Zevulun beamed at Freya, too joyous at her return to be anything but. Baldr’s approach momentarily distracted him and he glanced down at the boy, a different sort of grin (one with a hint of pride) creeping over his mouth. “Jeez, kid! You’ve already grown so much since last time you were here.” Zevulun took a step back, tilting his head as he pretended to marvel over Baldr’s growth. In truth there was a part of him which marveled at it; even his first child’s growth was surprising to him. With every day that passed Izizel was looking more and more like a young mare and less like a little wobbly-legged filly… and now Baldr was doing the same.
But Baldr’s attention turned to Maziel, who only just realized he was talking to her when there was a slight pause. Zevulun blinked, trying to think how to answer it, but Maziel’s kind voice broke through after Freya’s apology.
“It’s okay to be curious,” she said with a trademark smile, and flicked her ears toward where she’d heard the boy’s voice. She turned her head near his direction, but her sightless eyes glanced just left of him. “My eyes have been like this since I was born,” she explained, “I’m blind. I can’t see anything. Everyone tells me it’s when you close your eyes… nothing but darkness.” She didn’t sound particularly sad, but then again… how could she miss something when she’d never had it to begin with?
Zevulun huffed at Freya’s last words concerning Persephone’s absence from the Forest. “More like once Persephone was forced to come to the Inlet.” Distaste for the stallion who caused this mess crept in his tone and his ears flicked back in irritation. Mariael had told him what had transpired when Persephone snuck into the Bay for a visit and he hadn’t been all too happy to learn Warsaw had tried to take Freya.
Maziel flicked her dark brown tail and spoke up, “Well, that’s passed now, and Freya is here with Baldr.” And not in the Inlet, she seemed to remind Zevulun, and turned her sightless eyes toward their company again. “How about we get off this beach and go inland where the wind isn’t as sharp?”
Zevulun nodded and visibly worked to control the anger he felt toward the whole mess until he could smile again. He shouldn’t let his anger take away from the truth and decided to express it again. The last thing he’d want is for Freya to feel she should stay away. “It is good to see you here again, Freya. The Bay will always be here for you.” He paused, and the words came from his mouth with heavy, deep, sincere weight before he thought to stop them. “I’ll always be here for you. Both of you.” His gaze jumped to Baldr and his smile pulled up a little higher on one side of his mouth than the other. “Now! Come on. You didn’t get to see much of the Bay last time you were here, did you? I’ve got a ton of cool spots to show you.”
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