Well, he’d really screwed things up here, hadn’t he?
Guilt pushed the once-prince deep into the jungle, retreating into the interior of his birth home that he loved so very much. Once his father was snatched away to the Lagoon and his mother took Oswald to the Prairie, then didn’t return, Calder just… he knew what he was supposed to do. He was supposed to step up then and help pull his family back together; he should have helped Renvari bring more horses into the Ridge to feed it with life and, united, they should have freed their father.
He hadn’t done any of that.
Instead, Calder hid away in his happy place and thought maybe, just maybe, Renvari didn’t need him after all. Even as the scents dulled and the silence grew, Calder told himself the herd was probably on the other side of the territory from him and did not go searching to see if it were so.
There was something truly terrible about always being afraid about being a complete and utter failure to your legendary parents… and then fulfilling that horrible prophecy.
An abrupt, loud call startled Calder from where he’d been tucked away for the day. He considered staying hidden, maybe he was lucky enough to be downwind and, if he stayed quiet, would go unseen… but could he truly keep doing that forever? Just hiding away and pretending like he hadn’t absolutely failed??
Nervousness quivered in his belly and Calder swallowed back thickly before shuffling forward, making his way toward the direction of the call. When he saw the large black stallion standing with the dun mare he came to a slow stop and cleared his throat. “Um, hello…”
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