Knowing that Shenzi had gone to the Peak after all that had transpired in the Lagoon was, surprisingly, a little comforting. Rehoboam knew firsthand that she was a tough fighter and capable of holding her ground, but he liked knowing that she might have a place to return to after all. A way to keep their (maybe) child safe, even if Rehoboam couldn't do it himself.
Azizi's recounting of what had transpired on the day that Nyimara had tried to take him only made the bitterness in the grullo's belly worse, but he tried his best to hide it. So Frey wasn't absent then, only uninterested in his duties when they involved Rehoboam. Even so, he was glad that Frey had stepped in to help Azizi, even if the knowledge only reaffirmed Rehoboam's suspicions about Nyimara's challenge. It also made him feel a little better knowing that Orphiel had been there to step in as well; the boy was a motivated member and he hoped that the men would come to their senses and elect him into some sort of a leadership position.
"She doesn't like losing odds," Rehoboam murmured aloud; it was an obvious observation, and a statement that was likely true of anyone with a lick of common sense, but it gave root to an idea for later that Rehoboam stored away for further contemplation. He could do nothing now while the sin of his own making grew trapped within her belly, but someday he might be able to fix it.
As they settle in the depression nearest the Badlands, where the height of the Dunes cut off vantage points and the rocky terrain made footprints harder to follow, the tobiano waits for what he can only assume will be anger or accusation. Azizi is practically family to him, and there is no easy way to turn family down. Instead of fury, however, Zi only offers acceptance, acknowledging Rehoboam's ties and adjusting their plans to encompass this new, unknown entity.
It hurts to realize how
good Azizi is.
"Yes," Reh answers, his voice a choked, hoarse whisper. Only the future can tell how or if such a thing will even be possible, but Azizi's hope lends Reh the strength to invest in that possible future too. To look toward it as a goal that might be strong enough to sustain him through whatever comes between now and then.
The mood shifts as the once-Marauder inquires about Celestine, and the tobiano stiffens as the bad news keeps rolling in. She was gone? For one shining, brief moment, Rehoboam had a delusional hope that she'd gone to Tinuvel on her own. That she'd somehow read his mind and knew where he was from without ever telling her, and further, that she had understood how desperately he wanted to take her home, to take her somewhere safe.
But that bubble bursts as his son-nephew-brother elaborates further. Paradise? A shocked breath escapes the tobiano before he can stop it and his gut - already tight with fear and self-loathing - ties itself into veritable knots. Rougaru was back? And he'd taken Celestine?
No. It couldn't be. The soft brown of Reh's eyes go wild as the fear mounts; the realization that neither Frey nor Tyr could be bothered to step in to protect his
child either stung, but it paled in comparison to the knowledge that she was gone, lost to Paradise and the wolf king.
Only that description wasn't right. Big grey? Never once had his father ever called Rougaru gray - only silver-maned. Had someone else taken over Paradise? Questions raced uneasily through his mind, but he forced himself to focus on the present.
"Not Rougaru?" He didn't even know if the boy knew who Rougaru was, but he found the words leaving his mouth anyway.
Any further questions he might have asked were stilled by Azizi's disheartened demeanor and then further buried by his heartfelt offer. Selfishness warred with worry in his mind, and stapled his tongue to the roof of his mouth as he considered it. He
knew Celestine. Knew that she was not a mare prone to worry, that she would take whatever life threw at her without batting an eye. But he also knew that this was a new venture, and that he'd made her an unspoken promise that he was doing a poor job of keeping.
And she was in
Paradise.
Paradise. Even if the grey stallion Azizi mentioned had no connection to Rougaru, the land was tainted by its connection to the Wolf King. Extra worrying was the thought that the stallion that had stolen her might snuff out the life of Rehoboam's child out of jealousy, or worse, steal it to raise it as his own. Both were intolerable thoughts that would haunt Rehoboam's dreams for the rest of his days until he could rectify everything.
But sending Azizi meant putting
him in danger too. Could he justify risking his pseudo-son's life for the sake of his own mental comfort?
No, maybe not. But it was clear to him already that Azizi would not leave without him, and having him here - within Nyimara's reach - was almost as intolerable as sending him out to face the unknown in Paradise. At least, if he were to go to Paradise there was a chance that he might be able to rescue Celestine somehow, or at the very least reassure her of the things that Rehoboam could not whisper in her ear.
Caught between a rock and a hard place, Rehoboam made the decision to trust in Azizi's capability and so he nodded, but could not bring himself to talk for another moment, his throat tight with anxiety.
"Go then, Azizi." He sought the boy's gaze directly wanting to make sure that he could not shirk or dive what Rehoboam had to say next.
"But promise me you will stay safe. No unnecessary risks."
The thought of what might befall the boy was hard to bear, but it felt as though doing this would help both of them, even if it was risky and foolhardy.
"And don't come back here," he murmured, his body tense.
"Stay on the Badlands side of the border." After the discussion he'd witnessed with Marceline, he had realized that the Hills were not safe either due to the alliance between the two queens. And while the Badlands was home to a particularly unpleasant striped stallion, Rehoboam was pretty certain that the man was unlikely to try and claim Azizi as his own. The Desert and it's enigmatic queen were too unknown to be safe either.
None of it was enough, of course. Rehoboam hadn't even told the boy of Shenzi and the child that might come to be. He knew it wasn't fair to ask him to look for his mother, not after the altercation he'd witnessed that day in the Lagoon, but it was agony not knowing where she was too. And if he said nothing, and just let it be the same way he'd sat back in other situations, would it not be worse? What if Shenzi and Azizi met in the future, with a tiny Rehoboam lookalike at her side? Would he not feel even more betrayed by Rehoboam's actions if he found out about their existence after the fact?
"One more thing," he murmured, trying to ignore the flare of shame and anger in his belly. He couldn't tamp down the feeling that he might never see Azizi again, let alone be able to tell him of the new sibling that might yet be coming into the world. Nor could Rehoboam shake the feeling that if there was anyone in the world that he could trust to protect that child the same way he would, it would be Azizi. Try as he might, however, he could not force the confession from his lips, and after an agonizingly long second of awkward silence, he changed course.
"I need you to do me a favor." One that was too big, and too unfair to ask of the boy, but one he must ask all the same.
"If you see your mother, protect her. I made a promise to her," a lie, but what was a child if not a promise for the future?
"And it doesn't look like I will be able to keep it."