Meadow

breathe, darling.
this is just a chapter.
it is not your whole story

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She wanted to be selfish. She wanted to grab a hold of his heart and guard it like a dragon with his hoard. She wanted to be the one who ensnared his senses and painted his mind with images of her eyes. She wanted but she did not have nor would she ever. It was better this way.

It was a bittersweet pill to swallow. It lodged in her throat and made it hard to breathe. A dull throb rested beneath her breast, heart sickened by the resolve that had taken residence in her mind. Acceptance did not lessen the pain but it made it bearable. As long as she could put one foot before the other then she was living.

Nereid cast a long look across the expanse of golden sand. Black shadows congregated in vicinity of the oasis with one standing apart from the others. Soter and the herd he called his own. She ached to walk in their direction but she could not. Selfish had taken root in her mind and she needed to cleanse herself before she could return. One sickened soul could contaminate the rest.

With a heavy heart, Nereid turned to the ocean and plunged within the cold depths. It would be some time before she returned again.

-

The sun was beginning to set on the horizon when Nereid's swim comes to an end. She is tired, flank heaving with exertion. Normally the swim from Salem would not have taken much from the mare but her mind is elsewhere. She is not focused on her love for the ocean and thus Poseidon has punished her for her betrayal. The waves had been brutal and her lungs still quiver from the exertion of expelling liquid from their depths.

Nereid is slow to stride away from the shore. Her head is lowered near her knees, honey eyes lacking their normal warmth and kindness. She pays little heed to which direction her legs lead her, so focused on her reminiscing and pondering of what if even though it is a hopeless cause. She had made her choice and would stick with it.

The soft sound of footsteps breaks Nereid out of reverie. She looks up and blinks as she realises that she has made it to the meadow. A fond smile plays upon her lips as she recalls the lost stallion she had met not too many moons ago. Icarus had been a balm to her bleeding soul. She wonders where he currently resides but only for a moment. Who had broken her from her thoughts?

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