Common

The crash of another wave drew her ears backward.


Too close.



Instinctively, she took another step toward the shelter of the trees, though the movement ahead halted her before she disappeared into the foliage. Her dark frame tensed, muscles still trembling from exhaustion, silver locks clinging damply to the curve of her neck. Every instinct urged her to flee, yet her body refused to obey.



Instead, pale eyes settled upon the approaching stallion.



He wasn't rushing her.



His posture softened, broad head lowered in quiet deference rather than challenge. It was enough to keep her rooted where she stood, though suspicion lingered in the narrowing of her gaze.



The question lingered between them.



A storm?



Her ears flicked uncertainly. She searched the fractured corners of her mind for an answer, but found only emptiness where memories should have been. There had been water... cold, relentless water. Beyond that, nothing but scattered fragments she couldn't quite grasp.



"I..." The word caught in her throat, rough from salt and disuse. She swallowed before trying again.



"I don't know."



The admission tasted bitter.



"I remember the water." Her eyes drifted briefly toward the restless sea before quickly returning to him. "Then waking here."



She shifted her weight uneasily, shaking one foreleg in an attempt to free the stubborn sand clinging to it.



"Is..." Her voice faltered as uncertainty settled over her. "Is this Paradise?"



The name came unbidden, surfacing from somewhere deeper than conscious thought. Whether it was memory or instinct, she couldn't tell.



Her gaze searched his face then, quietly pleading for answers she feared she might not want to hear.



"And... how long have I been in the water?"