Rivaini

Winter’s chill did not reach the island of Atlantis. For this reason, its residents often felt as if they existed outside the sway of time - as if they were caught in an infinite loop of sun-filled days and slightly-cooler nights.

Unfortunately, this was not the case for the silver bay who was one of the Ridge’s guardians. For Rivaini, the progress of the past season - if seasons could claim to exist in this tropical climate - was measured by the size of her belly. When the migratory birds had first begun to arrive around the end of autumn, her pregnancy was easily overlooked; a slight thickening that might have indicated a recent lack of exercise or an excess of food. But now - with winter more than halfway gone - the life that grew within her was undeniable.

Accustomed to roaming the rugged climate as she pleased, the Andalusian mare was increasingly frustrated by the difficulties her pendulous belly now presented. No longer able to leap nimbly over obstacles, Rivaini was forced to detour around them instead. And so it was that - despite glimpsing Solomon before he had even fully emerged from the sea - the tobiano Guardian did not reach the beach until after Faolain had already found the Cove’s ruler. Emerging from the jungle, the silver bay saw them standing together a short distance down the beach. Their attention was singularly focused on one another, and the aura of energy that surrounded them was intense enough that she did not dare to disrupt it by calling out a greeting.

Even from a distance, Solomon’s distress was evident to the silver mare. Her own heartbeat quickened as she approached the pair, and a sense of inexplicable dread filled her. While it was entirely possible that the champagne stallion was simply here to visit, the anguish in his eyes hinted towards some less-pleasant purpose. Cicek. Had something happened to the golden mare who still held a piece of Rivaini’s heart? Or had the Cove’s king heard of the Ridge’s struggles, and come out of concern for the safety of its guardians?

If Rivaini had been forced to guess, she would have guessed the former - and that was what disturbed her most of all.

“Solomon,” she greeted the stallion as she came forward to stand beside Faolain. Though she could not entirely conceal the note of concern that lingered beneath those syllables, she hoped that her attempts at disguising her own pain were successful enough. If the stallion did not already know of their troubles, she had no wish to add to his burden. And if he did - well, they would cross that bridge as it came. Rougaru was an ally of Solomon’s, and she had no wish to put him in a difficult spot where he felt it necessary to choose between that alliance and their own tentative friendship. “Do you come with word of Cicek? I intended to visit you two in the Cove, but things in the Ridge have been a little...busy, so I wasn’t able to make it as soon as I’d hoped.”

Again, she could not help the thrill of fear that traveled down the length of her spine. If something had happened to her beloved sun - or even if Cicek was fine, but wanted nothing to do with Rivaini anymore - then she didn’t know what she would do. She had counted on time to mend both the wounds of her own heart, and the ones she’d unintentionally inflicted on the dunalino woman. But with everything that had happened, too much time had passed and it was entirely possible that reconciliation was now off the table. And if that was the grim news that the tobiano stallion had come to deliver, then she would accept it without argument.

After all, she would never be able to understand why a creature as wonderful as the golden mare - or even Faolain, for that matter - might waste their affection on her. Not when they could have a suitor as equally deserving as Solomon. A stallion could give them something that she would never be able to - a family; a legacy.

Rivaini could only give them her heart, and she feared that it would never be enough.

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