all these countless nights

otem You'll remember me when the west wind moves upon the fields of barley You can tell the sun in his jealous sky when we walked in fields of gold I don't have to do anything, Otem wanted to say, but didn't. That was not the point of this conversation, and given that her Father had declined to respond to her mention of his large brood, she thought it wiser to drop the subject. What did she know, after all? Of course she thought that her mother had been the ideal choice for Volterra - for anyone if given the chance - but surely all little girls thought that? What did the pale mare know, anyways? She hadn't even been aware of all of Volterra's children. At least Isopia had. More or less. "A bit scrawny and not very tall. A black appaloosa, with a black horn that had a pale tip. When he made me bleed, a blue flower sprouted from it.." Otem paused at this. It had been so strange. "He said something about having to find his mother, even though he definitely looked full grown." Now Otem turned her eyes down, trying to look upon her wound in earnest this time. It stung and itched every time she moved, and now that it had incited her Father's anger she just wanted it to go away. Did any of their sun physicians make it through? And if they did, had they retained any of their magic? "Why would he tell me his name and then attack?" Otem asked after a moment of silent contemplation."That doesn't seem very clever."

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