Meadow

There is a flicker of guilt within Fell at the way the graying mare trembles with fear. Being intimidating certainly has its advantages, but this is far more than intimidation; the young mare is outright terrified. It almost makes him pause in his tracks, but his hesitation is almost immediately overshadowed by the desperation he feels to get Kohelet back and make sure the two young fillies who followed her to Salem are safe.

He has to keep going.

Every step she takes backward, every sobbing plea, threatens to falter his determination. For a moment he even does pause, screwing his eyes shut for a split second and shaking the guilt from his head. She’ll be fine, even if he can’t tell her that. All of this is temporary.

This might have gone easier if only he could say something to her to calm her down, but he cannot. He cannot even take the time to soothe her with his actions, not with his own fear digging its spurs into his sides, ever urging him to hurry.

As if his pause had given her some confidence, the mare seems to gather her courage to resist. My father won’t be happy if I get hurt, she says, and his ears flick forward. Surely you’ve heard of my father, Rafe.

Fell freezes, wondering if he’s heard her correctly. Could he really be so lucky? Numbly, he actually nods — yes, yes he has heard of Rafe. Rafe, who ripped his heart from him and kept her captive in the desert, uprooted from their children and home. Who somehow did not see the hypocrisy of Fell taking Viveka after he had taken Kanti. Who seemed hell-bent on starting a war over what came naturally to, apparently, the both of them.

Fell would give him a war.

The black stallion lunges forward without warning, jaws agape to grasp down on the graying mare’s crest. Gone is his guilt. He knows only fury and frenzy as he begins to haul Rafe’s daughter to the shore, to pull her into the waves, to drag her kicking and screaming back to the Bay.

FELL

stallion. 16hh. black. marwari x. Rougaru x visurix.