She dips her head in agreement as he speaks of the latent potential of strangers and the paths to which they accompany us, and deep in her heart, she yearns for it to be true. “A new direction would be nice,” she finds herself murmuring, perhaps more as counsel to herself than to him as she finds herself again longing both to let go as well as to hold onto his memory.
Luckily, the spotted stallion breaks the silence soon again, and the faint image of him which had crept back into her mind vanishes, replaced by talk of a kingdom. She furrows her brow as he speaks, both confused and intrigued by the concept of a kingdom. She has never heard of such a concept before and knows only the world of herds. Perhaps they were actually the same thing? In this land of strange looking horses, she would not be overly surprised. “Is that what you call your herd?” she finds herself questioning sheepishly, a warmth returning to her cheeks.
But again the speckled male comments on his lack of eyesight, and she finds herself again nodding in agreement and admiration. “Being humbled is a gift,” she begins, trailing off for a brief moment. Like him, she too has been humbled by recent events, though not nearly to the extent as the stallion. But as for him? She scoffed internally, wishing Demian could be there to teach him a lesson or two! “There are many who could stand to experience and be bettered by such a concept in their life still.” She gives a small chuckle as she finishes her sentence and he begins to explain the Valley.
She ponders for a moment as he concludes his statement. She watches him intently as she thinks, her dark eyes gazing into his sockets. He seemed quite a nice gentleman, but as she had unfortunately learned, first appearances could be quite deceptive as well. But it had been only mere moments prior that she had wished for a new direction, and so, she supposes, an introductory visit wouldn’t hurt.
Yet, just as she opens her mouth to accept, she is halted by the approach of a new mare. Or, more accurately, she is rendered absolutely speechless by the metallic feathers drawn up on the side of the mare. This land is getting stranger and stranger, she notes to herself. And for a moment, she glances back at Demian, wondering if this Valley of his beheld creatures even more alien than the two of them.
Thankfully, her second shock is far more tempered than her initial reaction to Demian. Closing her mouth quickly, she manages a smile as the mare politely introduces herself. Thankfully, Demian introduces her, buying her a couple more seconds to regain her composure. “Hi Yael,” she manages to add after Demian draws silent, hoping that her tone portrayed more sociability than astonishment.
She looks back to the stallion, taking solace from the fact that he has, by this point, grown to be more or less “normal” to her, before returning her gaze to the golden mare. “Yes, I’ve just arrived,” she answers, taking a mental note of the land’s name. B’kanna. The dark mare studies the winged figure for a moment, both admiring her foreign elegance and wondering the source of such a distinct accent.
She then turns back to the stallion, realizing his offer still lay open and unaccepted. Yet, she did not think it polite to leave Yael so suddenly and was certainly interested in getting to know them both further. Thankfully, the steel gray mare realizes, as she again turns her gaze back to the mare, that Yael was not an opposing stallion. There should be no harm in a group outing when two of them were girls! “Demian had just offered to show me his homeland. I thought it might be interesting to see… would you care to join us?” She suddenly supposes she should have asked the stallion’s permission first, and turns back to him, another sheepish smile on her lips. “Would that be alright?” she asks him unknowingly. Who knows? Perhaps Yael was searching for a home as well!
chalmette
SHE EXHALES VANILLA LACE