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The journey had battered Visurix more than she thought possible.
The Marwari was hardy. She considered herself tough, difficult to rattle, not easily surprised or dislodged from her path. But the ocean had given her a beating she had not expected, and she it had taken days for her legs to feel sturdy once again.
And then, almost as soon as her energy began to return, the charming painted stallion had taken it away once again.
It wasn’t that Visurix was upset with him. She was more upset with herself for falling for his charms. She had stuck around just long enough to realize that the deed was really all he was after. The black mare had taken her leave then, feeling only slightly woozy and wobbly in the legs. She cursed herself gently as she left, but she did not go far. She had nowhere to go.
In the days that followed, Visurix fretted over her pregnancy, for she was certain even if it was too early to tell for sure. She kept to herself, wandering the Crossing and avoiding the gaze of others, though sometimes she nearly ran into strangers when she was particularly lost in thought.
It was one of these times that she happened upon the silver-haired siblings. She had been absently following a path that she often traversed, often enough not to have to think about where she was going, and the voices ahead of her were drowned beneath the anxious voices in her own mind. It was only when she got close enough to actually see them that Visurix emerged from her fog. She blinked.
They were watching her.
“I’m... I’m sorry,” she stammered, taking a step back. Had she really been following them this whole time? Vague memories of a conversation between strangers came back to her, but she could not recall any of the words said, or even the tones. How had she not known? For a moment, the fright surrounding her condition was forgotten, and she experienced a sensation of resetting. She peered curiously as the strangers, and discovered that the mare had an expression of fierce protectiveness.
Visurix dipped her head uncertainly. She took another step back, guilty for intruding. “I’m sorry,” she said again. “I was just lost in thought. I didn’t mean to interrupt.”
Visurix
