- 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 February 3, 2024 at 05:33:43 AM by Daire
everything is my fault. . . I'll take the blame
It pained the heart of the dark mare to see the struggle so evident in his eyes. At the same time, this should be a hard decision. For both of them. Daire had known since she saw Riesling's face that she should have left both the Praire and Zevulun behind without another glance. Hell, she probably should have just left the islands altogether. Then Vervain had made her appearance, interrupting the already stressful and ill-fated reunion. That had made it impossible to leave, at least for a time. In the seasons that followed, Daire had held the most minuscule of hopes that the forced proximity might allow for another conversation with her daughter, might allow for some kind of closure.
When Vervain had nearly been grown enough that Daire thought she could make the swim, Zevulun disappeared. An irrational part of her that had already grown too fond of him -- the snatched playtime hours with Vervain, the warm smiles, and good intent -- reasoned that he would surely return, they could say their (final?) goodbyes. Then that would be that. But he didn't come back. Not until the pause gave way to confusion and then fear for his life grew to a fever pitch. When another stallion had come and taken the Prairie for his own, the brindled mare had been so sure that that was where the story would end. The relief that tore through her upon seeing him again had been the first sign of their doom, at least in her eyes.
When Riesling decided not to follow him to the Savanna, that was the next point at which Daire should have made her exit. She had denied for a long while that it was anything other than fear of change that drove her to stay with the cream stallion when her daughter did not. Now, she thought it might have been fear after all. Fear of loneliness, despite the immorality of her growing affections. Maybe even the fear that, after this rare chance with Zevulun, no one else would ever shelter her again, leaving her forever doomed to wander the world alone instead of being a part of it. It strummed a weakness that reached the core of Daire: the desperate filly who craved love, received nothing but pain, and took it out on the world around her. That pain had made her into the depraved and wretched creature who hurt her daughter so many and so few years ago. That pain would effectively push her toward Zevulun when everything else said not to.
Daire had to close her eyes to Zevulun and look away for a moment when he said that he didn't know. Was this going to be too much for her? Her chest tightened with a held breath that ached. “I think it will be the end of me.” Her brown eyes flew to his and found that his gaze had never left her. The open directness of Zevulun's eyes as he foretold their future wrenched the air from her lungs in a low, barely audible gasp. He was most likely to be right. Hadn't she known there would be consequences for their actions? How long might the peace they find together last under the shadow of Riesling's retribution? A year? Five? There would be no way of knowing when it might come crashing down and who might be the one to fall.
“But I think… I think I’m too weak to keep saying no, especially…” Daire didn't make him finish. She didn't know where that sentence was supposed to end, but she could understand. After seeing all the deaths in the years before her arrival, Daire knew something of the exhaustion that plagued the cream stallion. Her own was derived from solitude and grief, having arrived on the island with the only living children she knew to have. She hadn't spoken to anyone of her fear that her daughter Sémillon might have perished as well in the lands between here and home, if she'd left at all. She was the only one who might yet live beyond the reefs...
"She said she is tired of hurting. . ." Oh, Zevulun. Didn't he know by now that Daire had been the first one to hurt Riesling? Didn't he know that Daire was likely the root of his suffering as well? The corners of her lips turned downward slightly at the mention of the Savanna: the point she stayed and Riesling did not. Yet Daire said nothing and intimated no full emotion. Not yet. She could only listen to and accept Zevulun's confession like a blasphemous excuse for a holy one. "If, for the last few years I have left, I can find the happiness I desire here with you… then I do not think I can care about the ruin it’ll bring. . ."
The brindled mare does not move away as he reaches for her, lips so soft against her cheek. Had it only been a few minutes ago that she had done the same to him as if in a dream? Daire pondered to herself as Zevulun spoke. If she were a stronger mare, she would have rebuked him. Perhaps she would have left at the first moment with Riesling, birthing pains be damned. If she were a stronger mare, Daire could leave... but she wasn't. In this way, Riesling was more than Daire could ever be. And, strangely, the brindled mare wished she could tell her daughter just how much she envied that strength.
She inhaled the heavy scent of Zevulun's breath as he breathed upon her, trying to absorb some of his warmth into her cold skin. She felt like a dead thing. “I don’t know if I can live with it, but I don’t think I can keep living the way I am now either, so I’m going to have to figure out how to.” Daire didn't want to feel as hollow as she did. They should have been happy. They should have been happy... She can only offer him a half-smile with a sadness in her eyes. Blinking away the prickings in her eyes, Daire pushed her dark face into and up the side of the stallion's neck. She cannot find the words to respond to him in that moment. Daire can only lean into Zevulun silently in those hours before dawn and hope and pray that their tentatively-found peace lasts a while longer.