Rivaini

The moment of their joining was mercifully short - a bright pinpoint of light amidst the shadows of this day. But Rivaini knew that the memory of this event would not be as fleeting. For better or worse, she would not forget the weight of the chocolate stallion’s body pressing down upon her, or the vices of his limbs holding her in place. A single lunge forward could have broken the moment, to be certain - could have spared her the double-edged gift of Rougaru’s seed. But the silver woman was not the sort to allow her emotions to rule her actions. Only Faolain had earned herself a place as a rare exception to this rule. Only for the slender black mare did Rivaini soften, becoming less like stone and more like clay that could be reshaped by her beloved companion’s delicate touch.

As if to echo this thought, Rougaru’s lips brushed gently across the swell of the red woman’s hip. She could not entirely suppress the shudder that it invoked in her - a gesture born more of shame than seduction, though easily mistaken for the latter. Rivaini recognized that her judgment of Paradise’s king was twisted by a combination of resentment and presumption, but she could not set either aside and view him as anything other than the beast even he proclaimed himself to be. Not while the aches of both her heart and her body were still so prevalent. And - depending on the words and deeds he chose in the days that followed - perhaps never. However admirable Rougaru’s goal of unity for Atlantis might be, the silver bay could never agree with the path he’d chosen to get there. He hadn’t made Rivaini an ally.

He’d made her a plaything; a pawn.

The staccato thunder of her heart increased when the stallion stepped closer, tucking the blossom he’d plucked from a nearby vine into the pale strands of her mane. Though he couldn’t know the torment that this gesture would inflict, Rivaini felt a knife twist cruelly in the raw edges of her damaged heart. Çiçek. First she had lost her sun - and now, standing in the growing shadows or Paradise, she quailed beneath the possibility that her moon might also be lost to her. That even if Faolain welcomed her to her side, it would be Rougaru’s figure she saw every time her eyes fell closed. Eclipsing the love she felt for her little shadow with memories of the remorse and contempt that she felt as she flinched away from him, her pale gaze darting in the direction from which she’d come.

Faolain. She wanted - no, she needed Faolain.

With a single step, Rivaini tested her suitor’s willingness to release her so soon. There were some stallions - her sire included - who would couple with a mare multiple times, as if to ensure that their seed caught. The thought of surrendering to him again sent panic fluttering through the hollow cage of her chest. Rougaru had not been cruel - had, in fact, proven both a respectful and even capable lover - but even that truth could not change how she felt. “I should return to her - to Faolain, I mean.” The auburn mare murmured with as much authority as she could muster. “I - I didn’t tell her my intentions, and she might worry. Or come in search of me.” Another step, and still the chocolate stallion remained where he stood, watching Rivaini with his unsettling golden eyes.

So the silver mare turned, hoping her slow strides concealed both her emotions and her intent.

And fled, chased by the twin scents of passion flower and Rougaru.

mare / six / silver bay tobiano / andalusian mix / 15.3hh