11-06-2015, 12:18 PM
She smiles in reply, a little shy, but clearly pleased. Her entire existence has been taken up with her adventures these past years, and while to say she has thought often of Walter would be a lie, so too would saying he has not crossed her mind. She’s thought of everyone she left – her mother and father, her siblings. They are part of what she’s returned, but Walter is the only one still here – or rather, back here, she supposes. The rest of them are as absent from Beqanna as she had been, and while she could find them, she does not yet miss them enough to try.
The grullo mare doesn’t press closer despite her preference for proximity; she has learned that not everyone is as comfortable as she is. Walter would humor her, she is sure, but she would not dream of presuming. So she holds back, and when he says that he is glad she is here with him so is so ready to say the same thing in return that the words are already forming on her lips. His smile disappears though, and Djinni is suddenly doubtful – both of her own feelings and of Walter. Isn’t he glad she is here? She is certainly glad she is, and gladder still that she has found a familiar face so soon. “I’m glad to be here too,” she says instead. It is not in her nature to be easily cowed though, and when she says “I missed it here”, she also adds, “I missed you” with so much certainty that it’s nearly a challenge to Walter to refute it.
Despite the generations before her, Djinni has not felt the urge to pledge herself to a kingdom the way her ancestor did. Her parents loved the Desert, but they loved each other more, and had not instilled in any of their children an incredibly strong desire to serve. Mellark had been called, Djinni remembers, but she had never wanted the same path as her turquoise-haired brother. Lately though she has wondered if perhaps she is missing out. Surely there is something valuable, something important, something to keep horses so stalwart in their loyalty to their chosen kingdom.
Was it possible that it was not that kingdoms didn’t call to her, but rather just that the Desert didn’t? The sandy kingdom’s hold on her bloodline was only a few generations deep, and tales of her grandparents in the Chamber, Valley, and Gates had always enthralled her as a child. This is in the back of her mind, and so when Walter asks where she will go next, she responds readily: “I’m going to find a home.” It sounds so certain, so stable, that she surprises herself. “Well, I’d like to, anyway.” She amends with a shake of her yellow mane. “I thought I’d see what’s so interesting about the other kingdoms.”
The grullo mare doesn’t press closer despite her preference for proximity; she has learned that not everyone is as comfortable as she is. Walter would humor her, she is sure, but she would not dream of presuming. So she holds back, and when he says that he is glad she is here with him so is so ready to say the same thing in return that the words are already forming on her lips. His smile disappears though, and Djinni is suddenly doubtful – both of her own feelings and of Walter. Isn’t he glad she is here? She is certainly glad she is, and gladder still that she has found a familiar face so soon. “I’m glad to be here too,” she says instead. It is not in her nature to be easily cowed though, and when she says “I missed it here”, she also adds, “I missed you” with so much certainty that it’s nearly a challenge to Walter to refute it.
Despite the generations before her, Djinni has not felt the urge to pledge herself to a kingdom the way her ancestor did. Her parents loved the Desert, but they loved each other more, and had not instilled in any of their children an incredibly strong desire to serve. Mellark had been called, Djinni remembers, but she had never wanted the same path as her turquoise-haired brother. Lately though she has wondered if perhaps she is missing out. Surely there is something valuable, something important, something to keep horses so stalwart in their loyalty to their chosen kingdom.
Was it possible that it was not that kingdoms didn’t call to her, but rather just that the Desert didn’t? The sandy kingdom’s hold on her bloodline was only a few generations deep, and tales of her grandparents in the Chamber, Valley, and Gates had always enthralled her as a child. This is in the back of her mind, and so when Walter asks where she will go next, she responds readily: “I’m going to find a home.” It sounds so certain, so stable, that she surprises herself. “Well, I’d like to, anyway.” She amends with a shake of her yellow mane. “I thought I’d see what’s so interesting about the other kingdoms.”
D J I N N I
genie | rose gold tobiano dun | trickster