we need love, but all we want is danger; any

[Kreios]

kreios don't you tame your demons, but always keep them on a leash The trip from the Orange Country to the Deserts is not a long one, but a year of travel from one place to the other has begun to weigh on me. It keeps me in shape, that is certain, but I lose hours each day on the way. It has occurred to me that I might do better to choose simply one place to devote myself to, but I had brushed that thought away as soon as it had appeared. Abandoning a kingdom is a shameful thing; that much at least my father had taught me. And I fear that I might too easily grow bored in a herd, or worse – too wild. I’d seen the other stallions in the Field, feral things that collect mares the same way magpies collect shiny stones. I’ve no desire to become a creature like that, and too much time spent in a primitive place might render me primitive as well. If I had wings like that horse on the dune, it might be easier, I think as my gaze travels past the silhouetted figure. I could simply fly from one place to the other in a fraction of the time. Perhaps Camrynn might be willing to exchange my horns for a more useful trait. It’s only the second time that my eyes roam toward the distant horse that I actually recognize her. It’s been a long time – years – since I’d last seen the sabino mare. She’d been a participant in the competition but no one had seen her since – at least from what I had gathered. Excited, I leave my place in the shade and trot towards her, calling out her name as I do. “Lucrezia!” I stop some distance away, realizing suddenly that I’m not sure how to greet her. While I’m openly affectionate with the mares of my herd and have no qualms with pulling them close in greeting, I am hesitant with Lucrezia. I was still a boy when we had last spoken, shy and awkward beneath the harsh black gaze of my father. The crush that I had on her made it no easier to be relaxed in her presence. I still feel more than friendship toward her, I realize as I stand in front of her, but the idea of acting on it seems somehow foreign. “Where have you been?” I ask, knowing that that at least is a safe topic. I smile, because I am glad to see her, and decide there’s no harm in telling her that either. “Are you back to stay? I’ve missed you.”