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Ask and ye shall receive, their mother would have said to Shiraz if she would have known of her darker daughter's desire for company. Granted, it would have been uttered in a truly sardonic tone of voice, accompanied by a slight curl of disgust in the mare's upper lip. A mare of strong opinions and prejudices herself who was hardly the best candidate for motherhood, she had been bitterly disappointed in the results of what SHOULD have been a perfect breeding and never ceased to reminder her daughters of that fact, particularly the shy, timid, and easily upset Rynia. Shiraz, Ladius had always looked on with fondness; Shiraz's strength of mind, strength of body, and willingness to take direction had made her an obvious favorite in comparison to Rynia, who's tremblings, constantly downcast eyes, and general air of timidity was a constant object of disgust for Ladius. As far as she was concerned, Rynia was a failure who needed to be constantly reminded of such.

But if Shiraz felt some sort of pity for her sister, that was her choice. Feeling nothing like affection for anyone herself, Ladius could not, or would not, believe that her two daughters could be in any way fond of each other. Rynia was fodder, Shiraz was the top of the heap, and that was all there was to it!

~~~

Rynia lay morosely on the bank of the river in her usual 'hiding place', a rocky nook a far enough distance from her mother's territory to ALMOST feel safe. Here it was that she came to get away from the insults and harangues, the constant implications of inferiority and worthlessness. It was a refuge of sorts, one (thus far) unknown to her mother and father that she hoped to keep that way!

As a habit that would be guaranteed to piss off Ladius (if she knew such a habit existed), Rynia had as of late taken to spending her solitary evening time in a manner even less productive than 'running away'. Yes, she had actually taken to spending her quiet time daydreaming, thereby leaving herself open and vulnerable to attack and all manner of other such unpleasant things.

If Rynia had actually been conssidering such things, she might have been worried. Her thoughts and musings were all her own, though, unintruded on by her mother's voice or possible warnings. Indeed, she had no idea that she was even doing such things, let alone worrying about it!

Her dreams were so pleasant, after all. The idea of a quiet place where there were smiles and laughter and friendliness, kind words instead off curses and taunts...Rynia had 'believed' that such a place existed for a long time, but her dependance on that belief had only recently become something to fixate on, especially to the point that she wasn't paying attention to her surroundings...

It was strange, the relationship that the two sisters had with each other. In many ways they were polar opposites; Shiraz was the strong one, the tough one, the one that their parents approved of and adored, as much as it was possible for them to adore. Rynia was weak and timid, skittish, and tender. She, their parents looked on with scorn.

One would assume that Shiraz would also look at her with scorn, and it wasn't a lie to say that she did, just like now. Yet somehow, the bond forged as children had remained and while there was a definite hierarchy established between them, the fact remained that the two were still 'close'. Shiraz knew where to find her even when she didn't want to be found, and Shiraz was as close to her as it was possible for anyone to be. Affection was there, at least in some form.

Hearing the throat clearing, Rynia looked up in wide eyed alarm, only to relax at once when she saw it was her sister. At once she was both pleased and ashamed; pleased, to see her sister after all this time, and ashamed because she had been caught ignoring her surroundings. But she was not one to hide her face from her sister, so she stood up and gave her a small, timid smile. "It's nice to see you, Shiraz; forgive my behavior, I know it was wrong of me to be so inattentive. Please don't tell Mother or Father...."

One could never be too sure of things, not even with siblings. After all, Rynia didn't doubt that Shiraz was just as intent on her becoming a good and proper member of their family; the only difference between Shiraz's behavior and their parents' is that Shiraz, at least, would think that she was honestly and affectionately doing her sister a good deed. That was why Rynia had spoken up, and why she would always speak up, whenever caught in anything even remotely resembling a compromising situation.

Still, the reassurance was nice, and she was quick to give her sister a thankful smile. "I'll try, Shiraz; I always do. And what would make you think that there was something bothering me?" She had never been good at dissembling, being far too serious by half, and anxiety had crossed her face without her even realizing it. The truth was, she did have a great deal on her mind; after her run-in with Kaiya, she hadn't had a single moment of peace! However, she wasn't sure if that was something she wanted anyone to know, not even her sister.