Their proximity held many advantages, not least of which was the ability it provided him to study her features very closely. The soft dish of her face, the highlighted planes of her cheeks, her large round eyes. He did not miss how her eyes roved over his body as well, roving from his face to the broad, scarred planes of his chest. Did it make her fear him, was she concerned for her safety at all? She didn’t seem to be and as much as he enjoyed that fact it would have been the more natural reactions. As he proposed the idea of her simply leaving this place if she were so unhappy here there was no missing the confusion that clouded her delicate face as if he had proposed she sprout wings and fly over the moon. He could not deny how utterly adorable she looked with her head tilted to the side as she mulled over his suggestion, though typically he was not one to be affected by such things her innocence in that moment as they were surrounded in moonlight was undeniable.

When she finally chose her response the words were sharp and were he a lesser man he might have flinched at them. As it were he weathered the storm of her judgement that his words were based on his own experiences and not her own and she was not entirely wrong. He too is familiar with the short leash that duty to family provided, that feeling of being indebted to someone simply for things which had come to pass had ruled his life longer than he cared to dwell on. What damage had he left in his wake when he had finally released himself from those bonds? He didn’t care to dwell on it. Instead his mouth parted to reply, “I only meant –“ but she cuts him off with a hushed command.

Before his golden eyes he can see the shift in her perception of him, sense that bit of unease that a stray mare should feel when met with the inky black behemoth in the dead of night, and yet she moves closer to him. His body tenses, his breath falling heavily from those flared nostrils as he drinks in the heady scent of her desert-laced perfume. He is convinced she might as well be a daughter of Helios, for she is warm and enveloping though as she reaches for him his heart stops in his battered chest. He may as well be made of stone as he stills beneath her impending touch, his vibrant gaze locked on her elegant visage as her featherweight touch grazed the cobalt of his cheek. So much foreign emotion roiled within in, that which he had locked away long ago deeming it not worth all the trouble it had wrought him, and yet here this stranger was ripping through those chains with the barest caress. That laden question, whispered against his broad features, hangs palpable in the air between them for that moment which seemed to stretch into an eternity. He doubted she meant it as plainly as it may sound to most if she felt even an inkling of what he was at that moment.

Yet in a single moment whatever spell seemed to bind them shattered as a call broke the night’s silence, the voice unfamiliar to him and yet its intent obvious and clarifying every indication he had been ignoring from his instincts. He was trespassing. The white splash woman before he became visibly uneasy, her coppery ears vanishing in the soft cascade of her mane as she danced back a few paces letting their meeting appear innocuous enough. Slowly the large draft turned his own head towards the sound of hooves that marked the approach no doubt of whomever her keeper is. Though his ears stay trained on the advancing stallion, he turns back to the smaller woman offering his name and whatever aide she might ask for. Hearing the soft cadence of her voice echoing it back to him caused his chest to clench as he committed that sound to memory along with the single syllable of her name.

He had no time to respond as she continued on, the near fever pitch of her plea gnawing at him as if he needed any further reason to hold to that promise. “Always.” That singular vow uttered low enough for only her ears to catch as he turned his focus back to the slender stallion who crested the dunes. The moonlight betrayed them now he knew, but he was not coward to run at the first sign of trouble and he had done no wrong here tonight. Guilt he could lay on himself but he would never again allow anyone else to produce it for him. His towering figure stands proud but not aggressive as he waits patiently for him to arrive, dark hooves settled in the sand and resisting the urge to flick his gaze back to Kore as she stands opposite him.

Despite his swift approach the stallion slowed as he neared much to Aidoneus’ surprise though he did not show it, though his gilded eyes followed the movement as he placed himself not surreptitiously in front of her. As if she needed protecting. As if simple posturing would stop him if he wished to take her. No, it is his promise to Kore that stays him keeping his features placid as the warm voice of the one who could only be the Maslakhat she had named earlier. “Apologies,” his deep voice breaks into the night as he inclines his head genially, “I was headed for the mainland but it appears I have gone off course.” If that wasn’t just the metaphor for his life. “Kore was kind enough to give me direction.” It was not a lie, but he hoped his words were enough to turn the mans attention towards him, that he might not look to closely at the coppery mare and notice the signs of distress which still lingered. Though her pain had nothing to do with him, at least before he had arrived, he could do what he was able to maintain that promise. For the briefest moment he glances back to her. Always.