Finding the red woman here is unexpected, so much so that Celina briefly forgets about her search for water. Though she knows that Nashua’s mother disappeared, it has never occurred to the young mare to give the incident much thought. She had assumed that her father had tired of the red woman and done away with her. She’s hesitated to tell her brother this, though not out of fear for his reaction, but rather because she had thought it their father’s place to do so. If Wolfbane was not going to give the boy the chance to prove himself by betraying his mother the way he’d done for Celina, the least he could do was tell Nashua why.
When she recognizes Lilliana, Celina realizes that Nash will have that chance after all, and she smiles as she trots nearer to the Taigan mare. “You are not dead!” She says delightedly. Some of the sheen is gone from the woman’s coat, her healthy sleekness being sapped by this desert land, Celina does not doubt. But other parts of her are growing, and the woman’s seafoam green eyes flick back along the mare’s barrel. Yet Lilliana does not smell like her father. This is not right, and the happy expression rapidly crumbles as her eyes move from Lilliana’s belly to her blue eyes.
“I hope that is my father’s.” Her tone and words are casual, despite the way they are mangled by her many teeth. “Because I would hate to tell Nashua that his mother is never coming back.” She would actually be delighted to do so, and the smile that returns to her face is a clear indicator of that. It is not a happy smile, and perhaps a baring of her teeth is a more truthful way to describe it. The idea of having such good news to tell Wolfbane when she finally finds him overshadows some of the disappointment in not finding him here.
@[lilliana]
celina i'm that bad type, make-your-mama-sad type make-your-girlfriend-mad type, might-seduce-your-dad type
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