Tiberios
When she shifts against him in the black void of night Tiberios awakens slowly. She’s tense; he can feel the surge of instinct ripple across her skin. He doesn’t try to stop or sooth her - Shatter is more experienced at these matters than Tiberios ever could be, so he only watches in the blue-black as her silver form glides away. Of course, he’s not far behind her. Despite the fact that this was their second child, this birthing was brand new to Tiberios. He hadn’t been there for Tyrna’s birth (a fact that still haunts him) so this occurrence was alien to him.
Granted, by the time he peers through the undercover that protects the seasoned mother, Shatter is surprisingly finished. He watches breathlessly while his new child takes the first deep gulps of life, and feels his heart constrict as the two - mother and progeny - bond on some level Tiberios will never know. His queen breaths the foal’s name into the air and Tiberios can no longer hold his ground.
With carefully placed steps he eases forward, nose lowering to hover above the ground while he first checks over Shatter. A tender kiss, planted with reverent sincerity on her sterling forehead, speaks wordlessly of his affection for her. And then, his molten eyes flicker to a child who mirrors him. A son. Khalis. With a breathy smile the stallion folds his knees and lowers himself to the ground beside Shatter, his body bending to conform to hers so that he can support her and marvel at their creation. “If I had my way,” he whispers into her ear, “We’d have a hundred children. You have a gift for creating perfect life.”
The endless smile plastered to his lips presses against her neck and he chuckles softly into the waning dark. His nose moves slowly away then, finding the silky newborn. The gold-faced stallion blows his scent across the shimmering fur of his son and reasons that life could not be more perfect.
TIBERIOS
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