never had a day go by we were sober
sitting in a cold room wide awake

It didn’t take much to arouse Valencia’s curiosity, but this stranger had certainly accomplished the feat in record time. She seemed to cringe inwards in anticipation of her answer, and when it came the mare stumbled awkwardly over her words, her expression clearly confused.

Valencia itched to question her further—to ask every random query that passed through her whirlwind mind—but she held her tongue reluctantly and remained silent as the other mare took a minute to compose herself.

The change was remarkable: cool, calm and collected in an instant; she was willing to give the strange mare credit for that. Although the idea of being some kind of Goddess that this woman and others like her might bow down to and worship was tempting, Valencia much preferred being dealt with in the more matter-of-fact, reasonable tone that she was now addressed with.

It was not in her nature to assume positions of authority; she much preferred back-seat driving.

Finally the mare spoke again, straight to the point, and Valencia returned her focus to her present company. She restrained herself from pressing her for a more detailed explanation as she might ordinarily have done, unwilling to offend any of Encantador’s herd quite so soon and without him to back her up, and settled instead on sticking to answering the questions directed at her.

“No,” she replied, as bluntly as ever, before lifting her head slightly and deigning to explain herself further. “I’m just visiting. Encantador is my brother.”