The abruptness of his tail slap is only the first indication that I have said something to offend him, but it is certainly not the last. He starts with a clarification that leaves my cheeks burning in shame for having thought that they might have all taken the same woman in the same fashion. It was not that I believed that they had taken her by force, for while I did not know Atair and Aldebaran well, I knew Antares too noble and Rigel too soft to do such things. I had simply believed that they had found a woman so consumed by her heat that she was willing to allow them all to take their pleasure with her.

Having recently experienced such fire in myself for the first time, I could only imagine how the mares here must feel, having not been indoctrinated since birth. How intense the feeling must be. Allah had crafted me to be Antares' wife, and I had no shame for the way that I had behaved with him in light of the knowledge that I now had. Of course, I would not be able to resist my other half, my Soul Sewn husband, even if we did not know each other's names at the time.

Still, the fire in me rises as he accuses me of believing them capable of rape and my ears pin beneath the silken charcoal strands of my mane. "No, I-i."

I begin to speak in my defense, but he will not have it. Stonily I listen to his explanation, my pride nettled that he would believe me to still think lowly of his, now our, family. Irritation glimmers in my eyes and I meet his face head-on, waiting for him to finish his explanation so that I might offer my reasoning and apologies. My people's belief of his kingdom was stoutly negative, that was true, but I had spent many months learning from Rigel, and while most of his lessons had clearly not stuck with me, he had shown me more than ever that they were not the demons my people made them out to be. However, the way his voice changes from annoyed to disheartened gives me pause and my face softens, much against my will.

He goes on to explain that Antares had been with a Priestess of Min when he came of age, and it is only when Rigel explains it again that this has any meaning to me. I had known that colts went to the priestess for training on how to be a good husband, but in my naivete, I had assumed that this meant their vows, or duties, or how to provide for their family. Never in my wildest dreams had I imagined that there was a whole subsect of mares in their faith whose duty it was to allow the new young princes and nobles to rise above their backs and beget sons of no heritage from them. The very idea was shocking, and I knew that my eyes were round with my surprise.

He goes on to imply that my father was supposed to have told me of this and I choked back a strangled laugh at the very thought of my father sitting me down to explain that my betrothed had already fucked a mare and sired a child from her. Even if it was meant to reassure me that my beloved would take gentle care of me, I do not think he would have said such incendiary words to my ears. Sex, lovemaking, foal creation, all of it was explained as minimally as possible. We were taught that Husbands came to the beds of their Wives and together they created children, although the particulars of such an act were not discussed. We knew only what you could see from far away in accidental glimpses of the stallion rising over the mare. The rest, we were told, would come from instinct.

I believed my father's discussion with me had been largely limited to his expounding on all the ways that this match was beneficial to our people, and that I need not worry, for Prince Antares had been trained in his husbandly duties. That, and to tell me to stop crying.

I am distracted from this memory by Rigel rising to his feet, and I extend one dainty limb to do the same but am stopped by his head dropping to my level, the seriousness of his gaze unmistakeable. I listen silently as Rigel tells me of my husband's pain and torment at the hands of his own father and the tears that have not quite dried from his telling of his lost sister threaten to spill from my lids again. To know that Antares once feared himself incapable of love, and worse, to feel unworthy of it broke my heart. So many of the things that he had already said and done had been for my benefit, and mine alone. How could he not feel himself worthy of the admiration I wanted to rain down over his hooves? Even now, as uncomfortable as I was at the thought of being second to someone else, I wanted to prop him up with my praise and adoration because he was my Husband, and worthy of much more.

I stay laying, ruminating over this until he bids me think of our own young men, and my skin once again bristles. I rise once more to my feet, still sore by now rested, and meet his gaze fiercely with my own. Before I can defend myself or my people, he turns from me to the Oasis, and curtly acknowledges my other statements. As much as I would like to fling back words filled with defiance and irritation, I know that they will not solve anything. I was schooled to be more refined than that, and while not all of my teachings had stuck, I knew that my jadati would be upset with me if I were to speak from anger now.

My tail switches angrily at my haunches as I eye his smug, star-studded back, and my words come from between teeth that clench frequently to keep the tone middling. "My brother you mistake me. I would not believe any of the four of you to be so disgraceful, but you have lectured me long enough now on how strongly the season grips men so strongly as to need multiple wives to sate them. I only thought.."

I trail off with a snap of my teeth and another lash of my tail. "Pardon me, it does not matter what I think. What is done is done." I huff a small sigh before continuing, "and I do thank you for telling me of his pain, so that I might venture to soothe it, rather than inflame it. He, and by extension, you and your brothers, are my family and thereby my entire purpose here. I would not seek to harm any of you."

The sincerity in my voice as I spoke those words dampened the ire, but like the eye of a storm, it ramps again. "I apologize if my way of life offends you, brother Rigel. But I cannot change the way that I was raised any more than I can change the stars in the sky. To me and my kind, you must understand that sex is not talked about. It is sacred. Between a husband and his wives. I will agree that the mares who are forced are treated unfairly in my home, but those who willingly fly in defiance of our faith should know the punishment that awaits them. They are free to make such choices."

And while it was true that men often sired children out of wedlock as foolish colts do, they did not acknowledge such children and were very often shunned from society in much quieter ways than the mares. Where a mare might be beaten and forced from the herd, the offending stallion would be conscripted into the army, or reduced in house to make up for it. The weight may lay more heavily on the mare, but the stallion did not go unpunished for his foolishness either.

My ire still up I continue on, my voice harsher than I wanted it to be. "I was the first daughter of my father's first wife. The first of his blood to enter this world. Do you mean to tell me that I should not find some consternation in the thought that if I were born in Mira that would have meant that my destiny was to give pleasure to the likes of Princes and Nobles? That my children would be born without lineage for protection or pride, to also be destined to the same?"

A tch sound of disapproval leaves my lips and I toss my head. "I know that to be an exaggeration, brother, and a gross one at that. My mother was a Queen, not a priestess, but the idea is... hard for me to accept. I thought my father meant training like in vows, or where to go to find his lesser wives, or... I don't know, but certainly not that."

My questions in regards to their situation was all but forgotten and I stepped away to rip my own bite from the lush growth around the oasis. After a moment of furious chewing I found my eyes drawn to where I had last parted from Antares, and I remembered the purpose of this entire venture with Rigel. I was here to learn of their ways, not to pass judgement upon them. Even if he riled me with his better than thou attitude, I had been trained to respond better than this and I turned to him with an apology on my lips. "I am sorry, Rigel. That came out far more harsh than it should have. We grew up differently, and I should respect that your beliefs means as much to you as my own do."