As Vita Nova's belly grew rounder by the day, she was left only with her thoughts about the two stallions in which she'd been intimate with in recent months. The passionate reunion with Nephilim had been intense but fleeting. He'd made familiar promises to come home with her, to follow her back to the Prairie where they could start over, together. But in true Nephilim fashion, he never followed up on them. Even when Vita Nova foolishly braved the strenuous swim while pregnant back to the mainlands to search for him, to the same nook of a valley that Oswin had directed her to the first time, the gold-flecked stallion was long gone. His scent even, had been wiped away by the bitter sea breeze. Much to Vita Nova's own surprise, however, she wasn't mad. Instead, she was embarrassed. She felt foolish. How could she had let herself be duped by this stallion yet again? This time, the shame was on her.
In an effort to expel any lingering feelings of attraction or devotion to the former king of the Bay, Nova returned to the Prairie and instead pined away for Warsaw. Her interest in the big grey stallion was complicated here as well. On one hand, the sooty-colored mare couldn't stop thinking about him, or the time they'd met in the commons with Petal. More frequently, she found herself revisiting the steamy details of their intimate arrangement, all alone in the shallow depths of a Tinuvel cavern, their bodies intertwined with one another. Warsaw was a surprisingly tender and exciting lover, despite the reservations she had about his gruff nature. He made her nervous sometimes, with his demand for loyalty and dark, curious nature about how mares were leading territories these days. Deep down, she knew he wasn't good for her. But the raw attraction she'd developed for him, it was hard to ignore. She found herself craving him. So much so that sh'ed break out in sweat standing all alone in the airy, breezy Prairie.
Both Nephilim and Warsaw slipped to the back of her mind once Tavas was born. The sweet, healthy, blonde babe was clearly the daughter of Nephilim, but Nova didn't care who the father was. She had a bright, beautiful young filly to take care of again. After Nyah's devious, independence took her first daughter out of her life, she longed for the comfort of raising another. No matter how much she loathed Nephilim for how he treated her, at least he gave her Tavas. Vita Nova's ambling, purposeless life had seemingly changed in an instant, then. Under the protection of her brother and nephew, she was free to focus solely on raising her daughter. And in the terrain in which she grew up, too. How lucky. Unfortunately her good fortune did not last long.
It was as if Warsaw got wind of it. Because out of nowhere, the stallion appeared, breaching the borders of her Luthien home and going after Shamwari in an attempt to get to her. After Shamwari successfully batted him away, it was Vita Nova who was under the spotlight then. She felt the shame all over again, this time from her own family. A younger, perhaps unmothered version of Vita Nova would have been flattered and swept up in the gesture of Warsaw willing to do anything to get to her. But no, not now. Not after all Shamwari had been through this year. Not after he's welcomed her home the way he did. And not after Tavas. Vita Nova was furious. The weather was changing, summer was edging into autumn. If she had any chance to get to Tinuvel before the weather took a turn for the worst, it was now. Tavas was not quite old enough, but she was bold like her mother. Therefore Vita Nova urged her into the shallow surf, and off they went, lapping through the easy tides in the direction of hazy island in the distance.
The pair eventually rolled onto the pebble shore of the Inlet, and Vita Nova breathed in the crisp, cool air. Tavas took to swimming surprisingly well. The bright blue-eyed filly shook her fuzzy coat and pranced in place, eager and enthralled by the new and very different surroundings. Vita Nova, on the other hand, had a sour, determined look etched across her features. She emitted a shrill, ear-piercing whinny, which echoed through the evergreen trees and the nearby boulders. The terrain looked as empty as it did the last time she was here. She snorted and rolled her eyes at the thought and urged Tavas toward the trees in the distance. "Get a good look now." Vita Nova told her daughter as the palomino filly trotted around, sticking her nose into the ground to inspect fallen branches of sticky green leaves and foreign pine cones. "We won't be staying long."
4 | Mare | Evaline x Valentine | Smoky Back Splash | 15 hh | © Vinyl |
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