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Catori watches listlessly as Zevulun makes his way towards her. Had he finally had enough of her mopping around? Was he going to tell her that she was bothering the rest of the herd with her constant daydreaming? No. Somehow she doubted that. They never seemed to mind her, even with her off-beat gait and tendencies for solitary existence the rest of the herd never seemed to mind. They had gotten quite used to ignoring her as of late and Catori only has mother to blame for that.
Sadness. Pity. Some mixture of both is the reaction a glance in her direction usually gets. The same gaze that lingers in Zevulun’s eyes now as he closes the space between them. Ashen muzzle lifts from the yellowing hay as the girl stares up into his eyes, her own emotions hidden behind the shields she had put into place. Larka’s outcry last year (of what she is still not sure she understands despite Larka’s insistence she need not worry) had caused a few of the mares to gaze upon them with disdain or shake their heads in aggravation. Catori had tried to convince Mother on more than one occasion to simply apologize and mend the bond broken between her and Zevulun but the mare had simply shaken her head sadly and continued to graze wordlessly. Now, it was too late.
Zevulun draws her close, wrapping his strong solid neck across her own and she allows him to pull her tightly against his chest. Instinctively she leans into the warmth of his touch, inhaling the familiar scent and choking away the sobs that always gathered in her throat when she happened upon a tuft of her mother’s fur caught in the rough bark of a tree. Silver blue eyes squeeze tightly shut as she counts her heartbeats. one…two…three…breathe. she reminds herself, exhaling a heavy sigh. ’Im sorry, Catori..’ His words are like leaping into a mountain stream. Frigid and leave her gasping for air… for space. Dropping her head from where she planted it in the curve of his ribs, the buttermilk girl draws back, her gaze seeking his own. ”Why?” Why was he sorry. It was a loaded question she knew. Unfair to come from her lips perhaps but she had to hear it. She needed to know why he was apologizing to her. Was he sorry Larka was gone? Was he sorry that she did not understand what had divided their family? Was he sorry that he had waited til now to seek her out? Or was it he was simply sorry that she was alone now? Either way, she needs to hear it. To hear his words. Unshed tears gather behind her silver-blue eyes as her gaze searches his, desperate for an answer. For the answers. All of them but afraid to hear them. She needed this. More than she dared to admit she needed to hear it, and it had to come from him.
bucksin varnish roan snowcap || mare || 15.3hh || Zevulun x Larka
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