"Orhan didn't tell you?"
The steel-colored mare swallowed hard as Koray confirmed her suspicions. Vita Nova fidgeted in the sand as Koray continued to explain. A chill ran down the length of her spine, leaving her to feel hollowed and slightly light headed as the weight of this realization began to set in. She couldn't help but feel used and discarded. While it was true that Nova was never truly a part of Orhan's herd, and hell, she barely knew the bloke or his family, she couldn't help but feel betrayed by the fact that he would leave her behind without any warning, without an invitation, or without saying anything about it at all. Koray made it remarkably clear that he had no interest in getting to know her, or to care for her, or to provide for her. Orhan did. Salty tears began to well in the bottom lids of her bright, crystal blue eyes and she looked away from the pale stallion standing in front of her almost immediately. She didn't want to see the smug look on his face when he realized how hurt she was by this sudden series of events. After several long moments, Nova snorted several times in quick succession and cocked her petite head to face him again, this time with her emotions under control. "Oh." Was all she managed to squeak out in response.
So clearly this was emergency. Orhan would be back once he recovered his lead mare and his children. Nova grasped to this wistful conclusion, needing it in order to ground her for at least the time being. "I'm sure he'll be back soon enough." She interjected as Koray chose finish his remarks with his climb to power, albeit it temporary. "Perhaps I'll use this time to stay with my mother in the Dunes. She's been through quite an ordeal." As the words slipped from her lips, Nova realized that Koray probably didn't even know that Evaline lived in the neighboring territory on Salem. He probably didn't even know her mother lived here on the islands or if she was alive. He probably didn't know about Oswin and the many other siblings she had strewn across the isles. She wondered briefly if the pale stallion would uphold the relationship Orhan had established with her brother, Shamwari. Severing that could be detrimental to both her and her brother, and she briefly considered fleeing to the Prairie, too, where she knew she'd be safe under her brother's care until Orhan returned.
This news made Nova think hard about how little she really knew the cremello stallion, who technically now oversaw the Desert. She didn't know if he was kind and honest under his prickly exterior, but something in her gut told her he was not. She didn't know if he could be physically abusive. Something told her he was too lazy to be too harsh, but if pushed, perhaps that could change. She stomped one hoof into the soft sand again as she studied him, waiting to see how he reacted to her interest in leaving their home altogether for refuge with her family.
4 | Mare | Evaline x Valentine | Smoky Back Splash | 15 hh | © Vinyl |
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