Every moment that I spent in reach of Antares left me breathless, and even now as I moved from the place of our last embrace I felt I might not breathe without his steady presence at my side. Even if my heart had not been consumed by him, my body would not let me forget of his touch and the antics that had led us far past what I thought I might withstand.

How strange it was now to flinch if I moved too quickly, or spread my stride to far. It was as though I were little more than a fresh filly, finding my own wobbly limbs amongst the desert sands, relearning how I might use my own body. To walk among the sands was one thing, but the green that flourished in my own beautiful oasis threatened a different sort of trial, for lifting my pale hooves above their twisting vines was an exercise in grace. Still, I did not regret my time with Antares and the beautiful way that our souls had come together as much as our bodies had.

Which was not to say that I didn't worry.

Separation from him is what allowed me to once again consider the ramifications of our separate actions, and the effect that it might yet have on those we loved that were far from us. As much as my Husband had tried to soothe my fears at the last before out passion had overruled sense, my mind had been too clouded by him to take lasting comfort from his words.

Even beyond my most far-reaching fears, he had attempted to soothe me with assurances of his love for me and that my place amongst his eventual wives was to be the highest. And I was certain that he meant them, now. Now before the smiling face and adoration of someone new stole his heart from me. Now before the flush of our newly discovered passion cooled his interest in me. I shake these thoughts from my head as I walk forward, seeking the place that Antares had bid me and the brother I had once known.

I do not know what I had expected to feel upon seeing him, but the tangible realness of him means far more than I know how to express. He, too, knew my ali. Had seen my mother. Had walked the same sands. Rigel knew of my home in a way no one else here may claim and I loved him for it. It was not the same as the way my heart yearned for Antares, but as I might for my siblings. I rush towards him, my happiness making my heart full despite the way my gait hitches as I move.

"Rigel! It has been far too long, my shaqiq alzawj!" I stop near him, the elegant arch of my neck bowing as I do. I do not preen for him as I had for my husband, nor do I angle myself to find the best light. I settle across from him as I had for many hours before as he sought to teach me the ways of his people long before I had known the path Allah would set me on. I regret, now, not paying more attention to him, but his teachings had seemed to strange and so futile that I had not understood the point. My marriage was of a political nature, not one of love, and my duty to him would be fulfilled as soon as my womb swelled with a son fro him. What use had I of temples and teachings? What ceremony could there be that would soothe my grief at the thought of years at the side of someone whose heart did not beat with the same passion as my own.

I know now, why I would learn.

It is not for my own sake, but for him, and for the children we may create with Allah's blessing. I know that I would do anything if it might bring a smile to Antares' face, and since I know that his beliefs are far stronger than mine, I will learn of them. It had been disrespectful of me to pay so little attention to Rigel's time, but his indifference towards me in our lessons had wounded my fragile pride back then. Even now I find my cheeks coloring with the shame of it, that my Husband had bid him to school me as though I were no more than a budding wife to be.

Apprehensively my ears tilt back and I dip my crown to him. "I must beg of your forgiveness and patience, brother. I fear my memories of our conversations grow dim so far from home."

I pause for a moment, habit leading my tail to twitch in thought before I dampen the impulse and clamp it to my haunches. "What is it that I may learn today?"

I settle in for a long lesson, more than aware that there was much I had simply forgotten, and more that I had likely not absorbed in the first place.