Solace
. . .
He thinks about her question longer than most do, and she waits with more anticipation than she has felt before for this routine topic of conversation. It was a common question, which usually received a quick, predictable answer - but he is different.
With his wistful eyes turned skyward, Solace takes a moment to study his upturned face as he searches for his answer in the constellations. But before she has time to be amazed by his words (they are as unexpected as they are unconventional) his pleading voice has moved on to questions her, and Solace is suddenly afraid she will disappoint the other-worldly stallion.
"My mother," the pale mare replies apologetically. She sifts through the vague and half-forgotten memories of her childhood, reaching for clarity but finding none. "But it was only once, I'm sorry, I can't really remember... " her voice fades as she evades his eager gaze by turning her round, blue eyes skyward.
"It was a long time ago," she sighs.
Solace's thoughts return to his unusual answer to her first question as her gaze again finds the line of his face. She realizes with a heavy beat of her heart that he has stepped closer, that there is barely a breath of night air between them. In the quiet which grows, her cerulean feathers rustle as she brings them tighter against her sides. "I've only ever been as high as the clouds," she muses, as a soft smile returns to her lips. "It must be wonderful to fly among the stars."
She doesn't doubt the nameless stranger, the thought that he is telling anything other than the truth never crosses her mind. When he spoke of the stars there had been a depth of feeling in his voice that was hard to fake - there was love.
"I'm Solace, by the way."
@[Astrophel]