I’ll keep the door open
in case you come home

The Bay was quiet. It was still Fall, but here on Tinuvel, it was indistinguishable from Winter. Fell paced the borders, discontent with the season, but enjoying the snow and the crisp air all the same. There was an unseasonably warm wind blowing through the Bay, and Fell turned his face into it, letting it lift his messy forelock and deposit fat flakes of snow onto his dark face.

A voice called from the shore, and Fell’s head snapped around to study it. It had called a name he did not recognize, and it sounded distressed, lost. He realized there was a scent on the breeze as well. His eyes, narrow as he had listened, now flew open, golden and hungry. A bleeding stranger. A mare.

The black stallion immediately set off for the cold, stony shoreline of the Bay. He followed the scent of the injured mare like a wolf after a fawn, and he battled himself within. He could prey on a woman in a vulnerable position, and he admitted that that fact in itself was somehow alluring, but he did he actually want to?

Did it matter?

He reached the edge of the trees and spotted the pale mare as she was calling out again. This time, it wasn’t a name, just a general greeting. Fell did not bother to respond, but as he got closer, he realized with frustration that his silence might actually cause a problem.

The mare was blind. She could not read his expression or body language. There was almost no way for him to communicate with her.

He twisted his ears back as he halted at the edge of the cold sand. Frustration pricked at his temples. He didn’t want to send her away, but he couldn’t do much to help her even if she stayed, and all thoughts of taking advantage had fled, although he wasn’t sure if they had been serious to begin with.

With a quiet huff, Fell approached the blind mare and blew air toward her face. He expected her to flinch or turn away, but there was nothing he could do to make this introduction more…polite. It was kinder than sneaking up, he figured.

FELL