m e n k h e t

a feeling she isn’t accustomed to begins to intrude as she listens to and watches the stallion. confusion wrings her mind as his sadness permeates the conversation. where was his family now? worrying about him maybe? would they try to come and retrieve him? she would if her son were still alive. with a snort she drives this thought out of her mind. she had no family, no son, and she would not give this stallion up easily. unless a replacement was found she needed him in order to stay in the forest.

she doesn’t know how to put him at ease. it bothers her to have lost the maternal instinct of comforting another. it seemed she only made him more wary by relaxing her own body. this meeting may be just making things worse between them rather than better. still she endeavors to try harder, taking a few steps backwards and angling her sooty dappled body away from him. as emotions played out across his face and lingered in his eyes she wished she could think of something to say, something that would make him feel less alone and lost. she didn’t used to be so hard, such an unfeeling monster. but to let empathy shine through would open herself to all the feelings she had shored away. all the happy moments she remembered of her son and daughter. all the familial love she once had in droves. his question makes her shake her head gently.

i left the land i started my life in. i have no family anymore. this she gestures around the forest with her head, this is all i have.

the words are strong as iron but as she speaks them she can feel loss and sorrow creeping into her eyes, betraying her as usual. an idea forms in her mind, one that might do them both some good. the words ease out of her mouth softly, encouragingly.

nuru, i have a proposal for you. if i were a mother she cringes slightly i would want to know my son is safe. so i will give you two weeks. travel to find your mother, let her know of your whereabouts and that she is welcome to visit, and then return here. i am not all bad and i have my reasons for keeping you here, but it doesn’t need to be unpleasant.

she is nervous now, half worried that he would flee from the forest before she could finish her terms and so she hurries to speak again.

you must let me know the direction in which you travel, and you must know this. if you do not return in two weeks, i will come for you and i will bring you back using any means necessary. if it is your own doing that keeps you away, you will not be allowed to leave again.

mare : 5 : sooty buckskin : arabian mutt : 15.2 : kafkaesque
s t o c k ~ q u i e t - b l i s s @ d e v i a n t a r t