Merete watched, her eyes narrowed slightly in curiosity, as the stallion scrambled to his feet. Apparently, her appearance had surprised him as much as his presence in the clearing had her, although it was clear that he hid his shock a little less well than Merete, to put it politely. That was, until his eyes rose to meet hers. For just a second, Merete faltered. Her own eyes stared back at her, deep amber and hot like fire – and yet there were not her eyes, but her father’s. She looked back into them as she had looked back into Het Vuur’s a thousand times. The memories flooded back, with such a weight that she felt winded by their impact. The world seemed to hang, still, on that moment forever before Merete felt her mind come back to life. She gave her head a little shake, blinking as if it would clear the shock of the sight from her mind. Her father would have been ancient by now, if he was even still alive. This was not him, she reminded herself, merely a strange coincidence that had caught her by surprise. Her gaze slipped slowly up and down his body. This stranger’s form, though strikingly familiar, was of no concern – Het Vuur himself had had a whole harem of pureblood Friesians on just these islands, across the rest of these lands and distant ones too there were no doubt many, many more. Her eyes flicked back to his face. And that star… there were thousands of horses with ones just like it, of course – it was a marking much more common than the white dot that adorned her own lip, for a start. Her ears flicked forwards as he began to speak, and she forced herself to focus, pushing away the nonsensical questions in her mind. To her surprise, it was an apology the youngster gave, and then his name. For once, there was a brief pause before words came to Merete. “Oh, I don’t live here – not anymore, at least – I’m just visiting. I’m Merete,” she explained briefly, her voice less sharp now that her mind was distracted and, besides, she felt just a tiny bit guilty about giving the boy such a fright. She didn’t try to rule with intimidation – that had been her mother’s tool. “What are you doing, then, Diamant, possibly trespassing on someone’s land?” she continued, her tone a little more certain as she turned the conversation back around to him. |