He was both the most excited he could ever remember being and the most scared, too. His mother had answered a few of his curious questions about his sire, and she’d often teased him that’s where his size came from. She hadn’t been kidding! Oswald was pretty big in comparison to his daintier, part-Arabian mother, but he was certainly dwarfed by the stallion he knew to call his father. The stallion’s deep voice felt like it vibrated the very ground they were standing on. Oswald was in awe.

His father brought his muzzle close, Oswald could smell the musky warm breaths and hear them huffing softly from his father’s nose. The blind colt poked his nose close, bumping a little more firmly than he meant to, and then realizing how close Tyr was and readjusting how much he reached out. He flared his nostrils and sucked in deep breaths, then tucked his boxy, white-faced head back and smiled.

His dark red tail, only partly-grown in now, flicked a little nervously at his roan rump. “Mama said you’re very busy,” he said with some understanding, lifting his chin as he recited what his mother told him, proud he remembered. “That you have a lot to do in the Lagoon as the General. That it's a very important job.” Would he be proud that Oswald knew that? Hope bloomed in Oswald’s chest as he waited for what his father’s reaction would be. “So, um, it’s okay. I understand.” He nodded as though to further affirm his words.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Oswin had smelled Róisín on Oswald’s coat once the colt came close and looked curiously at the path behind him, but didn’t see the Peak’s General. That was for the best, she thought, taking a breath and looking back at the scene unraveling before her. There was much that lay unsaid between Oswin and Róisín and, in truth, Oswin had been dancing around the tension any time she was with the mare. She was pretty sure Róisín knew who Oswald’s father was but, if she hadn’t, Tyr’s visit and her beckoning the boy would be sure to clue her in.

Oswin decided she’d worry about the repercussions of that later.

She had never watched a father meet the child they had together before. Having such a deeply close bond to her own father, she didn’t realize how much it struck her to see it. As Oswald talked (oh, she could see how desperate the boy was for his father to love him) and Tyr spoke gently with Oswald, she felt her heart warm. She knew she shouldn’t let herself get carried away by any romantic ideas of this moment…

Oswin carefully snapped herself clear of them, taking a breath and refocusing on the pair more clearly. She resisted shooting Tyr a grumpy look for visiting her during the season she would be weakest to his… allure.

oswin & oswald
this is as brave as I know how to be.
I know it’s gonna hurt you, but please… be a little proud of me.