Though he was painted with a similar palette of rich golden hues, Rade has long accepted that he is not the same man as his father. In his younger days, he had welcomed this fact - relished it, even - but now the palomino stallion is older and has tasted the bitter nettle of life, growing in wisdom with each error that he makes. Debonaire is a charming, charismatic man; he has a manner of speaking that can ease tension before it becomes trouble. While he had been on the islands, the buckskin had gotten into his share of mischief, but he'd had allies, always, to stand at his side. Rade is a solitary and cynical creature, with an abrasive personality that has earned him many enemies and no friends. Even his brother has turned from him now, leaving him to shoulder the impossible burden of his actions' consequences.

The summer has passed in a haze of heat, each day marching uniformly past to the rumbling beat of thunder. Rade does not measure the passage of time in the number of sunsets or the storms that blanket the broody sky; he measures it in the departure of those around him. First Maraigh, no doubt feeling stifled by the ego and authority of the stallion who had claimed her, qualities that repel and rival her own. Then Clytie, stealing into the night like a shadow, her slight form slipping into the waves to never return. Styrke had never arrived, but his departure is presumed. An ember of resentment burns deep in Rade's breast, only to be cooled into ashen apathy when he returns to the river to soak his aching shoulder.

Did Irina remain? She, who he had fought to protect? The palomino huffs as the cool grasp of the river numbs the pain of his body, though it cannot anesthetize him to his thoughts. Rade has been dormant for too long; he is losing his grasp on his home, losing his grasp on reality. Wrenching himself from his comfort, the stallion clambers onto the rivers bank, dispelling the soaking waters from his golden hide with a vigorous shake that seems to lance through his right shoulder. Tentatively, he heads for the beach, chasing lingering memories of the Crossing, and the company of others. Though a discernable limp hobbles his gait, and a heaviness weighs on his mind, there is still pride in his bearing. An upright carriage, an elevated crown. A pair of amber eyes that smolder as they regard the horizon, and the promises it conceals.

stallion // mongrel // 15.1hh // 4 // palomino roan // reba
debonaire x neassa