Mud sucked at his hocks as he traversed the interior of the Lagoon, his golden tail turned mucky brown by the brackish water. Contrary to what Leif had implied, Suleiman had found nothing about his stay here pleasant.

Unlike Tinuvel, which had grown chilly and was often dusted with snow by this time of year, the Lagoon remained uncomfortably warm. Sweat often gathered on his body just by walking from the relatively clean drinking water to the grassy flatlands where the most edible grass grew. There were other places closer to water, of course, but they required him to perch like a fledgling bird on pockets of semi-solid ground and he refused. The trade-off, of course, was that the insects thrived among the tall grass, and many of them delighted in attempting to eat him alive.

Now, having eaten and drank his fill, the golden son of the late Solomon moved woodenly toward the northern edge of the Lagoon. The swampishness of the bachelor's homeland waned as the rest of the Crossing grew closer, and it was on this more solid, tree-shaded ground that he often rested his weary bones. Suleiman was careful to never cross the border line lest the other bachelors believe he was reneging on his deal, despite how keenly he wished he were home, with family.

The news of his father's death had rattled him to his core, and having the Lagoon return for Ivanbito - and somehow succeed in wresting him from the Arch - had shaken his faith. Watching Marisol and De Nieve's panicked faces, however, had told him exactly what he needed to do. They had just lost their father, he would not let them lose their lover as well. Not when there was something he could do about it.

And so, even though he hated every part of living among the bachelors, Suleiman found no regret for what he had done. Just a throbbing ache where his heart had been.

A flicker of movement through a curtain of spanish moss had him pulling up short and he glared suspiciously toward the indistinct creature with his ears pulled back. "You aren't hiding very well," he said tiredly, then sighed and attempted to continue on his journey, one ear cocked back toward the source of the movement.

Stallion . Adult . 17hh . Pinto . arch lead. solomon x banshee . love