I still have it
Those words are weapons dipped in a poison made of hope. It strikes the stallion’s heart like a pike in battle. He watches the outline of her form, teasing the edge of his vision, threatening to disappear again.
“Gareth,” Noor’s thoughts are a gentle press to the stallion’s chaotic mind. “Let her go, Gareth…” The elk’s words are true. He has always been a calming voice in the turmoil of the stallion’s world. He has been a steadfast friend and confidant. He has known for years the heartache the brute has lived with, the regret in allowing her to walk away. It angers him, that the stag would tell him to release this spectre now, to free his mind and heart from her.
He looks back to his faintly glowing companion. He seems… afraid of something. Unnerved. The stallion is torn between his two desires. To go to his bonded, his constant, to understand what it is that upsets him so. What is it that has caused him to change his mind so quickly. After all, it was he who drew attention to the mare. If he was going to just tell Gareth to walk away, why tell him of her at all? Confusion passes before the stallion’s amber gaze, and the stag knows without words needing to pass that he will have to answer those questions. The stag bows his head respectfully, waiting to see now what his friend shall do.
The bright splash of Gareth’s features return to the figure cloaked in shadow. He almost loses her again in the darkness, and his heart lurches. It is painful, yes, to see her like this. So unexpected, with so many things that he wishes he could say. But she is a married woman, and he has but himself to blame for that.
“Salome…” He lifts a piston, hesitating. If it is truly her, he would bring the mare into his chest and nuzzle her close. He would hold her the way he has always longed to. But he knows that this is rash, and he needs answers. Clearly she had not wanted to be seen just now. She’s made every effort to distance herself from him, and that pain rubs his heart raw. He sets his hoof down gently, taking a steadying breath.
“Meet me in our place, Salome. When the moon is full, I will be there, waiting for you.” His lanterns search the shadows, hoping for another glimpse of her rose-dusted pools. “Please,” his lyrics are thick, and it is clear that prolonging their meeting is a decision he has not made lightly. “I have so many things to say… But I need time to say them. I think…” he lets out a shaking breath, steadying himself once more before continuing. “I think you may need that time, too.”
He turns from her form, be she spectre or memory, and moves to rejoin Noor in the small clearing. His movements are slow, reluctant, but determined. He nods to the elk, murmuring. The stag bows, glancing to Salome once more before turning with his companion to follow him back into the crags of the mountains and away from this strange place.
