Of course, it was just his luck that the stallion would arrive before his mate and child. Rehoboam turns toward the male, in anticipation of immediate violence, but it did not come. The painted stallion hadn't been exactly sure what to expect of the other man as no one knew much of anything about him. Given that he had fought for (and won) Celestine implied that he was at least capable and most likely unwilling to give her up without a fight. Which, to be fair, Rehoboam couldn't exactly fault him for.
He hadn't wanted to give her up either.
"My name is Rehoboam," he began, keeping his gaze locked on the other stallion despite the way his ears kept twitching at every small sound, attempting to decipher if it was Celestine coming to his call.
"And you have my mate and my child here."
Rehoboam was pretty sure that he had never called Celestine his mate out loud before, but it felt right. She was the only mare that had even come close to convincing him that there might be more for him in this world than running after the ghost of his mother. Even so, he had no idea how she would feel about it. They had never labeled themselves in the past, apart from the clerical necessity of assigning her as his companion to keep the eyes of his brothers from wandering to her.
"I'm sure you've figured out by my presence here that I want them back," Reh says, attempting to cut through the tedious back and forth of figuring out each other's motivations and limits. Living with Nyimara made him cherish cutting straight to the point, as she often preferred to imply, obscure and drag out everything. He didn't want to be here, and he was pretty sure Temblor didn't want to be here speaking to him either.
"Fighting is the obvious choice," he said with the faintest lift of a smile that did not touch his eyes. Reh
could fight, but he was still worried that it would put Celestine and the child at risk, as well as possibly prolong the process if he lost. Had he known that Shiloh was here, he might have worried about putting her in danger too.
"But I'm sure there's a more advantageous arrangement we could work out." His gaze did not lift from Temblor as he spoke, always searching, trying to find any sort of reaction.
"What would you need to let them come back home with me?"