With each and every step, Najya felt lighter.

She hadn't realized just how heavy the burden had been until she had been able to lift some of it from her shoulders. It surprised her just how desperately she had needed someone to listen, to understand, to care - or in the very least give the illusion of all three.  Who would have thought that the one that would help her slip her troubles from her shoulders would have, quite literally, dropped from the skies.  If someone had tried to tell her this is what the future held, there's only a remote chance she would have put any real credence in their words.  

What were the chances that the first person she had, quite literally, run across would have been someone genuine, someone who seemed to have and honest concern (and interest) in to the circumstances that had brought her to the present. 

"Thank you, for…listening."  She pauses, collecting herself. "And understanding.  It helps.  Really. It does.  I understand nowhere is safe from conflict, I suppose I just found myself overwhelmed."  She hoped that Mesec was right, that her actions would not come to be a reflection of who she truly was.  She wasn't a coward - she didn't want that to become her legacy here.  Troubled yes, but a coward? No.  But she could take comfort in the fact that this stallion had not judged her.  

When the conversation turned to him, things changed quickly.  Najya watched as Mesec's smile faded into something else.  A twinge ran through her chest at the idea of causing him discomfort.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have pressed."  She gently reached out to touch his shoulder with her muzzle, as she recognized the war of emotion in his eyes.  She regretted making him uncomfortable when he had just done the opposite for her.  "Maybe one day you'll feel you can tell me, Mesec."  She felt comfortable in assuming that she would see more of him in the future to make such a statement, and continued.  "I've heard many stories in my time, and not all are easy to hear - or to tell, but that doesn't deprive them of their worth. Whatever the history, it got you to now.  The stallion who stops for half-crazed women fleeing from their problems and offering help.  How terrible of you."  She offered a small smile and bumped his shoulder again, playfully this time. 

"So no.  You're not going to scare me off," she answered, echoing his lighthearted tone.   His words seemed to come out in a rush, so Najya gave him a few moments to collect his thoughts - but in doing so found she needed a few to collect her own.  After being so kind to her he also was willing to offer sanctuary in his home.  Before she could truly process the thoughts, the words spilled from her lips. "You would offer me a home, truly?"  She did her best to keep the surprise out of her voice, but was sure it was one of about a dozen easily discernible emotions in her voice.  Surprise.  Excitement. Hesitation.  Happiness.  She took a breath.  Then another. 

"I've heard of your Dragon's Throat."  And she had, upon first stepping into this place, and it had tempted her then too.  Now it was even more appealing, for a variety of reasons.  "But I have not heard of this magic bridge,"  she added, curiosity getting the better of her. 

"We had a legend about the desert from my homeland.  My people once believed that the giant dunes of the desert were the giant spines on the back of the dragon pushing up through the earth and that we all lived along the great dragon's spine.  Perhaps whoever named your lands had a similar reason for choosing such a name?"  She paused, her question was more rhetorical than anything, but she does wonder - as she often does - if there is an answer buried somewhere. 

"Regardless, I'd very much like to see it."  With that, she offered him the biggest smile yet - one she couldn't keep from reflecting in her eyes. 

"By the way, who have you hidden up there," She asked, peering over his folded wing.  She had heard something decidedly un-equine hiding up there.  Perhaps this was a secret that Mesec was willing to reveal.