ORHAN
One step closer, and then A'idah was touching him. Orhan froze and let the scent and warmth of her proximity fill his senses. To his surprise, his body responded; he could feel a fire filling him despite his exhaustion, as if no time at all had passed since their last meeting. He began to tremble with the strength of the feeling.
He had just begun to lean into her when she pulled away abruptly, bringing him back to reality with a jolt. Her tone and expression had become solemn, and so when she spoke Orhan half-expected her to give him bad news. He braced himself, which was ultimately pointless. What left her mouth was possibly the best thing she could have said.
The stallion's weary face cracked in a bright, joyful smile, which was dampened only slightly by her obvious remorse in asking the question. He remembered all too well the time his mother had tried to cast A'idah out as if she was a poisonous insect, and the propaganda perpetrated by the purebreds that they had got caught up in through the following years. There had always been something trying to keep the two of them apart.
"Of course not," he replied earnestly, sympathy in his eyes. "You have always been welcome in the Desert, A'idah, and you always will be. Nothing would make me happier than to have you here." Orhan leaned forward to gently touch the Arabian mare, thinking of just how long he had prayed for this moment and how much they had to catch up on, when something caught his ear: hoof beats in the sand, just audible above the rush of the tide.
Orhan pulled away without touching her and turned his head to see his son Koray approaching them at a leisurely trot. The tall, well-built perlino stallion was eyeing them with surprise, but there was no smile on his face, and he made no attempt to offer his sire an affectionate touch despite the months they'd spent apart. To Orhan there also seemed to be a wildness in his green eyes that had not been there before, though he looked well otherwise, much better than Orhan did.
"Father, you're back," Koray stated matter-of-factly, and his eyes flicked to the Arabian mare. Orhan watched as he looked her over with a thoroughness that made him uncomfortable.
"It seems I am," Orhan replied, offering a rueful smile, "and alone, I'm afraid, other than my old friend here. This is A'idah. She was just telling me that she was hoping to settle down here. Do you think you have room for two old nags like us?" Orhan's word choice was deliberate; he wondered if Koray would pick up on his meaning.
Koray met his father's gaze with a blank expression. After a moment of seeming consideration, he nodded. "I don't see why not. We have to make up our numbers somehow."
ARABIAN/AKHAL-TEKE/MUSTANG; 15’1HH; BUCKSKIN; 12 |