At her pronouncement, Leander’s breath caught. He stared at her as his mind raced. He felt oddly as though he should be crowing with excitement, except that the happenstance of it all had temporarily struck him dumb. Blinking at this newfound relative, he realized with an abrupt start why she had seemed so familiar at first. Beyond the antlers and the piebald coloring – beneath the mask of scars – her face had reminded him of Rayelle. Among a myriad of disordered thoughts, the stallion wondered which of his uncles were her father: Rodrik, or Kavi?
After a prolonged pause, Leander rallied and cleared his throat. “No, I didn’t,” he began hesitantly, though his heart had quickened its beating in his chest. Of course, he had always imagined breaking the news of shared blood to unsuspecting strangers – but now that it finally came down to it, Leander felt somewhat unsure of how he should proceed. The outright truth would serve best, he supposed. “I never knew her, but she – Kagerou – well,” he fumbled, still a bit stunned, “She was my grandmother, too.”
Shrugging black-speckled wings, his lopsided grin flashed briefly. “I should probably explain that I was born outside of Beqanna. My parents – Rayelle and Riagan – they left before the Reckoning. They’d always intended to return here with me, but they passed before we could make it back together.” The stallion shook his blonde mane loose as he continued. “Ever since then, I’ve been looking for this place, hoping to find some of my family.”
Leander’s expression brightened as he added, “Which I suppose I just have.” He chuckled then, brown eyes meeting those of nutmeg with a genuine smile. “It’s good to finally meet you, cousin. You wouldn’t believe how good.” He gestured to the pattern that glistened upon her wet skin in the moonlight. “I see you bear grandmother’s markings, as well as her name.”
Years of built-up curiosity and eager anticipation began to overcome his shock, and suddenly he couldn’t seem to help the flood of questions that started pouring from him. “What about you, did you know her? Is your father Rodrik, or Kavi? My uncles, are they… still around?” The final question, that which he most hoped she could answer: “Would you happen to know anything about my sisters, Rhy or Kora?”
