If Ylva had thought Solaris was tall, she did not know what to make of this stallion. He towered over them both, though he shared the same lean frame as Solaris. Was he related, or was this simply how the islanders looked? His soft, pale coloring was more like what she was used to at home, but like Solaris he bore unusual splashes of white here and there, as well as spots that looked like snowflakes on his skin. There was a strange and somewhat severe kind of beauty to him, and her heart thumped in her chest as he came closer. Yet when he spoke, his words were friendly, in complete contrast to what she had expected.
For a moment Ylva was frozen. Her eyes darted briefly to Solaris, noting the sudden change in her body language, then back to the stallion before her. She felt as though she was treading on ice: safe as long as she knew where to step.
"Ylva," she told the stallion, swallowing against the dryness in her throat. Her head swam with dizziness, though whether it was from nerves, exhaustion, hunger, or dehydration, she could not be sure. Likely it was a combination of all of them. Be brave, she told herself, and held the stallion's gaze. "I am searching for refuge, and found myself washed up here. Is this your home?"
2; norwegian fjord; red dun pangare; 14hh
|
|