Common

❀

The information given to Hazel by both adults was a bit disorienting. They contradicted each other, and Hazel wasn’t sure what to believe. In the end she decided that even though Liland was friendly and gentle, his offer was the bigger risk. Lagertha was speaking of only freedom. She expected no loyalty from Hazel and offered nothing to her. To the young mare, this was more straightforward, and it seemed unlikely there were any loopholes she could hide in her words. She took a small step toward the painted silver bay, but her eyes remained on Liland.

"You seem very kind," she said. "I hope I haven’t offended you. But I do like the sound of freedom…" She pawed at the ground nervously. "I’m certainly not ready to have foals," she said quietly, not to either adult in particular, mostly to herself. That part of Lagertha’s words had made her stomach twist. Hazel nearly still thought of herself as a child, albeit a rebellious one. Just from her brief impression of the Fjord stallion, she did not believe he would force her to bear foals, but she didn’t like the idea that being claimed meant that he could, if he wanted to.

As she turned back to Lagertha to ask for advice, her peripherals caught the movement of a young stallion who looked similar to the Peak mare. He was approaching them at a pace that would have been faster if not for the heavy snow, but his speed was still decent as evidenced by the sliding stop he performed next to Lagertha. He greeted them cheerfully and introduced himself, and though Hazel had scooted away in alarm when he had first approached, she now stepped toward him with her muzzle outstretched to greet him in return with a shy puff of warm air.

"Hello," she said softly. He was slightly shorter than she was, and younger by a bit as well. Hazel was not surprised to learn that he was Lagertha’s son.

Her ears perked at the Icelandic mare’s offer to accompany them to the herd. "Really?" she asked, hopeful. "Is that like being claimed?" She didn’t think it did, but she wanted to be sure. She paused, realizing she didn’t actually know anything about the place of which Lagertha was speaking. "What is the Peak?" she added.

Hazel