Falls

Garmr had never been a light-hearted stallion, at least not for as long as I had known him. The Lagoon was his heart, and the Lagoon by its very nature appeared to be centered over selfishness and impulsivity. But Garmr had at least been able to smile the first time I'd met him; to complain against what he seemed to see as an inescapable bad reputation, as if he'd been doomed from the very beginning.

I'd argued against it then, and I felt desperate to keep doing so now.

I couldn't explain to you why I felt so much in danger. Only that everything about the flaxen haired stallion I loved to hate was different now, and there was an overwhelming feeling that if I didn't somehow change the tone of this encounter, I would not leave it alive. That who I was would be left here, unknown, unwanted, unremembered. That the morning sun would shine down - not on my face - but on my bones.

As if summoned by that thought - I could see it clearly. See the way my slender body folded in on itself, almost as if I'd fallen asleep. The way my bones would bleach beneath the sun, the fractures and cracks a testament to my bloody end. My stomach dropped, fear making it uneasy, but I fixed him with another look, my hide trembling though my shoulders remained square.

"Yes you do." I rebutted, although his continued menace was making me doubt that he had ever cared at all, let alone right now. "We wouldn't be talking if you didn't."

Suddenly, I wondered if that were true. If I had stumbled on the one possible thing I might be able to use to my advantage. He might not like me, might barely tolerate me, but he didn't hate me... right?

"You wouldn't choose to let me talk if you didn't care about what I have to say. Else why bother to listen?" Despite how tightly I've grasped onto this possibility, I am tentative to put all my weight behind it. "You chose to talk to me, Garmr. Three times now, you've chosen me."

Granted, chasing after my escapes wasn't a choice in the way I'd implied, but I assume he could have easily told one of his men to go after me instead. And yet here he was, doing it again. Singling me out. Again my chin lifted, though I could feel the subterranean tremor in my body. "Tell me I'm wrong."