- the Prairie stands as a symbol of peace and prosperity among the islands
- anyone is welcome to live here so long as they do not bring harm to the Prairie or any of it's residents
- adventure and exploration is not only allowed, but encouraged! residents are asked to use their better judgement and not travel to places that could bring them harm
- the head of the prairie has final say in all prairie matters. the secondary and third positions are not able to be challenged for and are selected by the head
- the guardians take on a more active role in the prairie; they must protect the inhabitants of the prairie and go on patrols of the prairie borderlines and shore. they can welcome strangers to the prairie and invite anyone to live here, though they must inform one of the leaders of any newcomers or visitors
find my nest of salt Posted on September 10, 2023 at 05:16:20 AM by Daire
everything is my fault. . . I'll take the blame
The gentleness in his voice was unexpected, enough so that Daire's brown eyes -- still shiny with unshed tears -- hesitantly lifted to meet the stallion's gaze. His pale blue eyes dart elsewhere, and she hastily lowered her own again. How could he possibly stand to still have her here? After all the drama her presence had generated (again)? Riesling had left him. She was gone. Seemingly never to return. It was all her fault. Yet here the pair of them stood in the land where Zevulun and Riesling should have been raising their children together. Riesling was supposed to be here, not Daire. Not historically vain, spiteful, flighty Daire.
For a moment, she had to remind herself that all of it was so long ago, that she was a different mare now even if her sins lived on. But how could that be true when destruction and anguish clearly followed her? The guilt was actively swallowing the brindled mare when Zevulun stated that he knew she'd been telling Riesling the truth when they'd reunited. Daire had wanted to shake her head at him. How could he possibly say that? He'd scarcely known her a few hours when those words had been said.
To her unending surprise, the pale stallion spoke his own story and admitted his own painfully similar mistakes. Right down to the daughter who would never forgive the parent who had forsaken them. His words about Riesling seem bittersweet: hoping for that closeness with her, but, in being found wanting, never truly attaining it. She'd wanted more for Riesling than the push and pull of loneliness and distrust. How much of that stemmed from the absence of her birth mother? How deeply did the pain go that she had instilled?
“I’m sure if I was a better man, I’d find you a safe home elsewhere, away from the Prairie.” She hates the way the thought of leaving the Prairie makes her stomach lurch. It should be because leaving the haven she'd found was daunting, yet something else glimmered beneath it. Something she didn't dare name, much less speak of or hope for. “But for some reason, I I don’t want to do that.” She couldn't help it. Her gaze lifts again to Zevulun's face, trying to hide the wordless questioning in her eyes. He didn't think he was a good man, because he wasn't making her leave. He didn't want to make her leave. What did that mean? Why wasn't he throwing her out?
Even with the puzzling in her brain, the wistful undertow that had lingered since she'd heard his call pulled at her again. From the way he looked at her, she felt that maybe Zevulun didn't understand why either. Was that a comfort to her? Or was it a sign that she needed to leave before any further destruction could be wrought? Nothing good ever came to a stallion who harbored her. Shouldn't she spare him further distress? Out of respect for her daughter, shouldn't she leave? “I honestly don’t know where we go from here." For a moment, Daire shook her head silently and then cast a long, thoughtful glance back to where Vervain lay, her near-carbon copy. What misfortunes might befall because of their similarity?
She spoke then, still not looking back to the creamy male. "It's selfish of me to admit that I don't want to leave. If not for my own peace, then for that of my children." She wanted to give them the stability and constance she had never given to their older siblings. She wanted to truly change and give them what she had not had herself. For the first time in her life, Daire wanted to stay. The mare could only regret that it hadn't happened sooner. No sooner though could she wrest Vervain from this territory than she could have taken Riesling from that of her father, nor was she ultimately willing to.
"In truth, Zevulun, I don't know where this leaves us either. The things I do know though?" A wistful smile, bittersweet in its realization, tugs at the corner of her mouth that he can see. Her dark face turns to him. "To Vervain, the Prairie is home, and you are..." The words falter then. What would be eyebrows scrunch on her face, hinting at the milling emotions behind the words she didn't speak: her father. He wasn't, of course, but he'd been in her life since her birth. They had played and joked, walked, and talked together. Did he know how the filly adored him? Struggling to find the right words to say, Daire haltingly continued, avoiding his direct gaze. "Important. You are important to her. I'd just hate to take anything away from her.."