Shenzi fell still where she stood, watching with eyes burning with contempt as a mere boy splashes into the stream ahead of her, foolish in his bravado. The fierce, stocky mare has nothing to say to him, she knows where he is from, and why he is here. He reeks of the Lagoon. With ears slicked back into her mane, she watches as the young male rears in the stream, and Shenzi leans back to avoid his flailing hooves.
But as he comes down from his rear, she strikes, launching herself forwards and viciously snapping at his neck once his hooves no longer pose a threat but before he has a chance to regain his footing amongst the mossy rocks hidden beneath the icy water. It matters little to her that she almost twists one of her own ankles, and is quick to withdraw. There was no longer any point enduring the numbing cold now that she had no reason to attempt to hide her scent.
There is another male, and Shenzi acknowledges him with nothing more than a fleeting glance. A shiver runs the length of her spine, and gingerly shaking any remaining water from her legs, she ambles over to a stand of trees, to catch her breath and slowly dry off in a more sheltered spot, where the ground isn’t dusted by snow.
If either attempt to encroach upon her space here, she’ll drive them away with snapping teeth. She was not trying to escape, Shenzi was no fool. She would not risk the wellbeing of her child. But that didn’t mean she’d allow the newcomer or the Lagoon juvenile to push her around.
A snarl of displeasure is the only sound she makes, when the painted stallion offers an exchange. It sickens her that they barter over her, like she is something to be owned. But it is the way of life for some, she realises. Not all stallions had honour in them, and very few could ever hope to measure up to her dearly departed brothers. Whatever the outcome, whether it is back to her old prison or a new one, Shenzi will bide her time, and wait to escape.
Her heart drops in disappointment when she realises that it will be that much longer until she is able to see Kendry again. And perhaps at that future time when she makes it to Luthien (because there is no doubt in her that she will get there, no matter how hard she has to fight to win back her freedom), perhaps she’ll learn of what happened to Collision. The only bachelor who’d shown her kindness and treated her with dignity had not returned to the Lagoon – Shenzi had been watching and waiting for him, until she’d felt she couldn’t wait any longer.
With a heavy sigh, laden with all the worries of her heart, she watches the two brutes closely, hoping that they’ll not take too long deciding her fate. Every day the sea grew colder, and if she were to be passed along to this Solomon, she wanted to head somewhere warmer and wait for the sun to rise, before making what would surely be the first and only swim she’d make before she birthed the babe still growing in her belly.
“…”
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