you're waiting for a train...

Grai smiled at her words. Soda was the first mare he’d actually become close to. The Dunes hadn’t exactly had much traffic. Then there had been those years following Vesti from place to place with Kel. Then there had been the mainland. His eyes darkened just a bit thinking about that. He still couldn’t get the image out of his head. He doubted he would.

“Nothing wrong with letting them breath a little,” Grai said. He looked around. “Besides, there’s plenty of company in the Crossing. I never visited till I was an adult…” He shook his head, trying to clear a nagging sensation at the back of his mind.

“Alethi’s just a kid,” Grai said. “Kids are always… eh… I don’t know. Informal? They get a bit of leeway.” He smiled. “Don’t worry about it. Maybe it’s better that you aren’t so authoritative. You know? Let them grow their own way. At least you aren’t absent.” He could sort of remember the flaxen liver chestnut that was his father. But it had been a very long time since he’d seen Badr.

Like father like son, Grai shivered against the harshness of the thought. But it might as well have been the wind.