Forgive me, Naz might have said again, or perhaps she might have echoed; no apologies are necessary. But, she merely dipped her muzzle instead, hoping that the sentiments she felt within her, and without – hovering in the air between them, were implied. “I am Naz.” And as she listened intently to Nereid’s explanation, she bowed her head in understanding and respect. This was one who could See as she herself Saw. A mare not blinded by her own pride.

“To me, he is… Arkadaş, takip etmeye değer.” The words rolled gently from her tongue, and her eyes glimmered at the sound of them. It had been so long since she had spoken the language of the ones who had taken her in. “A friend, worth following,” she went on to say softly, translating. And she might have left it there, but another word, stirring emotions deep within, rose to her lips.

“In my heart, he has become Dhruv,” the marwari mare confessed, her voice taking on a raw edge. She felt vulnerable, in a way she never had before, revealing such a thing to one she did not know well, but it was more than that. If it had been long since she’d spoken the language of the place that had been Home, it had been a lifetime since she’d spoken the language of her Heart. A twinge of guilt afflicted her, but she would not take her Truth back now that she had set it free.

Grasping onto Nereid’s next words, Naz first shook her head to wordlessly answer her companion’s question, before she murmured her agreement. “Our Language, it’s a part of who we are,” she said with conviction. It was honourable in her eyes that Nereid’s mother had been aware of this, and seen to it that Nereid wasn’t denied the history of her people. The black and white marwari mare met Nereid’s gaze, and answered her question honestly. “I was just returning to slake my thirst. I’m headed off to walk the border the Dunes shares with the Badlands.”

Naz knew Bahadir to be more than capable, but it was in her nature to protect as much as it was to guide, and while the noble stallion was recovering from his grievous injury, she did what she could to help. “But it would do me good to rest a little here if you wouldn’t be opposed to my company, and you were planning on lingering a while,” the marwari continued, her eyes brightening little, before she allowed her gaze to wander, not wanting Nereid to feel put on the spot.