Nothing felt right in the wake of all that had happened. The days that had followed his trip to the Cove had passed in a dreamlike state, time having lost all meaning or context. After his crash landing in the Commons and inadvertent introduction to Nahawi, Asmodeus had taken shelter in the refuge of Marceline's arms. And touch. And body. That he had not forgotten, but he had stopped before joining her in the Peak. Not just because Asmodeus had no interest in becoming one of the Peak's trinkets, but because he could not face his sister, knowing all that he had done.

She probably still doesn't know, the insidious voice whispered in the back of his mind. Where once the dark voice had made him flinch with each utterance, Asmodeus now only blinked, having slowly grown used to the creature that had been born from the blackness of his soul.

Either way, though he did not feel like the same stallion that had left the Desert, he tried to pretend that he was. He returned home and said nothing of his trip, nor allowed anyone close enough to read the truth in his eyes, not that anyone in his herd knew him well enough to recognize the differences. They were all a perfect group of strangers here, which while not what he had initially wanted, certainly served him well in this moment. He wasn't ready to tell anyone what he had confessed to Marceline.

He woke each day expecting to hear his mother's battle cry echoing from his shores, and had nightmares of a legion of his siblings pouring over the Dunes to bury him beneath their wrath. His eyes had grown hollowed and his weight fractionally lighter, though such signs were minimal and one would have to know him rather well to recognize them for what they were. And for better or worse? The only ones who knew him that well were nowhere near him at all.

A commotion across the Desert draws his eye, and he watches in shock as a tiny tawny child races across the open expanse with a set of coyotes who gave brief chase. Surprisingly quick to respond is Octavius.. which should have filled Asmodeus with relief despite the man's displacement from the third position, but instead only made him a bit jealous. If he was right, and he was pretty sure that he was, that was his son. And Cahyr belonged to him. He had once shared the boy with his wayward Queen, but then she had disappeared without a word or a trace, and taken with her his sole surviving heir. The Desert wasn't much to pass down now, but it would eventually be... someday.

Asmodeus's head raised and he gave a commanding shout as he launched in their direction, sand flurrying behind his hooves as he hurried toward them. Cahyr could not make Asmodeus forget what he had done, but he as a damn good distraction and a welcome sight. "My boy!" He greeted as he approached, giving Octavius warning of Cahyr's importance to the Desert. This was the prodigal heir. His only known child. So far, that voice whispered, and the memory of those hours he'd spent with Marceline made him draw in a breath. "This is my son," he said, glancing toward Octavius. He had no dislike of the man, despite his demotion. He just hadn't shown much desire to get out and bring members home the same way that Hasan and Sihtric had. "Welcome home Cahyr; where have you been?"

You know where he's been. The voice whispered in his mind again. Nyimara is not so different from Xiomara, after all. They both kept their children from their fathers. Perhaps their sons will turn out the same too. An image rises unbidden of Cahyr attacking him with the same relentless fury he'd shown his father and Asmodeus' belly flips silently. The chimera forced himself to breathe out slowly to steady himself before raising his gaze behind the boy, eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Where is your mother?"

They had some things they needed to discuss.

Adult Stallion 16.0HClassic Champagne ChimeraSolomon x Xiomara