In the shaded valley that Kolfinna had spent most of her time these last seasons, watching over her growing daughters. Of the three of them, she had only borne one, but in Kolfinna’s eyes that mattered little. She loved them all in full measure, with the whole of her heart. And her newly born son, so much like his brother, who Kolfinna hadn’t seen for the longest of times. But the brindled grey mare tried not to think of that. Her heart was heavy in her chest these days, and she couldn’t understand why. Calfuray and Kalanthia’s antics kept her more than entertained. Time spent with quieter Faline were moments she treasured. And little Saul.
Kolfinna couldn’t help but smile every time she laid her eyes upon his perfect little face.
“Oh, my precious, beautiful boy,” she murmured lovingly in greeting as he stirred from a light nap. Tenderly nuzzling his cheek, she chuckled under her breath, and ran her muzzle along the ridge of his neck, the downy softness of his mane tickling her lips. “Across the sea, there is an island of mist and snow. Your father is King there, and one day soon you will meet him.” The first time she’d uttered these words to him, Saul had only just been born. It had become something of a routine of theirs, with Kolfinna speaking these words to him as he fell asleep, greeting him with them as he woke up.
The grey mare had come to realise these words were a promise, and that she spoke of Solomon in such a manner as much for her own sake as for Saul’s.
“I wish we were there with him now.” These words were new, soft as a sigh and quickly whisked away by a dancing breeze. As if in answer to an unspoken prayer, the familiar sound of Solomon’s voice rang out against the mountainside, and Kolfinna willed her heart to be steady. It was only when Kalanthia froze a small distance away (much to Kalanthia’s irritation - they had been in the middle of a game of tag), that the grey mare realised she hadn’t imagined the call.
Immediately, Kolfinna stirred to life, nudging her son forward gently, and she looked to the pale, golden tobiano girl. “Kalanthia,” she beckoned the bright-eyed filly. But when her palomino sister made as if to follow, Kolfinna shook her head. “I need you to go and find Faline, okay? Please, Calfuray, just do as I ask.” Having successfully silenced the grumbling before it even started, and confident that the now-surly Calfuray would seek the spotted bay filly out and keep her company until Kolfinna returned, the mare guided Saul and Kalanthia over the rise of a hill.
Each step brought her nearer to the tobiano king of the Cove, and it took nearly all her willpower not to increase her stride and quicken her speed, so that she would be reunited with him that much sooner.
But she would not pull away from her young son’s side, would not run and leave him behind. (Never again.) Together, the trio crested the hill and for the first time in months, Kolfinna felt some of the heaviness lift from her chest, so that when she drew in a great breath and released a joyful cry of her own, the filly beside her turned to stare in awe, because the sound was so beautiful in her little ears, and she’d never heard anything like it before.
Kalanthia paused a moment there, held back a little as her mother approached, and cast her soft green gaze to the stallion beyond. In truth, she felt a little bad that Calfuray and Faline hadn’t been here to see how happy their mama was, but she knew it was important for sisters to always look out for each other, and she didn’t want Faline to be sad because she was left alone.
“Solomon,” Kolfinna whispered in greeting, once she’d drawn close enough to press her lips tenderly to his cheek. Her gaze dipped to the boy beside her, and her throat tightened with emotion. There was so much she wanted to say to him, so much she wanted to ask, but there would be time, later, she hoped. For now, what mattered most was the colt, and the blossoming filly a few paces behind her. “This is your father, beloved,” she bowed her head to murmur in the colt’s ear, warm brown eyes never leaving the stallion’s face. “Solomon, this is Saul, your son.” Silently, she drew back half a pace, to settle beside Kalanthia, and watch the two interact with love shining in her eyes, and the smile on her lips was bright, but it’s edges were blurred with bittersweet sorrow.
She wondered if Solomon saw it too, when he looked at Saul. Mist and shadow. Just like their snow and midnight boy that she’d left behind without meaning to.
Only when Solomon shifted his focus back to her did Kolfinna speak again, this time tilting her muzzle toward the girl at her side. “And this is Kalanthia.” A small, soft smile was shared between mare and filly, and then Kolfinna shifted, not backing away any further, but drifting aside to give Solomon, Kalanthia and Saul a little more room.
“Um, hi,” Kalanthia said softly, looking up to Solomon, a little shy but not in any way uncomfortable. Stealing a glance at the colt beside her, she reached out to him to place a fond kiss upon his brow. “Mama - I mean, Kolfinna - tells him stories of where you live. Is there true that there’s a mountain there that always has snow on it?” Already, the timidity had slipped away from the youthful girl.
(From the periphery, Kolfinna felt her heart tremble in her chest, bursting with undying affection, aching with a deep sense of loss - not all of it truly her own. If only Seze could see Kalanthia now, how she had grown, how she’d become one of the most beautiful, sweetest souls Kolfinna would ever know…)
“It’s my favourite part of the story,” the filly continued. “Snow on the mountain. Sometimes shining in the sunrise, sometimes glowing beneath the light of the moon.” Here, her gaze slipped away from the stallion, with just a hint of her childish cunning. Caught sight of Kolfinna in her peripheral vision, and motivated by love, she spoke of the truth of what she knew, every syllable softened by her youthful innocence. “But I can tell from the way her voice changes in every telling… Her favourite part of the story is always you.”
From where she stood with her head held low, Kolfinna felt her throat tighten with emotion yet again as she found herself unexpectedly, and yet so tenderly, revealed so plainly. Heat rose in her cheeks and she fixed her focus on little Saul for several long moments, until she could no longer deny herself, and slowly straightened and lifted her gaze to meet Solomon’s, the shadow of a smile upon her lips, and the ghost of hope haunting her eyes. |