’...Yes Khar, you were soooo mistreated while in my care…’ The bite of his words dug deep beneath her armor and pierced at her very core. She had meant the words that fell from her lips, meant to slice into his skin with the same fierceness as their blunt teeth and chipped hooves ripped and tore at one another’s flesh. Yet why was it those words seemed to resonate deep inside her, echoing again and again with each beat of her heart? Was that a flash of emotion she caught in his eyes when she spat those words at him? Was there something more hidden beneath the nonchalance of his rolling eyes and disgusted snort?
As always, Khyber leaves her with more questions, with a wider array of feelings than any stallion should. He is her guilty pleasure and her greatest sin. A drug that she proclaims against but secretly covets in the dark hours of night when shadows hide her from the world.
No. She had not been mistreated in the Lagoon. She had savored the long hours spent pressed against his muscular body and the days of taunting words that they parry with. Even now, she feels the rising desire to reach out and thrust her muzzle into the curve of his throat just so that her teeth could rake possessively over the dust and mud-covered hairs. He was the epitome of what she fought against, and yet she wanted him in a way that she had never felt before. Needs him in a way she has never needed anything else. The surety in his brown eyes quickens her breath and causes her heart to beat its rapid staccato. The firm set of his jaw reminded her of the heat and hunger that burned inside her when his teeth clamped against her skin. Saliva wets her tongue, causing her to swallow the lump that gathers in her throat. She would not give in to that. She would not give him the satisfaction of seeing the pleasure in those memories as they rose to the surface in her mind. Khyber was a bachelor. Until only recently, he was the Maurader of the Bachelor stallions. She was a possession to be claimed again and again. She could not be anything more. Not if she is to stand for what she believes in.
So despite the weight his accusing tone burdens on her soul, Khar’pern remains silent as she leads him to their children. The excitement in Solas’ eyes is invigorating, a bright light that pushes away the guilt her mind carries. Crystalline ooids harden at Ryvar’s emotionless gaze, the threat clear. Be nice. Absently, she glances back at Khyber, rose-colored shoulders rolling as her dished profile is given a shake, her obsidian mane snapping audibly against her dappled neck. ”She doesn’t trust stallions… one too many encounters with bachelors....” she quips, a smirk tugging at a corner of her mouth as she pivots to turn and face the painted beast. ”You can imagine why…”
The chocolate colored mare watches keenly as the brown and white stallion addresses Solas. Why he infuriated her, she could not quite place. Was it because he was the reason she had spent those months without mother? Was it because when mother returned, she had been pregnant with Solas? Maybe in part. Fair or not, it was this stallion, her father, whom she blamed for everything that had happened to them. For every steal of the bachelors, for every argument between Marceline and Khar, for every broken promise and unfinished story. It. was. His. fault.
His dark brown eyes find her hard gaze. ’...your mother hasn’t told me your name…. I’m Khyber… you are?..’ the monotone sound of his voice draws her inky lips into a firm line. Anger flashes in her eyes as she opens her mouth to snap a sharp response… until Khar’s gaze halts her voice.
Frustration flutters her nostrils as Ryvar meets her mother’s glare, accusation flashing in her pale eyes before she finally acquiesces with a dramatic sigh. Small muzzle is tossed as the girl flicks her red-tinted forelock from her eyes as she sets her gaze on the stallion once more. ”Ryvar… not that it matters.” she snaps, shooting the rose-dappled mare a cocky smirk.
Khar’pern meets her daughter's icy gaze with an equally frigid glare. ”As you can tell…. She takes after you.” she adds, snorting a hard breath at her daughter before turning to watch the colt scramble to his hooves.
”Khyber! You’re my dad, aren’t you? Mom said You don’t live here. She said that you live in a swamp… whatever that is. Do you know that? Is that where you live? What is a swamp? Can I see it? Will you take me? Can Ryvar go too?” the colt bubbles, bounding the few paces that separate him from the tall stallion. Excitement dances in his eyes as he studies the stallion’s face, hope racing through his mind, completely oblivious to the tension that hangs palpably between the rest of the…. family.
Khar'pern
The jungle is dark but full of diamonds;