Raegar had been 'patrolling' the borders when he'd seen Arsinoe leap into the ocean, or as close to patrolling as one yearling could possibly get without really knowing
what he was looking for. As far as he had witnessed, very few came to the Badlands looking for trouble; which, as far as Raegar was concerned, was perfectly reasonable considering their father's reputation. Why would anyone mess with the would-be king of all of Salem?
As he'd paced along his father's footsteps, the leggy colt had watched his older sister depart from the herd and slink off toward the ocean, low and furtive like a coyote. It had piqued his interest enough to follow, and so he'd copied her behavior, keeping himself as stealthy as possible as he tried to spy on what she was doing. To his shock, she jumped
into the ocean, and then kept
swimming?
Velahrn was by no means an involved parent. She barely acknowledged that he belonged to her and even more rarely offered any of the kind of softness most mothers meted out to their children. Words of wisdom or caution, or anything beyond a sharp snappy command were not normal tools for her to use when dealing with the Boy... but she had given him one warning of the world.
Stay away from the ocean, she'd said, her gaze far away.
It's dangerous.
But he'd been learning lately that sometimes his momma was wrong. Like sometimes she said she didn't want him around, and then when he left she'd grumble about him being away. Or how when they talked about Raegar's dad, she said she hated him and then also that she didn't want to leave. It didn't make sense to him, but it had begun to erode his confidence in her ability to reason.
What if she was wrong about the ocean? Arsinoe didn't look afraid, and Raegar
knew dad wouldn't be happy about her leaving. She belonged with the herd just like the other mares and foals, not off on some adventure. Dad would be
so happy when he brought her back home safe.
The glow of possibility in that thought alone propelled the boy into the ocean, his gaze locked onto the far-off shape of Arsinoe's figure bobbing through the waves before him. By the time he arrived, he was absolutely exhausted and despite his sister being close enough he could practically smell her, it took a few minutes of coughing up seawater before he was able to locate her again. When he did, he saw that she was joined by a pretty filly of about the same age, her slender figure pinkish except for her rump where a brilliant display of spots glittered in the light.
She was
beautiful, and he knew exactly where she'd be even more beautiful: at home, with them. God, his dad was going to be
so happy when he got home.
"It's the best place'n the whole world!" He said proudly by way of introduction, stumble-trotting his way into their vicinity with his eyes fixated on the other filly. By the time he arrived, the rest of what his sister had said caught up to him, and he peered at her in confusion, his head tilting like an inquisitive puppy.
"You ran away?" He asked as if this was the most absurd thing in the world. Why would anyone want to leave the Badlands? It was the best place in the whole world. A shiver wracked across his body but he pretended not to notice, his gaze still on Arsinoe.
"But why?"