Meadow

Solomon

The worry lines on Nadja's face smooth quickly and he watches as the blue mare closes the gap between them without further hesitation. He is not entirely sure what has appeased her, but he would take it. His own muzzle bumps hers as they exchange breath, and then she enlightens him with some of the troubles she weighs on her shoulders.

Her first comment opens an entire realm of possibilities - and he is not sure where to start with any of them. Was she truly gone from the Isles, or had she simply abandoned her hard won post in the Dunes? And why? The buckskin had been so hellbent on claiming the land after claiming Bahadir had slighted her, that Solomon wasn't entirely sure that much rational thought existed in Shay's mind. After all, what mother willingly, repeatedly, endangered her children by demanding independence while also irresponsibly letting any old stallion plant their seed in her? Even if she didn't indiscriminately choose the sire of her children before cutting them off, the simple fact remained that she had continued to fight and risk injury, while heavily pregnant.

These thoughts are quickly pushed to the back of his mind for later rumination as Nadja offers herself as the scapegoat for Shay's disappearance and a frown crosses Solomon's face. Nadja had been the only one of Shay's conquests to join her in the Dunes, and he had therefore assumed she'd be held in the highest regard. What could the mare have done to earn the buckskin's ire?

Plenty, probably, he thought sourly. The mare was hardly a stable decision maker, but he cares less of Shay's decisions and more of the guilt that Nadja places on her own shoulders. He knows that regardless of the situation, he will still need to go to the Dunes. It is a longshot that his Quinn has gone to Shay, but he has no other places to look. "I have not seen her, but that is where I planned to go next."

A small tilt of his head belies his concern as he shifts closer to the blue mare, not entirely sure why her unhappiness bothers him so. "Why would she be mad at you, Nadja? Did you get in a fight?"

He knows that she has tried to brush the subject off, but there is something here that he wants to get to the bottom of. Solomon figures in time, once she relaxes, he will probe more. It confuses him slightly, that she had not left Salem now that Shaydowfax was gone. If the buckskin mare was truly absent, then there was nothing stopping Nadja from returning to the Cove, and to him. "If she is well and truly gone, you know are welcome to come home to the Cove. I was sad to see you leave in the first place."

This much is true. While they had not bonded closely in their time together in the Cove, he had enjoyed her company. And if he were honest, there was a part of him that was rankled that Shaydowfax was leaving with any mares, whether she had claimed them or not. After a pause he turns his gaze back to Leja with a nod.

"You are welcome too, Leja. The weather is warm, and the summer will be temperate, compared to the other isles." There is a part of him that feels slightly guilty that he has not devoted his full attention to the dunalino mare, considering he had approached her. He offers a warm smile before continuing, strangely glad that Nadja too, was making an effort to draw her in. "I cannot say I've heard of Lyden, but I have not been on the Isles for a full year. Do you have other family here, Leja?"

Dutch Harness Horse Mutt | Champagne Grullo Tobiano Stallion | 17 Hands | The Cove