned. The girl had always talked to her mother about everything, especially something as exciting as the first trip to the Crossing. But as she looked back now she realized Mera had not said much, only that she had enjoyed the feeling of grass beneath her hooves once she had gotten used to it and the beauty of the Falls.


What was even more interesting was how the stallion would know her. Xina had lived upon the Islands for a very long time now but had only ever ventured away from Atlantis a few times. The first stallion she had met was named Devin and he had ruled the Badlands, but he was long since dead and the stallion that had followed his rule had not stayed long that she knew of. After that had only ever been Debonaire. The friends he would bring home and the stallions he would call his Second, Xina never found she cared enough to introduce herself. Perhaps someone of her past from the mainland? Surely not, but it still sent a shiver of fear down her spine that maybe her first child’s father might be looking for her.


“We lived in the shore” Xina replied slowly, her mind still churning with thoughts of who it might be. “What did this stallion look like? Did he ever give you a name?” She asked, turning her face back so that she could study his.