Meadow

Rivaini

Guilt twisted Rivaini's gut as she watched the subtle play of emotions across the dark mare's face. Confusion and doubt, then a brief flash of pain flitting in the depths of her eyes. It was haunting to see the same expression that the silver bay was certain she'd worn often over the past couple days reflected on this stranger's face - and to know that she had put it there. Regret arrived on the heels of her guilt, leaving a taste as bitter as nettles on the back of her tongue. Inhaling deeply to steady her slipping composure, Rivaini's blue eyes lifted themselves to look over the other woman's head, watching gray skeins of cloud drift across the sky instead of the wrenching sight of another's suffering.

But she didn't need to see her new companion's face to know how her words had affected her - the long seconds of silence between them spoke volumes.

And then, as the nameless 'Teke began to speak, the dim glow of hope began to spread like the warmth of blood restoring circulation to long-numbed extremeties. Iscariot is ivory... Animation returned to her in minute degrees with each word the other spoke; fracturing pieces from the icy shell that she had enfolded herself in. Ears turned forward, nostrils quivered to catch the faintest trace of a scent that might have belonged to her brother on the slender mare's skin. A shudder coursed down the length of her spine, as if she were a creature awakening from the grips of some terrible nightmare. His hind legs are angled incorrectly and they pained him when we searched the beach.

By the time the stranger paused, Rivaini was certain of the truth - but could no longer find her own voice. Once, twice dark lips parted soundlessly, the words caught behind the lump of emotion that had gathered in her throat. Swallowing hard to dislodge the obstacle, the chestnut-and-cream mare managed to rasp out a response to her black-coated companion. "The swim... his legs were always weak. When he didn't arrive within hours of me, I knew - I mean, I thought..." Speech abandoned her once again, and this time Rivaini had to swallow twice to continue, blinking back the damp sheen that had formed in her pale eyes. "How - I mean, what - where is he?" The question had already been answered, of course, but given the shock she was experiencing, perhaps the silver bay could be excused for missing some of the details.

A pause, during which the full impact of the situation began to sink in. This mare was a stranger not only to her, but also to her brother. Yet she had apparently been wandering the island in search of Iscariot's missing sister, seeking to reunite them. She looked again at the Teke in a new light - not quite suspicious, but skeptical. Cynicism was a quality that she had acquired over a lifetime of learning that compassionate acts were rare, and true compassion with no underlying cost rarer still. "You helped Iscariot - why? He was nothing to my family, to my father - what is he to you?"

It should not have mattered - Rivaini was eager to return to her perlino sibling's side, anxious at the thought of him waiting alone even now. But she had always looked out for Iscariot, protected him - and if it meant his safety to question the motives of this unknown mare, then she could bear to be separated from him for a few moments longer.

mare / five / silver bay tobiano / andalusian mix / 15.3hh