Rivaini

Memories and fears formed a kaleidoscope in Rivaini’s thoughts, shifting rapidly between bright joy and a dark, suffocating sorrow. For seasons she’d bottled every emotion that the golden woman had won from her, and now—now they were released all at once. A strange choked sound parted the red mare’s lips; a sound that was neither whimper nor sob nor wordless plea, but somehow all three together. And though the questions would come later—flooding the silver bay’s mind until there was no room left for anything else—the hows and whys could not have mattered less to her in this moment. She was too consumed by the unexpected return of her heart’s missing half; too overwhelmed by Çiçek’s radiant light after an eternity of darkness.

And then—abruptly, unexpectedly—Rivaini’s beloved sun imploded.

Rougaru. The name was snarled in a voice that could not belong to the spotted dunalino, because the laughing woman whom her bezelye had once known was not capable of such venom. And then, without warning, the slender creature lurched forward—throwing herself at the tobiano Guardian even as she struggled to process the presence of the golden colt at her side. “Çi, wha-” Rivaini found her voice in time for it to flee from her in terror, leaving only these incomplete syllables in its wake. Silent and frozen, the silver-haired woman could only watch as those blunt, bared teeth drove straight for her throat—as helpless in the wake of Çiçek’s fury as she had been in the face of her affections.

The next second passed more quickly than Rivaini’s senses could hope to fully capture. Afterward, she would remember nothing but a pair of white-rimmed brown eyes, Hades’s bleat of fear, and Çiçek’s sharper squeal. And then…nothing. Not a sound or sight could penetrate the thick veil of her fear and denial. Trickles of perspiration traced rivulets across her red skin that she did not feel. Sea-blue eyes probed the jungle’s shadows without seeing. It was only when the soft whisper of a familiar voice drowned out the thundering beat of her own heart that Rivaini’s spell was broken, and her stone body fractured. One ear tipped forward to catch the syllables of her name, a ragged breath parting her dark lips. Her gaze flitted over the other mare’s body, blurring when it traced the map of white that extended from withers to rump.

Çiçek turned to face her again.

I— The silver bay’s other ear slid forward, quivering gently at the sound of the long-coveted voice. I — you — I thought… Rivaini braced herself for the recrimination that she deserved even as a note of joy spiralled through her heart. When Çiçek had left her, the red woman was certain that there could be no greater pain. But it was the pain she’d caused her beloved sun that had truly broken Rivaini in the end; the thought that her actions had been unforgivable. That the golden mare might live the remainder of her life believing that Rivaini hated her. And even though it was unlikely to change anything, she needed Çiçek to know that this assumption could not be further removed from the truth.

Before she could unearth these long-buried words, however, the spotted dunalino began to weep.

The sound of it wrenched at Rivaini—tearing down the walls of her heart with a serrated blade. Not knowing what else to do, the thick-bodied woman stepped hastily forward. Her auburn skin brushed against Hades’s dark little figure to envelop the smaller mare, the curve of her neck wrapping itself across Çiçek’s withers. “Shhh,” the Guardian murmured soothingly, her voice breaking like a wave against the rocks of her overwhelming regret. “I’m here, Çiçek... in the place where I should have been seasons ago.” Exhaling a shuddering sigh, the bay tasted the scents of birth and fear with her next breath, and continued haltingly.

“Çi...what happened? Solomon was here weeks ago searching for you, and I—we’ve been frantic with worry.” Her blue eyes fall upon the pale-maned boy, and the memory of Çiçek’s first waking word resurfaces. “You mentioned Rougaru. Did he do this to you, Çi? Because if he did… I swear by the gods that I’ll destroy him.”

Her voice—husky with emotion—hardened at this vow, earning an appeasing champ of gums from the bright-maned boy who pressed more deeply into Rivaini’s other side.

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