“Don’t go too far,” Lilija beckoned her daughter as she took note of how far Iona had drifted from her.

Iona rolled her eyes and tossed her head, flicking her half-grown in tail as she shot an incredulous look back at her mother. “I won’t!” She said back, though there were clearly sassier things she’d wanted to say. She looked forward again, paying more attention to the different smells of the wildflowers and the way the long grass swayed in the spring breeze. It wasn’t like she could go very far anyways, as Iona had never left the confines of the Prairie. Her mother never let her and, just barely a year old, she hadn’t had much curiosity beyond the borders of her home anyways. Iona liked the Prairie, her heart didn’t pull her away from it. What her heart was pulling her toward was independence from her mother’s very watchful eye. It was beginning to feel suffocating.

Her brother, a year older than her, had been lucky their mother had Iona when he’d just turned a yearling. This year there was no new foal at Lilija’s side, so her motherly attention was still heavily on Iona. To put it plainly, it sucked.

Iona reached out, dark brown and white face brushing through the long strands of grass as she went. Then, just ahead of her, she noticed a rustle among the grass and, when she focused, could see a little body pushing their way through them. Iona snorted and raised her head, ears perked curiously forward as she could see more and more of the little colt. She didn’t know who he was or who he belonged to, not having paid much attention to the new foals dropping lately. Iona knew her grandfather was going to have foals and there were a few other mares in the Prairie who were, but beyond that she knew little else.

“Uh hey, little guy,” she started almost awkwardly. Iona had never hung out with a foal before. She looked around them, wondering why he was so far away from any adults. Suddenly all her angry thoughts at her mother hovering over her were tossed out the window and she was immediately looking for an adult to take charge. “I’m Iona… who’re you?” She tilted her head and looked him over curiously.

—-------

While Iona felt she was allowed to strike out on her own, Lilija idly grazed a small distance from her, pretending she wasn’t following her daughter but doing so from far away enough that Iona hopefully wouldn’t catch on. Lilija’s attention was pulled from her daughter when she noticed the two mares she’d come up on, grazing beneath the spring sun.

Lilija hadn’t interacted much with the Prairie herd, despite having already lived here for a few years. She felt somewhat guilty for that, but she hadn’t been herself once she’d lost Balor shortly after coming here, raising their son alone, falling for a midnight wanderer and winding up pregnant with Iona. There had been plenty of reasons in the past but, now?

She nickered softly and moved toward them, intending to politely share breaths and introductions before she stepped back. “Would you two mind some company for a little while? My daughter Iona is over there,” she said, indicating where Iona was standing in the distance, talking to a small foal she assumed must belong to the mare without the pregnant swell to her belly. “I’m trying to pretend I’m not watching over her,” she explained, giving a slight wry grin.

~ ♥ ~