As she had expected, it took little time for the painted mare to make her way down the shoreline to greet Miriella. Though she narrowed her eyes as she watched the mare, Miriella gave little else away. To hear the Lagoon called her home made her want to recoil, but the truth was the truth. As much as Miriella enjoyed pretending as if she hated being kept in the swamplands by a wretched brute, if she wasn’t coveted the way Vadim had seemed to lay claim over her, she would actually have nowhere else to go. She could swear up and down she hated the Lagoon, but truly, Miriella had nothing else beyond it.
Meet my family and my stallions. Miriella suppressed the urge to roll her eyes or to say the multitude of insulting thoughts that popped up in her mind at the suggestion.
Then came the introduction at last, paired with a pretty little princess moniker.
“I’m no one.” Miriella supplied unhelpfully, her tone less than enthused and just bordering on rude. Which, honestly, was how she sounded most of the time to anyone who bothered speaking with her. “No one who matters to you, anyways, just a little pawn for yours and Vadim’s stupid games.”
She flicked out her pale tail. It was still wet and heavy, only moving a sweep or two. Just saying his name filled her with all sorts of emotions. Longing, hope, fear, anger… Miriella’s ears flicked back with annoyance.
“You know, whatever you’re hoping to accomplish, he’s not going to agree.” Somewhere inside she felt a knot grow hard. Why would Vadim trade one of his other little pretty, shiny things for her? He didn’t care about her… As much as Miriella wanted to fantasize about him being overcome with enraged loss at her absence, she knew the truth. He was with some other mare he fancied, she was sure of it, and not thinking once about her.
“Vadim doesn’t care about anything but himself.” She added, then tossed her head and looked more pointedly at her captor.
“I’m wet and cold. Is there somewhere a little more comfortable on this godforsaken island I can go to dry off?”
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