He'd followed Arrya here, the pregnant and sassy mare that he'd met in the Meadow. It wasn't his ideal clime with its thick canopies and towering trees, but Arrya had claimed it a wonderful place to raise a child, and so he'd come. It was suffocating to him, all the darkness and shadows, and at times felt oppressing.
Far more appealing were wide open spaces where the land could meet the sky and the eye could see for great distances. The freedom to run, the ability to see your enemy before they even arrived, were lost. Instead, Sylva was cupped by mountains with a tricky path lost within that could guide one to another forest, a separate territory.
It was here that he walked today, at the joist where their species of trees gradually met others. He was restless and growing irritated with his continuous failure to find Josie, the dark woman who had followed him to Sylva, who now carried his first born within her. It seemed every time he caught her scent, it slipped away again like it had never even been there.
He started, blinking a few times, as he looked up to find a woman had appeared in this eerie quiet part of the woods. She was a gray, and pregnant like so many others he'd seen. His ear flicked back warily, and a quick scan told him no others were here yet, only she and him. It did not put him at ease that he hadn't sensed her, but he set his edginess aside and slipped on a mask he'd been trained for but hadn't had much need of.
Good afternoon, he said with a smooth smile. He approached politely and bowed his head low to her. It reminded him of the last time he'd bothered to bow to anyone, when he'd done it theatrically to Arrya in his gallant smartassery. His grin grew at the memory, and his brown eyes were bright as he straightened back to his full height.
How may I be of service to you? See? Some of that useless courtly instruction did sink in.