Anger suffused his lithe tobiano frame, giving life where apathy and grief had taken over. Losing Silka and then Mariael in such short succession after losing his father had chipped away at the silver stallion's ability to remain positive. In truth, it took away his drive to do much of anything other than curl as close to Raksha as she would allow; all he wanted to do was cling to the small piece of happiness that remained.

Which was wholeheartedly unfair to his children, and he knew it. Zion and Drakon were proving themselves, in their own way, and he knew he should be more vocal about how they were doing so. Drakon seemed to take after his mother, whereas something of his grandsire seemed to have fired up Zion. He didn't seem to care about doing things the right way or minimizing casualties, and Suleiman supposed that some of the fault for that also lay on his own shoulders for not doing more for the boy when he was young. And for not stepping up now.

He had gone to Mariael's grave before the challenge, a place that Raksha was not ready to visit. He often spent hours tending to the place, as he did Silka's, trying to honor their memories in the way he still wasn't able to do for his father. Suleiman had not stepped into the Cove since Solomon's passing, and he did not know if he ever could.

When he returned because of the sound of the fight and realized what had happened with Raksha and Zion and Baba Yaga, he shared a few short words with his son and then leapt into the surf after them at breakneck speed. It was pure luck that he was able to come ashore at the same place his lady love did, and the sight of another creature approaching the group sent him into overdrive.

Furious and protective, he rose from the surf and rushed to Raksha's side, aiming to press his side against hers if she'd allow it, his ears pinned tightly against the nape of his neck. "Then what are you going to do to make it right?" He snarled, his voice uncharacteristically harsh. The girl looked vaguely familiar, but he did not know her well enough to know that she had been his neighbor through her foalhood. That the same stallion that Suleiman had distrusted for most of the duration they'd been neighbors had, in fact, spawned a girl that seemed as clueless about the destruction she was inflicting on the world as her sire had.

He reminded himself - with a clench of his teeth - that she was just a child, just like Zion was just a child. They were still figuring things out, and bound to make mistakes. "You tore apart a family for foolish pride, without even a clue of what you were going to do if you won? That is not what leadership is."

Harsh, perhaps, but he was furious and grieving. Raksha had lived with him through nearly all of his rule, and pulling them away from the Arch, from the one place that Nyimara - for whatever reason - had been content to ignore, made all the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. Rumors claimed she was back again, and that only boded ill for her peach-colored daughter. Although his fury at this upstart and her companion remained high, Suleiman's first priority was his mate and so he turned to her, his gaze searching hers as he sought to place his muzzle against her skin. She seemed equally furious, which was to be expected, and he was glad to see some of that fire in her after such a hard few years.

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