For a horse unaccustomed to the way the sun hung high and lazy in the sky, only setting once late autumn struck and staying set throughout winter – sleeping in the high sun might seem odd. Mariael, however, having never truly lived away from Tinuvel (she did not consider the six months spent on the Mainlands as living elsewhere), it seemed far more natural than a day the horses lived on Crossing Isle. Much could be done in the endless daylight, and even the pitch black of winter did not deter her too greatly.
As such it must have been late, as the sun was sitting at a low angle when a shuffling sound pulled her from her slight slumber. Mariael lifted her head at the same time Zevulun did, as he’d been dozing nearby. It was the sound of a creature making their way through the forest, a large one at that. With a twitch of her ears she could hear the distinct sound of a branch bending as it brushed over a body, and snapping back with a soft shiver of leaves when the figure passed. Her nostrils flared, trying to pull a scent, but the stranger was either too far or downwind, as she couldn’t catch anything.
“Do you want me to go with you?” Zevulun asked in a whisper, trying not to disturb Maziel where she was curled on the ground, muzzle against the earth, peacefully asleep. Mariael looked toward her younger brother and shook her head sharply before carefully picking her way forward, moving toward the sound and focusing her attention on her senses to try and draw a better conclusion as she neared the source.
The sounds of travel had stopped and just as she could see a looming, black shape against the ground, Mariael heard the sharp inhale of breath and unmistakable sob. She stopped short, head raised in suspicion, knowing she was definitely looking at a horse, now, and that horse was definitely in grieving. Mariael had never been particularly good at expression sorrow or fear or any emotion she deemed to have a negative connotation. She’d been bottling up her woes for so long she feared even letting one slip would be her undoing and she could not afford to let anyone see her break. For a moment she looked over her back, toward where she’d come, almost hoping to see Maziel curiously trailing her. Maziel was wonderful when it came to comforting those who needed it most.
But Maziel was still asleep, safely with Zevulun, as Mariael expected her to be. She glanced back toward the stranger – a stallion, she could smell now. Strong in body, or so it appeared.
Mariael took a breath and began to walk forward, parting the low branches of the trees with her body, allowing her approach to not be silent as she went. The ground crunched gently beneath her weight and within a few steps she stood in the clearing, still feeling completely out of her element and at a loss of what to do or say. She stared at him for a moment and cleared her throat. “Who are you?” Her words came out a little harder, a little more clipped than she intended, but while struggling to mask her emotions she often appeared colder than she truly was inside.
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