Rivaini

Rivaini hadn’t known what to expect in her first moments of motherhood. She’d been certain of the uncertainty that she would feel, and even predicted the small fragment of fear that crept into her thoughts while she stared down at the chocolate-brown colt. What was she even supposed to do from here? The silver bay had been so focused on overcoming the trial of birth that she hadn’t even thought to prepare herself for anything that came after. Feeling her mouth go cotton-dry and her heart begin to leap erratically, Rivaini wished that she’d thought to speak to Siobhan before today. The chestnut mare seemed such a natural mother - it was just part of who she was. Siobhan would have been able to guide the tobiano Guardian who watched Faolain lip at one of the boy’s dark ears with a fierce protective surge that was beyond her ability to comprehend.

The red woman hadn’t known what to expect - but even if she had, nothing could have prepared her for this.

As ever, though, the black ‘Teke seemed to sense Rivaini’s mood and provided the larger mare comfort before she was even fully aware that she needed it. Lowering her muzzle to the dark tangle of Faolain’s mane, she breathed deeply of the mare’s familiar scent and let it ground her. “I can’t imagine where he got it from,” she replied to her beloved's observation in a tone gently laced with sarcasm. “Certainly not from his parents. So it must be your influence.” She chuckled huskily, then fell silent when her slender shadow murmured. I’m proud of you. And though the Andalusian longed to express the full depth of what she thought and felt, Rivaini didn’t have the eloquence of words to do so - so she, too, kept her words simple. Brushing the curve of her lips upward, she ended the affectionate caress just behind one dark pointed ear. “My little shadow…I can only hope that he will gain even a fraction of your courage.”

There was more that Rivaini might have said, but the colt chose that moment to make his first attempt at a stand. Somehow he’d managed to straighten out both of his front legs, propping up the front half of his body. But his hind legs were still tangled beneath his frail figure, and when Hades attempted to rise up on them, he instead fell spectacularly on his side. The silver bay tensed - prepared to rush to the boy’s side - but was held in place by the siren-call of Faolain’s touch. And after a moment, her son resumed his efforts and she relaxed again. “ - after all,” she resumed the thread of their conversation smoothly. “You can already see that he’s inherited my grace.”

The bright-haired boy was hungry, and hunger lent determination to his efforts. It took only a couple more failed starts before Hades figured out what he was doing wrong and rose into a shaky-legged stand. Once there, however, he seemed at a loss for what to do. Bleating pitifully, the colt twisted around to look in Rivaini’s direction - wobbling dangerously as he did.

Sensing an impending catastrophe, the auburn mare pulled away from Faolain with an apologetic bump of her muzzle and took a couple steps forward to support the colt’s small body with the broad plane of her belly and hip. Shortly after, the dark boy’s head disappeared underneath her body, and she felt the blunt pinch of teeth that indicated he’d found the meal he sought. Rivaini winced and glanced back at Faolain, lacing her red ears good-naturedly back into the pale tangle of her mane. “Don’t you dare laugh,” she challenged her companion, trying and failing to hide a smile. “Or I’ll teach him to bite you next.”

After a few minutes of nursing the contentedly-full colt folded his legs beneath him and lay on the ground. Rivaini soon joined him, though not without a wistful glance towards the inky ‘Teke. Before today, Faolain had been the only tether to hold her. Now, she felt torn between her little shadow and the child she’d borne - and it filled her with an inexplicable fear that she might one day be forced to choose between them. “Without you -” the silver bay began, her voice longing and desperate as it had never been before. “I could never do this, Faolain. Without you, I would never be this strong.” It was difficult to bare her heart and be vulnerable, but Rivaini feared the potential of losing the other mare more than sharing this moment of weakness.

“Join us,” she begged abruptly. More than anything, she just wanted to feel the other mare close’s warmth, and to have that reassurance that everything would be okay.

That they would be okay, no matter what trials they would face in the seasons to come.

mare / seven / silver bay tobiano / andalusian mix / 15.3hh