There were strange scents in the air, filling the groves in the jungle paradise where the musk from the previous lead had long faded. The white mare had never met Siguršr officially, only glimpsed sight of him from time to time between the trees, or at the jungle's edge where verdant growth gave way to the sandy stretch of shore upon which Clio had first met Carrthage, and pleaded for him to lead her to water.
She had largely kept to herself, having vowed to Carthage that she would not make any attempt to leave - giving herself over to him, to repay him for saving her life, and protecting her while she recovered. In time, she had borne the dark stallion a son, Telperion, and she protected the boy with all the venom of a viper stirred to anger, even distancing herself from Carthage from a time while she focused on raising the colt. But when as the seasons changed, she wecomed his company, murmuring appreciativeness over his vigilance, and took to learning the lines of his body as she checked him for injury, and groomed the detritus gathering in his mane from his patrols through the dense undergrowth.
But now, for the first time, ushering Telperion ahead of her, for the first time she actively sought Carthage out, following his scent trail and walking the paths he frequently trod, having memorized unique landmarks and features that he named whenever he returned to the two of them, informing her of areas that were safe for her to move through with the colt, places free of predators or other kinds of threats. She dared not call out for him, lest the unknown brute whose scent was fresh and jarring, find her first. Keeping to the well-worn paths, she murmured reassurances to Telperion as they went; not much further now... we'll find your father soon... keep going Telperion, you're doing so well, I'm proud of you.
And then pushing through a veil of monstera leaves, Clio caught sight of Carthage just ahead, seeming as though he were heading toward her. The relief that flooded her veins, chased by something heated that had her wanting to slip past her son and reach for the stallion, to tuck her muzzle beneath his chin and drink in the scent of him, but she fought against that urge. Instead, she continued behind Telperion, curled around him as a shield from anything that might wish Carthage's son harm.
"I am glad we found you so quickly," Clio said by way of greeting. "What do you mean to do, Carthage, with a stranger encroaching over the borders and Siguršr long scarce?" There was a flicker in her two-toned eyes then, something that went unspoken for now, but there was a warmth to her words when she spoke again, tone low and yet still light and lilting. "For all you have done for me, I will cleave to you, whether you choose to depart from this place for other shores, or remain, if the stranger who's staked his claim here is amenable to that." |