It is in the early morning hours, not long after Asmodeus took his leave, that Nyimara awakens Cahyr from his restless slumber.
Although he refuses to speak the words, Nyi knows that something lays heavily on his mind. No doubt, some lie that Asmodeus or Marceline has whispered into the naive boy’s ears just to turn him against her. A snake buried beneath the sands, waiting and watching. Ready to relay information that might be most useful to overthrow her rule in hopes of bringing her to heel. Asmoedus had been all too happy to gain the upper hand and Nyimara would not allow him to hold her in place again. He let go of her bridle and she would be damned if he got them back again.
Annubis visit in the week prior left the silver-haired witch with an alternative that she had not before known. If she couldn’t trust Cahyr not to whisper her movements back to his father who seemed to suddenly insist on visiting his children whenever he felt the desire, then she would send him beyond Asmodeus’ reach. The lagoon was full of possessive men filled with testosterone who would gladly put a stop to Asmodeus attempts. It was the perfect solution and one that caused her lips to twitch upward into a devious smile in the pale morning shadows. She might not be able to hurt Asmodeus’ pride in the same way his abandonment had wounded her, but at least this… his son, would hurt.
Nyimara nudges the young stallion, leading him farther away from the rest of the dozing herd and towards the Dunes of sand that keep the reaching waves of the sea at bay. Only when they are resting comfortably on the shoreline does the mare turn to her son, the smile on her lips a mask of motherly affection. ”You have grown since the last time you and I were able to watch the sunrise together alone.…” she begins, her voice soft as she lifts her finely dished face to feel the caress of the ocean breeze as it wraps around them. She closes her eyes, remembering a time when Cahyr had been just a boy, no taller than her shoulder, and his eyes had been filled with wonder at the vastness of the world that stretched before them. ”You used to ask me what lay beyond the sea… what wonders there were in the world and made me promise to show them to you….” she continues, feeling the pale stallion’s gaze on her serene face. Her lashes flutter open as near-black eyes shift to fix on his handsome face. Suspicion dances in his eyes as warily the boy arches a single brow. ”Where are you going with this mother?” he asks, his voice clipped and cautious.
A dramatic sigh leaves her lips as Nyimara turns her gaze to Cahyr, emotion draining from her exotic features. ”I have paved a path for you, to explore the world as you wished…” she begins, pausing a moment to square her shoulders as her gaze shifts towards the dark blue peaks of the main island that rise above the horizon. ”You will go to stay with the bachelor stallions. You leave today. I have made all the necessary arrangements to ensure you are given adequate training and leadership….” she continues, her voice trailing at the indignation and flash of defiance that dance behind Cahyr’s blue-green eyes. Unusually long whipcord lashes audibly against her heels, snapping a spray of sand at their hooves. ”Before you start, this is not a permanent move Cahyr. It is one that will make you a great leader one day and a command that, as my heir, I expect you to follow.” she says flatly. Heir. The one word that his pride would hold onto. The one word that would silence his voice and gain his obedience, regardless of whatever Asmodeus planted in his head during his captivity in the Shore.
The mare is silent for a moment, her peripheral gaze acutely aware of the pale cream stallion’s tense frame as he weighs her words. Obey and rule the Desert one day, or defy and be nothing. His reply comes as she expects it would, even if it does take him a bit longer to come to the conclusion. Nyimara resists the urge to let her impish smile play across her lips as the stallion releases a heavy sigh, his shoulders sagging a moment before he dares to square them again and fix her with an unreadable gaze. ”Do I at least have time to visit with my little sister before I must rush off?” he asks, the bite in his tone clear.
The silver-haired queen softens her expression as she turns her gaze fully upon his hardened features. Her small muzzle reaches to lip at a straying strand of his alabaster forelock. ”Of course, m’love. I would never keep you from our family.” she chides affectionately, purposefully choosing to ignore the scoff that hangs in his throat as he turns his gaze back to the shoreline to watch as a flock of pelicans descend from the heavens into the shallow waters that encircle the island.