She stood silently while the old mare spoke to her and asked her questions. Her mind was working hard to piece together what she truly felt about these things, or what she truly thought about them. Somewhere in her forming mind she already knew there was a difference between what she knew in her mind and what she felt in her body. So young, she did not know which one was more important to give heed to. The words the Prime Minister spoke tumbled over in her head and she considered them carefully. Her tail bumped against her flanks, and dark ears twisted back in concentration. “I would have kept them here, given them to my friend whom they hurt. So they would know what they had caused and who they had caused it to. I don’t think they deserved the worst punishment, but they should not have walked free. I think that would have been fair.” She would have trusted Taika to see to it that the stallions were properly miserable in her care, chasing unseen fairies and keeping track of her wandering soul. Giving them over to the Pirate Queen that took them was a different story. She did not know the buckskin, but she had invited the stallions into the Peak and then caused trouble. Taika had also mentioned the woman had captured a noble stallion, who had done no harm, and held him prisoner. The crimes and punishments did not add up. The filly felt relieved to be able to express what she would have done and feel as though her words were going to be heard instead of swept away with a swish of a tail or a shake of a mane.
Her thoughts complete the soft velvet ears trained once more on Impaziena. The things her friends talked about had left her feeling hopeless and alone. Taika always seemed to be filled with constant companionship and joy, whereas Adelheid felt earthbound and solid. She felt the times of loneliness while the other filly had chased dreams, and she had followed as loyally as anything, though she did not understand what she could not see. Blue eyes studied the draft with an intensity and hurt that was much too deep for her age. She had been surrounded by dreamers, but felt as though she could not dream. Fairies and spirits were nothing more than shifts in the wind and ripples on the water. The mare’s words convinced her though. She would not be the one to take the comfort away from her best friend, and would stand by her in her belief. Just because she could not be in the fantasy the other created, did not mean she could not stand beside her on the journey, or be there for the stories when she came back. A small ripple of hurt clenched at her heart strings. There was something wonderful in the world that she felt as though she would rarely, if ever, see again.
Once more a question was posed and Adelheid was silent in her thoughts about the answer. She struggled to try to find what she knew about being in a traditional herd, her ears flattening slightly, and a soft snort whispered through her nose. Her encounter with a herd stallion had been brief, and wonderful. But she had been even younger and lost. Compared to what had happened with the stallions that had come to the Peak, she felt as though she had been lucky, and the interaction had been strange. She honestly knew nothing of the world outside of the Peak, her mother always keeping a watchful eye on her. Impa had said the Peak was a haven for mares. It was ‘safe’ here, but only when the borders were strong. To Adelheid it meant only if you stayed here; trapped. Now her ears flattened and her eyes blazed. Trapped again. Anger flared and she looked at the Prime Minister almost accusingly. She knew the mare did not deserve the blame, if anyone it would be her mother, or the world.
“There would be no difference. She stated, her hoof pounding against the stone in her frustration. “I would be just as trapped. Just as controlled. Only it would be a stallion instead of a mountain keeping me in. Her own words were her own curse. Realizing she would never be free.
Adelheid
Filly : Friesian Mutt : Black Splash : Inka&Valentine |