Things had changed rapidly in the lives of the sibling pair. But swept adrift amidst the uncertain currents of their lives, they could at least cling to one another for comfort and solidarity - though these moments had become fewer and further between as the stifling Atlantean summer progressed into autumn.
Rivaini wondered about her pale brother, who had become more subdued and solitary in the confines of their new home. Iscariot made no apparent efforts to seek out their new friend since his arrival, though the silver bay knew that her absence contributed to his depression. And she wasn’t sure what to do - how to go about healing the rift when she could only guess at what had birthed it to begin with. More than once the mare tried to gently prise the information from her brother, and to encourage Iscariot to go to her. But the perlino rebuffed her efforts with comments about Faolain was busy, and he had no wish to disturb the mare or distract her from her important duties. Utterly baffled, Rivaini could only turn her attention away from her irascible brother and attempt to shoulder more of the responsibilities involved in protecting the Ridge, so that Faolain might feel free to enjoy some time with the stallion they both cared for.
Instead, Iscariot had disappeared into the sea, leaving his sibling to fret and panic on the thin, sandy strip of shore until he returned.
Today things seemed better, if only because they avoided the subject of Faolain by unspoken agreement, focusing on lighter topics such as the antics of the two fillies that were Siobhan’s charges. Rivaini could tell from the way her brother spoke of the children that he longed to interact with them, and did what she could to encourage these thoughts. For as long as they had lived in close proximity to one another, Rivaini still felt like an invader in these lands that were her responsibility to protect - and Iscariot lived in such fear of being an outsider here as well that he inevitably fulfilled that same prophecy.
Having led the ghostly stallion along on a full circuit of the Ridge’s perimeter, Rivaini managed to coax a rare smile out of her brother by suggesting that they go for a swim in the lake together. Of course, no sooner had the pair emerged into the valley that had been discovered that first fateful day than they spied the form of their friend standing at its heart. Iscariot stopped so abruptly that his hind legs crumpled beneath his creamy figure, but his sister gave a glad cry and raced forward to meet the dark, slender mare.
It was strange to think that once it was Rivaini who clung to her reservations and suspicions of the Akhal-Teke, and her brother who had willingly embraced the company of the stranger. But Iscariot’s actions were less a change of heart and more a deep-rooted fear of rejection. Since encountering Shamwari and Faolain together on the beach of his new home, Iscariot was consumed by an unfamiliar series of emotions. The pale stallion knew that he was weak, and knew that he was too raw to the world of politics to support Faolain in other ways. But more than anything, he wanted the black mare to be safe, and happy. And so he kept his distance, hoping - and fearing - that she might find both these things with the chestnut stallion.
But as he watched Rivaini brush her whiskered muzzle along Faolain’s cheek and try to coax her into the water with a teasing nip at the other mare’s neck, suddenly he could hold back no longer. Iscariot might not have raced to her side - his limbs ached after the demanding hike that his sister had led him on - but Iscariot’s expression was no less joyful when he finally reached the dark creature’s side, and pressed his forehead gently into the hollow between her shoulder and neck.
"Hello again, stranger," he lightly teased, breathing in her scent and finding it difficult to remember - in that moment - why he had ever left her side.
ISCARIOT & RIVAINI
i can see your light |