Nahawi seemed kind. If Miriella had the capacity to feel bad for anyone but herself, she might’ve shown him sympathy then.
His eyes met hers and the tone of his voice was far different than it had been. I would come fighting for any mare that was stolen from me if they came willingly. His words filled the empty space between them. The winds had momentarily died down from how hard they’d been whipping through the tree-tops, causing the pines to sway and their trunks to creak. Now it was mostly silent, and it was only then she realized how loud the storm had been.
If you do not come back, know that I will find you. It was a different voice she remembered then; the voice that made every inch of her ache with too many emotions all at once.
“He said he would find me,” she offered, and her voice was different too. Quiet. Sad. It was how Miriella felt inside, but no one ever was privy to see this side of her. This was only the creature she could be when no one else was looking. “I know that had been when I was going on my own,” she stopped herself as her eyes lifted to meet Nahawi’s. Guilt made her feel heated. The entire reason she’d left the Lagoon for those two days had been to abandon their daughter, Elaine, in the Savanna. What would this kindly stallion think of her to know she was a mother capable of doing that?
“I just. I thought he would care.” She admitted, and frustration crept over the softness to make her words harden.
Then, Miriella looked at Nahawi, unable to help herself. “Has he said anything about me? Has he said anything about Miriella?” Stuck in the Inlet, she hadn't been privy to the knowledge of Vadim being taken away to the Badlands and assumed he still lived in the Lagoon.
For a mare who claimed to have been forcefully taken by who she’d quickly describe as a fearsome beast, Miriella didn’t appear to be all that upset about his presence. She wanted to pretend she didn’t care, but maybe with all the adrenaline leaving her body, realizing she was no closer to getting back to Vadim than she had been that morning, Miriella was quickly losing the fight to keep her true feelings inside.
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