Koray

Koray blinked rapidly into the drizzle and flicked one ear back at the sound of hooves approaching in the sand. He did not turn right away, expecting that it was Evren come to make more excuses for wherever Vita Nova was today, and it seemed that he was right. The filly's voice, full-bodied with the timbre of late adolescence, reached his ears with the taint of forced cordiality. The stallion had little interest in whatever she had to say, and tried to block her words out, responding to his half-sister with nothing more than silence.

She tried to initiate conversation again, this time dropping his mother's name into the sentence. That got his attention. "I'm sorry about Carisa and your sister. It must be so frustrating to not know where they are."

Koray flicked his ears back and hunched over to look at the sand. Still he said nothing, though his heart had begun to race and his face had grown hot. Evren's presence was a grating reminder of her mother, Arcana, whom Orhan had always obviously favored over Carisa. It did not matter that Arcana had disappeared just as Carisa had, and that Evren no doubt understood Koray's pain; if anything, that made it worse. When Carisa and Feray had disappeared the first time, Orhan had done nothing. When Arcana and Indira disappeared, he had dropped everything to search for them. And his favoritism extended to their children. Arcana's line, including Evren, were the chosen ones. Carisa's line, which included himself, fell by the wayside. Orhan had never wanted him as his heir; he had used the first excuse to send him away.

"I'm sure they're fine," Evren continued, "Maybe they've just gone to look for Da--"

Koray swiveled around and thrust his face into Evren's, his teeth bared and his eyes wild. "Shut up!" he screamed at her, and saw her expression fall as she shrank away. "Keep your fake sympathy! I know you've been talking about me behind my back; I know you've been lying to me and covering for Vita!"

Evren's light brown eyes widened in alarm. "What? I never--"

Koray felt something take over his body then, as he reached forward and grabbed the crest of his half-sister's neck with his teeth. He threw her onto the sand, where she landed hard on her side and flailed her legs in an attempt to pull herself upright. Koray stood over her, trembling and breathing heavily through his nostrils, blind with rage for a moment. When his vision cleared, he became aware of a few hairs caught in his teeth and shook his head to dislodge them, then looked at Evren as though seeing her for the first time. The young mare had scrambled to her feet and retreated a few paces away. She was looking at him with fear and horror, a combination he had never seen on her face before.

They stood in silence, at an impasse.