Her nervousness only grows because the longer she tries to concentrate on a particular spot, the blurrier her eyes get. She glances up at the sky, noticing that the clouds are getting thicker and darker. Perfect. That means that not only will her vision cut out soon, but it’s probably going to rain.
Her heart twists with longing as she remembers the time that Talya had come to save her from the storm in the Forest. She’d been correct in thinking at the time that she’d never know whether running into that tree had drawn blood. She hasn’t seen Talya in quite some time, not since those early days after the girl’s father had disappeared. Talya had been moving a bit gingerly, so Aurora had wondered but hadn’t had the nerve to ask what had happened.
Then she’d needed to separate herself from everybody once she’d realized the depth of what had happened to her. It would have been too much to have Talya ask, because what would she have said? Yes, Talya, your father attacked me and now I’m carrying your sibling. Somehow, Aurora doesn’t think that would have gone well for either of them.
She gasps as she feels another painful prod, resisting the urge to reach back again. She flicks her blonde tail against her flank instead, heaving a tired sigh. She doesn’t think it’ll be much longer before the foal arrives, and she has a strong, sudden desire to be back in the Forest, surrounded in seclusion by those trees that have become her home. But she realizes she’ll be safer waiting for the rain showers to pass; it would be better for her to travel in brightness than darkness – traveling while blind could leave her stranded on the wrong island.
Her entire body aches from memories overlaid atop her current condition, and if she were currently capable of thinking of anything else, she may have missed the sudden utterance of her name. She stiffens in shock, able to almost completely ignore her child’s tumbling for once as a shiver runs down her back. She squeezes her eyes shut briefly, praying that she’d imagined that horribly familiar voice. This is exactly what she’s been afraid of.
Her head turns, eyes searching, until they land on him. At least she assumes it’s him…her eyes have never been as good as anyone else’s and he’s too far away to make out any details, but the general shape of him is how she remembers. She starts to tremble but doesn’t move or speak. Maybe if she wishes hard enough, she’ll become invisible and he’ll forget he’s seen her. |