Gnome wasn’t necessarily put off by the pair so much as confused by the display of affection. Sure, he’d landed the occasional playful nip upon Lilika, and even others, but never so harsh as to pull at the skin too much. Whatever,” he thought. He tried not to judge too quickly, though something about these two was rubbing him the wrong way. Still, Xiomara had ended up surprising him with what had almost seemed to be tenderness. Therefore, he would withhold from forming a solid judgment on Rougaru and Monster.

He watched as Rougaru reacted poorly to his statement that he preferred not to fight. Monster, too, was clearly judging him. He merely rolled his eyes at her calling him boring – he’d been called worse – but he pinned his own ears at Rougaru’s accusatory tone. With a snort, he retorted, ”Do not mistake me for being weak. I just returned to the islands. This is the first I have heard of a war, and I have no interest in wasting energy on a fight when I don’t know what I’m fighting for. As for the mares, I am not so foolish to think that they are weak and only need protecting and coddling. Often they have been more capable than men I have known. They are valuable assets and I don’t see why they shouldn’t fight, if that’s what they want.” He glanced over at the tobiano. She surely looked feisty enough to take on most stallions he knew. Plus, there was Xiomara. If the rumor was true, she’d defeated a stallion known for his battle prowess.

The red dun carefully watched the exchange between the pair as they discussed Monster showing him around. Gnome’s mismatched eyes traveled first over Rougaru, his striking chocolate coat contrasted by a pale mane, then moved to Monster. It was true that she was attractive, but perhaps Gnome was noble to a fault after all. He knew love, and while he’d had a couple of weak moments with strangers since his return, that didn’t mean that a pretty face would change his mind if he didn’t intend to change it.

Monster gave him an overview of where they’d start and took off at a trot. He watched her go for a moment over his shoulder, then turned back to nod curtly at Rougaru before following the mare. His frosted mane was beginning to stick to his neck already when he caught up. The humidity wasn’t something to which he was accustomed, but he favored it over the bitterness of Tinuvel.

Despite all his determination, he did find himself relaxing now that they were alone. What she would find out, though, was that he had no secrets to tell really. He chuckled at her suggestion. ”Sure, though I’m not sure I’ll give you the answers you’re looking for.” He pondered for a moment as they continued through foliage unlike anything he’d ever seen. Dozens of varieties of tropical plants brushed against his patchy sides as they moved inland. Finally, he decided on his first question. ”Do you really feel that it is improper for mares to fight in a battle? Something about you makes me think that even if there were twice as many stallions as needed to fight, you would want to anyway.”

Gnome