I would honestly love you now,
But I would lovingly let you down.
Seeing Petal on the shore of the Prairie for the first time since the war began was etched into his mind. The entire situation had been fraught - she nearly died, giving birth to a foal whose sire remained a mystery. Despite the murky and tumultuous details, the painted stallion felt such great relief seeing her and just being near her again. But before they could rekindle anything, or merely have a proper conversation, Rougaru stepped in.
It was the radiant, petite mare back on Luthien he thought of when he swam toward Atlantis. His heart ached for Petal, both in a sense of longing and admiration and with deep pain and regret for everything they'd put each other through over the last year. Every time Jabari felt like he'd caught a break - like the worst of the this terrible, awful, no good year was behind him - some nefarious character would rear his ugly head again, determined to drag him back down. The silver bay stallion was becoming a recurring theme as the villain in his life.
Despite this - fucking Rougaru and bastard Cullen - there was Calypso. The pale, kind mare was never far from his mind, even after he was relinquished from Paradise and finally set home. That was the reason, after all, he returned to fight Rougaru himself. He knew better. He had better judgment. There wasn't a lick of luck on his side, but the son of Shamwari took the beating anyway, for the record of it if nothing else. He fought Rougaru for Calpyso and he lost sorely.
Their last encounter, deep in the jungle, pressed close together between the thick vines and leaves, sucking in the humid air, stuck with him always. He remembered her child - Rougaur's child - and the despair the pretty mare carried with her. She was so much more than Rougaru gave her credit for. She wasn't just a trinket to store on the shelf. She deserved to be treated like the queen she was. He dreamed of her, night after night. He longed for her. Even in his most weary and downtrodden moments, she was there. She found him, she searched for him. He couldn't leave her behind now.
He listened to her hushed words now, barely audible over the sound of the cresting midnight waves. He felt a heat rise in his loins and splinter throughout his body. "I could never leave you here." He said back, wrapping himself more fully around her, all the while breathing her in. Finally he retreated, just enough so he could stare deeply into her eyes.
"I'm his prisoner again." He said, deflated, embarrassed. "He wasn't happy when I came back for you."
Stallion | Brienne x Shamwari | Chesnut Overo | 15.2 h| Photo © Carina Mailwald | © Vinyl |
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