DIAMANT
Diamant's stay in the inlet had been short but fruitful. He and his newfound sibling Merete had parted only after thoroughly picking each other's brains about their family's past: she to go to the Peak; he to go... where, exactly? He could not have said. But he had other concerns right now.
The young stallion felt like he did not know who he was anymore. He had learned so much of his heritage in so little time, and he did not know what to make of all this new information. For starters, what was he to make of the fact that the mare who had raised him as her son was actually his half-sister? Inka was dead; he could not exactly turn tail and run back to the Peak demanding answers from her bones. The very fact that she'd had the audacity to die before they could talk all of this through was maddening, and Diamant was at a loose end. Merete may have given him as many answers as she could provide, but there were still blanks to be filled, and now no one left to fill them.
At a loss for what else to do, Diamant began to walk. While he walked, he reflected on grief. Merete would likely be grieving right now over the news that her parents were dead, and though Inka had died almost a year ago, Diamant felt as though he was grieving her all over again. The idea that a mare could take the infant son of her dead parents and raise him as her own was bizarre and unfathomable to him, but it was also admirable. She must have gone through a lot to adapt to the situation, but it had never stopped her from caring for him as if he really was hers. She had never treated him differently to the horses who had been raised as his siblings, and he had never known her as anything other than his mother - had no reason to suspect otherwise, in fact - until the day she'd suffered a careless slip of the tongue.
Had he not overreacted to the news and run off that fateful day, he might have seen her one last time before she died.
Grief, rage, and regret pulsed through him, so powerful he thought they might tear him apart. Overcome by it all, the stallion stopped walking and looked up at the midnight sun blazing low in the sky. There were trees all around him, he realized. How had he travelled so far without noticing? A cool breeze hit his face and he blinked, sending tears spilling down his cheeks. He was exhausted, and every part of him - inside and out – positively ached. He had never known such pain existed.
Diamant sank to his knees and let loose a helpless, convulsing sob.
FRIESIAN; 17’2HH; BLACK; THREE
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