Falls

I was hoping you would have remembered me, Dhaniyā said as Romulus joined her in the crisp water, the autumn breeze lifting his dark mane and gently setting it down again as it sighed over the pool. Her voice was vulnerable and sad, and it caused Romulus to pause and search her eyes as though he might find clues to the source of her sorrow in the dark brown depths of her gaze. “How could I forget?” he said gently. It was true — she had been on his mind without pause since he had left the Ruins for Salem. If he never saw her again after this day, she would continue to exist in his mind, and even when he grew old and the memories of his life slipped quietly from him, he could never forget the sunshine mare.

But as much as he wanted to tell her that, he could not yet summon the courage. He knew he was being foolish, and letting the hormones of the Fall get the best of him. He was certain that he wanted her to remain in his company, of course, but smothering her in affection was probably not a good move. He didn’t want to scare her off, or make her think he had ulterior motives. Of course, to say that his body was not downright electric with the need to be pressed against her would be a blatant lie, but he knew that to rush headlong into that feverish embrace would be unwise. In any case, Romulus had never even had so much as a friend, let alone any sort of relationship beyond platonic, and he was well and truly lost in navigating this new territory. Even if he had the confidence to profess his undying love for Dhaniyā, he wouldn’t know where to start.

So he stuck with what he knew, which was to just be honest and keep it simple, and it was not a lie to say that he could not imagine forgetting her for these few short hours they had spent apart.

When she pressed her muzzle against his once again, Romulus was brought out of his rabbithole of thoughts, and gratefully so. He closed his eyes for a moment and just enjoyed the touch, for as long as he thought he could get away with it. Finally, his pale blue eyes fluttered open again, and met Dhaniya’s. She gently chastised him for the many secrets he kept, and he chuckled, thinking about all of the many secret things he might one day tell her. “A great many secrets,” he confirmed, nodding soberly. “Although, I might be convinced to share one or two today.”

Above him, the sky was still dark, the moon barely shining over the treetops. What silvery light they did receive was reflected and amplified by the curtain of water, casting everything around them in chrome and white.

It was beautiful, and although Romulus enjoyed it far more than he had ever enjoyed a pretty moonlit night, he found himself eager to leave it. He had secured a home, and Dhaniya would come with him, and he could hardly contain the anxiety and excitement that had come with these substantial changes. It was almost as if the Desert might disappear if Romulus did not go and find it again soon, or Cain would give the second’s position to someone else, or no one would be left on Salem at all by the time they got back. He knew these were not fears with any sort of foundation in logic, but it was difficult not to want to satisfy them by rushing back to the dry, barren island from which he had just returned.

“Okay, I cave,” he said after probably two whole seconds of pause for her to ‘convince’ him to spill his guts. “There’s a place for us to the South. We can go there whenever we want. It’s really beautiful,” he said, pulling back just a few inches to gauge her reaction. His eyes searched her face, and he was calmer than he thought he would have been as he waited to see what she would say.