Orhan

"I love you too," he had said back to her, but once it had left his lips, it did not seem like enough. I have loved you since I set eyes on you as a boy, he wanted to say, but this seemed like too much. How could he express how much she meant to him, right then, in that moment? Words would never do.

So that night, Orhan had done something else entirely. He made a secret pledge: one that Arcana would never know about.

The remainder of her pregnancy was spent - as far as Orhan was concerned - in total bliss. When he was not glued to Arcana's side, he was looking at her dreamily from across the oasis, or thinking about her. His nights were sleepless, spent either pondering what their child would be like or fantasizing passionate scenarios. He had not felt so youthful, so pleasantly light-headed and giddy like he was walking on clouds, in a long time.

His elation was like a bubble. Summer came and nearly went, its heat barely making an impression on him. He lost track of Arcana's pregnancy, her ever-growing belly barely a blip on his radar, even when she became huge. It did not occur to him that she was overdue. Hardly anything occured to him during this time.

Then one morning, Orhan woke some time before dawn, when the sky was just a fraction of a shade paler than the midnight blue of night. With his recent sleeplessness this was normal for him, and so he thought nothing of it, fetching a drink from the oasis before attempting to catch a bit more shut-eye before dawn. But sleep would not come. The stallion shifted his weight restlessly for some time, and when sunlight finally hit his eyelids, he abandoned the thought of any more rest.

After grabbing a quick breakfast, he scanned the area to locate his herd, and saw Arcana emerging from some shubbery. Beside her was a tan filly; for a moment, Orhan thought it was Feray, until his eyes caught the tell-tale flash of white on her back and legs. His stomach dropped to his feet. Where had the time gone? It seemed like it had been just yesterday that he and Arcana had been confessing their love to each other.

His body singing with adrenaline, the stallion flagged his tail and trotted to meet the duo. He gaped at the filly, his honey-brown eyes wide and full of emotion, but said nothing. His knees trembled. There was his daughter, standing right before him, so close he could practically count her eyelashes. But he could not comprehend the fact that she was real.

No matter how many children he had, the experience would feel brand new every time. Especially when it was a child he and Arcana had created.