Like the little clusters of red berries on the vann trees, each interaction with Priya burst over his tongue to fill him with sweetness. She was kind, always. It was unlike anything Aadhira knew – but again, Priya was the first horse outside his sister that he’d spoken with alone. “You have caused no trouble.” Aadhira’s voice fell a little more firmly than it normally did and his amber-brown eyes cut to Aarushi, who was not in the least bit pleased with her brother’s newfound independence.

Aarushi snorted, her black tail flicking at her hind, snapping in the desert air. “We have traveled far. Mera bhaee ek dubo dena hai.” She stared down Aadhira with her dark eyes and for a moment – just a moment – he felt the guilt tangle his heart. He wanted to tuck his head like a scolded colt and hide his eyes from her in shame. Yet Priya was close, and her nearness pulled a newfound strength in him he’d never known he possessed. He stood strong and stared openly at his sister, even managing to lift his head somewhat higher.

The subtle cue did not go unnoticed by Aarushi. “Do you see this, Priya?” She asked, voice cut sharp. Though truly her words were meant more for Aadhira, not for Priya. “My brother was a smart boy. He listened to his sister and I kept him alive. Now he is dumb. Now he turns his back on me. Now he runs away, forces me to follow, and brings me here. To you.” Her dark eyes momentarily lay heavily on Priya, but snapped back to Aadhira. “Everything I have done was to keep you alive.” Her curved ears twisted backwards. “And this is how you repay me?”

Aadhira snorted, irritation grown by a tenfold. “Sister! You act as if I have betrayed you. Priya is a friend. A good friend. We do not have to run our whole life. We can live here. We can settle.”

Aarushi pawed the soft sand beneath her hoof and tossed her head. “You have lost sense. You know why we must never settle. Mat bhoolo ki aap kaun hain.” With her final words (a statement which made Aadhira’s eyes drop to the ground at last in shame), Aarushi turned, snapping her tail against her hind and striking out toward the distant clump of trees she knew would show a water source.

Aadhira sighed, his body deflated as Aarushi left. Why would she not listen to him just this once? His ears turned out, tail head dropped. “I am sorry about my sister, Priya.” He said quietly. “She believes she has reasons to act the way she does.”