It was difficult not to betray the inevitable clamping of Hades’ small jaws onto Rougaru’s proud muzzle. Faolain had to bury her nose into Rivaini’s mane in order to keep both quiet and impassive (she succeeded on neither count, but was lucky in that Rougaru was far too absorbed by his son to notice). The tension felt palpable to her, and she wondered how Rivaini kept relaxed in the seemingly endless seconds before Hades struck. She could see the gears turning in the colt’s fiery little head, for she had all too often been the recipient of his attention and the object of his particularly painful affections.

When the boy finally lunged for Rougaru’s nostril and held on, Faolain let out the breath she had been holding. She couldn’t tell if this sigh was more out of relief that she no longer had to pretend not to know exactly what was about to happen, or if it was the laughter she had swallowed down for the past few moments finally spilling out in one big rush after what felt like an eternity of containment. Rivaini moved forward to dislodge the mischievous colt from his father, and the three of them dissolved into laughter. Faolain was glad to see the good humor with which Rougaru endured the attack, and she found herself impressed that he had not instinctively jerked away from the pinch.

When Rougaru moved wisely out of Hades’ reach, Faolain chuckled once again. ”That doesn’t always stop him,” she warned. ”He’ll probably be cautious this time, but he’s not above crawling up your neck to get to your face.” Of course Hades was not equipped to be climbing anybody’s neck, but the fiery colt was hard to discourage when he wanted something.

Though Rougaru’s attention had been primarily focused on Hades from the beginning, he began talking to the colt in earnest, implying that the boy might find trouble to get into with (Faolain assumed) his half-sibling. The dark mare knew she would find herself bored and anxious in Hades’ absence, but the thought of another colt to help burn some of the playful energy was actually a bit of a relief. The Ridge was full of children - more so than adults, at least right now - but none of them were particularly boisterous, and Faolain knew it would be good for Hades to experience someone of a similar sense of humor. It might even calm him down some, in a way that Faolain and Rivaini could not manage themselves. ”If Alpha is anything like Hades, good luck with the two of them at once,” she joked. Ultimately she would look to Rivaini for approval of this adventure, whenever it might happen. Faolain may be more active in some of the Ridge’s affairs, but child-rearing was not exactly her strong suit, although she was rapidly becoming more comfortable as the Ridge’s ranks of foals began to burst at the seams.

faolain

mare // 6 // EE aa // 14hh