Ava’s decision to stay in the Desert had been an impulsive one, but she did not regret it. It had been too long since she had let her heart rule her head, and it felt good to let life take her where it would instead of fighting it every step of the way. She did not know how long she would stay with Orhan, but for now she would take the time to enjoy Salem and all of the other things she had missed when she had lost herself the last time she had been here. But there was not only Orhan in this desert, and Ava was both excited and apprehensive about meeting the other mares who lived here. There had been a time she would have raced up to them all at once and engaged them in bright conversation about one thing or another, but now she had the smallest tinge of doubt in the back of her mind. It made her almost nervous. If there was one thing that Ava was not, however, that was unsociable, and she would not let her lack of practice stop her from making friends again. And so she pushed her worries away as best she could as she wandered carefully down the slope of a gentle dune towards the oasis where the herd usually gathered. She could see the figures of a few horses by the water’s edge, and let out a friendly nicker to announce her arrival as she approached. |