The stranger is but a child, young and lean and still filling out her flesh, but already she is conformed by beauty and well adapted to these sands. For a flickering instant, as Ak Burun shadows the young mare who trots toward the oasis, she wonders at the surplus of Arabians. Where are her kin? Thus far only Maslakhat has shown the fine bones of their breed, and though he is a handsome stallion to be sure it is hardly fair to claim he is the most attractive when he is also the only. Ak Burun likes to compare her options. It can hardly be called a choice if she can have either one, or none.
The black mare snorts lightly and picks up her feet. While it is never the wrong time to be thinking of sex, it will do her no good to dwell on the fact that she may be limited indeed once the seasons turn. Perhaps she can play it to her advantage. For now she leans into a swift trot to cover the distance remaining between her and the young mare who slakes her thirst at the oasis. The descending sun has thrown the sands into a vibrant gradient of orange and red that belies the chill carried on the back of nightfall. Ak Burun scans the surrounding hills to see if she can spot Maslakhat’s golden form flowing down any of the red-washed dunes and does not see him. That does not mean he is not there: the stallion would make the most convincing mirage of all the horses within these sands.
Ak Burun slows at the grassy edge of the oasis and strolls at a more sedate pace into the sparse and rapidly-diminishing shade, her full attention given now to the stranger admiring the start of the sunset. "Iyi akşamlar, yeni gelen," she says as she joins the young Arabian beside the water, admiring the white stippling her bay coat. Had she, too, been plucked from another island’s field to join their growing garden? If so the black Akhal-Teke must give the golden stallion credit. In all her time wandering the Islands this time around Ak Burun has met but one other desert-bred— that sickly one in winter, likely dead now and rotting somewhere in the dirt on the Crossing. Maslakhat has found two healthy, vibrant mares in one season. "It will be some time before the sands release all their heat. If your thirst is satisfied, perhaps you would be interested in climbing a dune to watch the stars arrive? The view from such a height is unparalleled." And, if one is diligent, allows for equally unparalleled visibility of anyone moving on the sands below. It would be the perfect opportunity for her to get to know this young mare without interruption. |