Mariael remembered when Zevulun and Auraleigh were born. It had been the first time she’d seen foals since she was no longer a foal herself. Two years old, looking down at the thin-limbed little colt and filly with their wispy, cloud-like manes had pulled hard and fiercely at her heart, making her silently understand there was very little she would do to make sure her siblings were safe. Now, time had passed and Zevulun had grown, maturing into a thick
body, like herself, but with seemingly more muscle. But sometimes when Mariael looked at him she saw the young, frightened thing, bleating in a panic for his mother and his twin sister, and how she’d thrown her head over his neck and pulled him tight against her body, feeling him tremble as he cried and thinking every evil thought about his mother for abandoning him as she could.
Looking at Izizel, her niece brought forth the same emotions of protection. Mariael whuffed a soft, hot breath against her niece’s muzzle and sucked in air shortly after scented only of the little girl and of the Bay. She leaned in, tapped her nose against Izizel’s, smiled warmly, and reached up to fondly, affectionately lip at the little wisps of her growing-in mane. Everything Mariael did for the Bay was to protect moments like this, she thought. And no matter how big Izizel grew, Mariael knew there was likely always to be a piece of her that remembered this moment.
Maziel moved forward, smiling, her excitement very readable in her expression as she stretched her neck and huffed a few warm breaths, scenting the air to draw closer to Izizel.
“She’s beautiful,” Mariael said to Avalon and Zevulun, lifting her head to look at the proud parents as Maziel took her turn greeting Izizel one-on-one. Maziel shuffled a step closer, brushing her muzzle over Izizel’s neck and smiling even wider.
“Have you been giving your father much trouble?” Maziel asked as she pulled back so as not to overcrowd Izizel with nuzzles, amusement sprinkled in her tone. She spread her smile a little wider. “He gave your mother and I plenty of trouble growing up, so don’t listen to him if he tries to tell you he was perfectly well-behaved.” She winked and laughed as Zevulun butted in with a playfully offended, “Hey!”
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