Common

"You can do this," the painted mare murmured to herself as she stood, frozen, at the border of the Commons and the Meadow. "It won’t be like last time, I promise."

Even as she promised herself, she doubted her own words. She hadn’t exactly meant for last time to happen the way last time had happened either, and yet it had. She’d embarrassed herself in front of not only a handsome new stallion, but in front of the mysterious stranger that had approached her on Tinuvel. Much of that day was fuzzy and indistinct, but she clearly remembered their faces.

Embarrassment at the memory flooded her cheeks with heat again, but Svetka shook her head and then lifted it, refusing to succumb to the shame. Any number of stallions entered these Common lands, there was no guarantee she would ever see them again. "They probably wouldn’t remember that anyway. It’s fine." That, too, she doubted. Most horses didn’t fall immediately asleep after an ocean swim, much less wake up drunk and disorderly as they fought to regain control of their own bodies. More loudly this time, to drown out the anxiety in her head, she reassured herself again. "It’s fine!"

"I’m fine. This is fine. Everything is fine." Her tail whisked uneasily across her roaned haunches and she peered apprehensively once more into the open expanse of the Commons. "It’s going to be fine."

Only this time, her voice trailed off, exposing the doubt under the surface.