Meadow

Nadja found Leja’s energy to be contagious. The golden mare was friendly and warm, and it was becoming easier for her to organize her cluttered, anxious mind. She felt guilty for taking Solomon’s attention and butting into their conversation as she had, though she could not come to regret it. The discussion was doing her much good.

She listened at Leja spoke of the forest, and of leaving it with her parents. "Where did you go?" she asked, genuinely curious. "I was born on the mainland, and made the swim here a few months ago." She doubted Leja’s family had any connection to Nadja’s, but she liked the idea of knowing another horse here who had lived on the mainland. The Lost Islands was like a little world unto itself, encapsulated and safe away from the rest. Her experiences on the mainland were so different from those of the Islands, and thus far she had borne them alone, knowing no one else who had come from beyond this little world.

Unfortunately, Solomon did not have any answers for her, but the fact that he had heard nothing from Shaydowfax was valuable information on its own. "We did not fight," she said. "Though I fear that is a story for another time." She smiled tiredly at him. She did not want to hide from Solomon, but the manner in which Shay had left weighed heavily on her, and she was not yet ready to share. At least not now, in the otherwise lighthearted company of friends whose moods she did not wish to darken. "Perhaps I will come to the Cove when I’ve finished wrapping things up on Salem," she said, and turning to Leja, she added, "Maybe I’ll see you there as well?"

She reached out once again to bump her soft nose against each of her friends’, then began to turn back inland, but she paused. "Thank you both, for being so friendly. It was lovely talking to you. Solomon, it was nice to see you again, and I hope to meet at least once more soon." She smiled and bobbed her head toward her companions, then headed into the trees. She was far more ready to handle things now, and though she did not want to brush off Solomon’s concern, she felt she needed to return while she still had the courage to do so. She needed closure.

NADJA