Gabbar
stallion . arabian . bay . 14.3hh . 6
Gabbar chuckles at Maslakhat’s stiff expression. “I see you’ve met her before,” he says. It is not an uncommon reaction to the red mare’s name. For all her strengths as a leader in times of strife, she is the least likable mare Gabbar has ever encountered, and even those who earn her dubiously-positive attention are wary of her motives. Rakkas alone seems to complement his mother’s personality, perhaps because he and El Halin are the only ones who know how to stroke the red mare’s ego without setting themselves on fire.
Gabbar himself has never attempted to please Iftikhar beyond the requirements of a soldier. She left him to die and he owes her nothing now that he has extricated himself from the customs and herd from the desert. He pushes his ears forward as he realizes they have flattened in slow, tight increments during this thought process and smooths the frown from his face. “With luck these islands will not have to endure her venomous presence much longer,” he says with a slow nod. My duty is done, Rakkas.
He looks again to the slender stallion at his shoulder and asks, “What news have you?” Valve’s associate intrigues him. How long, he wonders, have they known one another? He tries to imagine what role the Akhal-Teke plays in the black warrior’s life and can come up with no other scenario than the two of them standing side by side, a perfect pair of Purebreds ruling the Dunes. The image makes him snort but he resists the urge to shake it from his head. Let it sit there and remind him that different breeds are not meant to mingle, that lecherous thoughts such as his are the reason impure horses exist and defile the earth.
Sudden self-loathing makes his stomach churn. Perhaps he should leave Salem and start entirely fresh elsewhere on one of the other isles. There’s much he has yet to discover, and it would be better to be far away from the Dunes in the event Iftikhar and her High Seer came seeking him. Still, he wishes to speak with Valve again. She should know the full extent of his news before he departs; warning her is the least he can do, after all she has done for him.
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