Day, night, day, night.

Things had progressed that way with relative silence for a good long while. Her belly had grown considerably large, larger than she’d seen or expected and it made her day-to-day life tedious. Even so much as stepping on a stone (which was easy to do in Tinuvel, or anywhere, really…) made her already aching hooves scream at her for daring to set her foot down. She worries. Part of her worries that the foal that grows within her might never stop growing. Another part of her worries that the foal might be too big for her to manage. She’s seen pregnant mares before -- even Kohelet’s belly wasn’t quite so large.

But she’s too stubborn to ask. She’s too proud to make the first move. Childish as it may or may not have been, the nameless mare was not the sort to forgive and forget so easily, and so anytime these woes crept into her mind, she would keep them to herself. She didn’t even share these woes with Fell. It isn’t as though he could provide her with the words of wisdom she desired. But she also wasn’t about to approach a mare well under half her age for any sort of wisdom. Especially not after she lacked respect for an elder, regardless of who she had or hadn’t disrespected.

She hadn’t thrown hooves or teeth at Solomon. She’d only intended to remind him of the boundary that was there -- king or not, the silver mare had been Fell’s prize, and it was his right to keep her, so long as he was powerful enough to. His decision was made, and that was that. It made things easier. Or at the very least, much quieter in Tinuvel’s frosty shores.

The blue mare had largely kept her distance and ignored the longing of her heart to connect. Fell had filled her with the joy and excitement she’d desired, but she also didn’t wish to come between him and his chosen lead mare. Blue may have thought herself more capable of the position, but she wasn’t a vindictive sort. So as the seasons changed, the Blue mare occupied herself with the quiet of her thoughts.

But then that silence is broken. Many times before, Kohelet had crossed paths, shared looks full of meaning; of want, of longing… only for feelings of scorn and betrayal to echo in painful reminders of what the other had done. Or so, that’s what Blue assumes, for every time before now? They’d immediately set upon different paths. Today was different.

Many feelings rushed through her at the soft tune of Kohelet’s words. She doesn’t need to look behind herself to reassure her that she’s actually directing her speech at her. “ Sore. “ she admits, but she does not elaborate. She does not explain that she refers to the throbbing of her tired feet and tender back. So it would be easy to assume that she meant anything else. While a quiet part of Blue was overjoyed that they were speaking to each other again, a part of her remained wary. “ And you? “ she asked. One could assume that this would be out of politeness, but Kohelet knows well enough by now that the blue mare doesn’t particularly care about politeness. But it would be up to her to make the connection that she asked out of genuine interest, rather than because social construct demanded it.