It was unfair. Completely, utterly, and totally unfair.
Angry footsteps were loud against the silence and stillness of the small forest clearing; not even a bird dared cry, lest they be subject to the wrath of the suddenly imposing figure of the normally demure mare. Golden hues were narrowed in distaste, focused on nothing in particular- for once not veiled or overshadowed by the ebony forelocks that so often hid her expression- as Feilea paced back and forth. Normally the repetitive motions would have calmed her, or the quietness of her surroundings restored some amount of tranquility... but not today.
No... today, Fei pondered for the first time if she might actually hate another soul.
That... angeni mare, that insufferable usurper of her father's affections... who did she think she was? Swooping in out of nowhere to claim what was rightfully Fei's, without even a thought as to the consequences that she would suffer? And Kureno! For as long as she had worked for his love, Feilea had always done so under the assumption that he did so for no one; that he was simply incapable of it. It was a harsh truth to live with, of course, but she was willing to try anyway- doing the impossible, as it were, might someday earn his affection when he was ready to give it. But now? When she had accepted that it was simply not in him to love another soul after Evelyn... that mare!
An angry bray, shrill in its tone, pierced the oppressive silence as she punctuated the cry with an angry stomp of one hoof, glaring into the treeline. Her eyes burned with the threat of tears, but stubbornly, she refused to let them fall. Why? Why was she never good enough? Had she failed him in some way, done something wrong that cast her in shadows from him forever? She could think of no possible transgression other than the crime of simply being born of the wrong mare- he had never loved her mother, never thought anything of the young daughter that idolized him, that hung on every rare word that he spoke. And yet, he had loved the stallion Evelyn had raised herself as his own son. She had been too young to fully understand the bond the three of them had- was barely out of adolesence when she witnessed the devastating loss of both Connor and Evelyn. But even still... if he could love this new mare, why not her?
Despite her valiant efforts, the first tear fell from one honey-colored eye, a cream-feathered wing sweeping angrily across the wet fur to wipe the evidence away.
