Dickere listened to Lyden’s wise council and her tears remained unshed. Slowly she was able to blink them away, and she quietly listened to Lyden’s words mixed with the sounds of the forest. “I will.” She promised him softly, thinking of his advice. Knowing she could speak with Lyden was comforting, for lately she’d been feeling as if she was going mad in her mind. She felt more grounded that she had in weeks, though her heart was still burdened heavily by what had happened to Dock. Even if it wasn’t right, Dickere found some blame in herself for what had occurred. If she hadn’t been so ready to dismiss Dock’s irritation as her normal antics, Dickere could have stopped her from leaving Luthien altogether. Or if she had confessed the truth in Lyden, he could have gone and found her before it had ever happened. But she hadn’t, and that was a burden Dickere would have to carry with her.
“Did you grow up here?” She asked him suddenly after a drawn out silence had rested over them, “on Luthien?” Dickere knew there were other islands (a few she could see on the horizon if she peered hard enough) and wondered if Lyden had lived on any others. Briefly she thought back to his words concerning a mare carrying another’s child and felt a chill touch her heart at that. Not the concept of wishing to willingly carry another’s stallion, but Lyden’s admittance that he would be much in the same as the brutal stallions Dickere was used to. She had no right to fear Lyden, for he was kinder than most or than she’d ever expected, but the warning settled silently. You are mine. It seemed to say, and to a girl whose life was used to being led and run by stallions, who was used to being only seen as something to further their genealogy, it didn’t strike such a fear or irritation as it might have otherwise.
But the minds were changing, growing. This chain of islands was filled with so many viewpoints; perhaps it was only a matter of time before Dickere was introduced to a new one.
of the forest
black sabino [aa Ee n/Sb1], fourteen.three hands, arabian cross filly, two years old, played by pirate |