The seer watched the other mare as she responded, attaching a voice and a face to the scent of the elusive shadow that had passed by her oasis. It was good to know that the mare was real, as tangible as she or Orhan was and not a restless ghost. El Aran had had enough of spirits. She quirked an ear toward the copper-colored mare as she spoke of her lack of sociability and one corner of her lips turned up in a faint smile. The seer could relate: she’d been keeping herself company for a very long time.
"I do not," El Aran replied. She turned her slender neck to look beyond the oasis. "Why would I?” she asked, her voice hard. “There is sustenance here and nothing but the sun and sand out there. Would you risk losing this to an enemy while you explored the sands?" she asked, straightening to stare at her companion. Her ears had turned back involuntarily as she spoke and the black mare took a deep breath as she pushed them forward. There is no war here, El Aran, she reminded herself. There are no enemies of that kind on these islands.
Her dark eyes slid away from the sorrel mare and to the pool. No matter how far away she was or for how long she had been gone, El Aran did not think she would ever stop believing her life, her land, and her herd were in danger. The seer had been born and raised in war, taught from infancy that her life was forfeit if she let down her guard for even one moment. The lack of a normal childhood and the surprise of having lasted to maturity would forever be imprinted in the black mare’s mind despite all she had done to try to move on from her past.
Her gaze returned to the mare. "My name is El Aran," she said in a calmer voice, as if she had not just lapsed into deep silence. She twisted an ear toward her son and asked the question that had been at the front of her mind since the two of them had entered the oasis earlier in the day. "Do you plan to stay here?"
el aran
Seer of Aşk. |