The unfamiliar mare was extremely friendly, causing Fell to stand there awkwardly as she greeted him. She introduced herself and explained her presence here, to which Fell nodded dutifully, but he could not give much of a response, not even a thank you. Even if he had been able to speak, the black Marwari had never gotten into the habit of practicing manners anyway; he had always just been rather feral by nature.

On the surface, claiming a territory had made sense; but now, realizing all of the politics and communication that was required of him as a herd leader, Fell was beginning to have second thoughts. Alone, his disability was limiting, but it didn’t affect him too much beyond situational awkwardness. Now, it affected him far more extensively, and even became an obstacle for others to deal with instead of remaining a burden for Fell to bear exclusively.

As the painted mare fell silent, the black stallion began to fidget uncomfortably. He really had nothing to offer this conversation. At least I was right about her being one of Solomon’s kids, he thought dryly.

This was more difficult with some people than with others, he was beginning to realize. In the Commons, he had nearly forgotten his muteness in the brief dance with Saturnalia, before the Lagoon stallion had reminded him. You really never knew who was fluent in body language and who wasn’t, and he had always known that some people were outright offended by his only means of communication. He had learned as a very young child that those people were best left alone.

Unfortunately, he no longer had much of an option. He did not think Solomon was necessarily offended by him, but Fell suspected that his daughter Parvati might be insulted if he did not say something to her. He couldn’t exactly dance out ‘it’s nice to meet you, thanks for stopping by and introducing yourself, as a new territory leader it’s important to me to meet my neighbors.’ He almost felt like that’s what he was trying to do anyway, though, as he shifted awkwardly in place.

In the end, the only thing he could think to do was to invite her further into the Bay. He was sure she was familiar with it, and he suspected she might be confident enough in her position to waltz in even without an invitation, but he couldn’t think of anything else to do. So he stepped to one side, and jerked his head toward the deep-snowed forests of his new home.

FELL

stallion. 16hh. black. marwari x. Rougaru x visurix.