Jester had a little trouble finding his legs after the swim - or maybe it was just that his body felt so heavy when he emerged from the sea. Not that he would have chosen to chase after Rook either way. When his sister got into one of her stubborn moods, running off on her own was just a thing she did. And the smoky cream knew from experience that she’d be terrible company until the mood had passed. Lowering his head, he shook the water from his ivory coat in imitation of Lucifer. It helped; he no longer felt quite as weighed down.

The distant call drifted across the sand as he was straightening. Instead of seeming concerned, a faint smile curled his lips. It seemed she’d found something. Or perhaps someone. Gods protect them from his moody grouch of a sister if it was the latter.

Walk with me, the Dunes’ king said in the silence that followed. Jester didn’t need to be invited twice. He fell easily into step at the black stallion’s right side. The shadowed patch of coat that crept from his face down to his foreleg was facing Lucifer, and the brown eye on that side was warm and curious. He did not know exactly what an oasis was, but it sounded like a break from the monotony of the sand, sand, and…sand that he could see so far. Not that he was complaining, mind you. Even if the sun did seem to be particularly wicked here. Its heat seemed to pool beneath his skin until a light sheen of sweat formed over his hide.

He wondered, as they walked, whether it was possible for a horse to spontaneously combust.

“How do you stand it?” Jester found himself asking, unable to catch the words before they escaped. “The heat, that is. I can imagine it’s difficult for someone of your color.” And size, he didn’t say. Lucifer stood a full head higher than he did, with broad shoulders that rose noticeably above his own. For Jester, that was fortunate - it meant he could choose to fall back and stand in the stallion’s shadow if the heat became overbearing.

But for Lucifer? Being the lone mountain amidst hills was not the boon many imagined it to be.

Jester, of any, could understand the price of being… different.

JESTER
laughter hides what words cannot