When Cahyr appeared around the wind-shorn edge of the sandstone outcropping that Natyre slept beneath, the young girl was ecstatic. It had been far too long since she had last seen her brother, as far as she was concerned. Her mewlings of displeasure at his sudden disappearance had been met with indifference on her mother's part. A fact that had never really set well with the young princess. She had held back so many questions, knowing full well that mother would never deem them important enough to answer. Seeing the cream stallion now, perhaps there was hope yet.
What sleep that kept her mind groggy disappears as she scrambles to her feet with a squeal of delight. "Cahyr! You're back!" she exclaims, all but throwing herself into the stallion's broad chest. The contented rumbling chuckle that hangs in his throat is soothing, far more so than any lyrical lullaby mother ever offered. Bright blue-green eyes gaze up at him with adoration as his neck arches to pull her into a tight embrace. 'You have a guest waiting for you...' he murmurs, his whiskered lips ruffling the unruly ends of her sterling mane. Confusion furrows her brows as she takes a step back to allow her eyes to meet his. A guest? Sure, she had met each of the herd members that called the Desert home and even spent a fair amount of time stalking after the copper stallion and his herd when they first arrived in the Desert. Always, the ones who came to the Desert sought an audience with Nyimara. The queen. Never had there ever been anyone who had come specifically to see her.
"A guest?" she asks, glancing around as though she expected this so-called 'guest' to manifest on the empty trail behind Cahyr. "Yes." Cahyr murmurs, pausing to shift position to allow his ashen muzzle to nudge the girl towards the path he had just come. "Father is here... he is waiting on the beach to meet you." '...if you hurry, he might still be breathing...' he thinks but refuses to let the sarcasm pass his lips. Like Nikki, Naytre was still naive and innocent to the complications of their world, and while it was still possible, Cahyr would make sure it stayed that way.... however difficult their parents made that task.
The excitement in her eyes flickers for a moment to something akin to apprehension. Nyimara had been happy enough to inform her that Asmodeus was the one who had taken Cahyr away from them and put the first stain on the non-existent relationship she had with her absent father. "He....isn't here to take me away next is he?" she asks, stumbling with uncertainty over the packed earth. A single flute twitches as she studies her brother's handsome features. Despite the seriousness of her gaze, his expression remains unreadable as he shakes his head in reassurance. "No little one, he just wants to meet you." he murmurs, offering her rump yet another nudge forward. By the gods, how he hoped that Asmodeus kept his son's promise true. "Go on now, before the day gets too hot to bare." he encourages with a playful nip.
Natyre giggles happily, her ears flattening against the curve of her neck as she feigns mock anger and gives a half-hearted buck in his direction. How she missed their games. She takes another few steps forward before turning around to notice Cahyr was not following. Again, the confusion flashes across her concave features. "Aren't you coming?" she asks, despite already certain she knows the answer. "No not this time. He wants to spend some time with you." he replies with a shake of his head. For a moment, Naytre holds his gaze, trying with all her might to see past the facade he has in place. When he cocks his head once more towards the shores, Naytre lets out a final sigh. It would have been so much more comfortable with Cahyr at her side... but she needed to be brave. She was a princess after all.
With a kick of her heels, the dark filly picks up a floating trot. "I'll come find you when he leaves and tell you ALL about it." she purrs with an impish giggle. And then she is gone.
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From excitement because of pure, unspent energy, it does not take Natyre long to reach the beach. Small fluted lobes press forward amid the growing ends of her pale forelock as she pauses to catch her breath. It is not hard to spot mother. Like an ominous cloud on the horizon, her presence demands attention... as does the tall splotched stallion standing before her.
Blue-green eyes widen as she draws him in for the first time. Why it was that she imagined him to look more like Cahyr she didn't know. However, the difference is not disappointing. If anything, it makes her stand a bit straighter, taller... proud.
Despite the excitement thrumming through her veins, Naytre forces herself to keep an even pace as she closes the distance between her parents. "You... wanted to see me?" she murmurs when she is close enough for her words to be heard over the steady rhythm of waves lapping along the shore. Gaze glances at Nyimara as the silver witch turns away from them, not bothering to acknowledge her presence. Any other time, at any other occasion, Natyre might have felt offended.... but that was just how mother could be sometimes. Unexpecting. Plus she saw Nyimara all the time, her focus and attention was on the tall stallion towering before her... sea-green eyes gazing up at him expectantly.
Natyre
Ee Aa nZ / mare / 15.2wfg / Nyimara x Asmodeus