He impatiently twitches his thick, wiry tail as he listens to her reasonings- her excuses- for not telling him on the beach. Because that is what they were to him, excuses for her to perpetuate her lies. ’It’s so damn difficult to explain,’ his eyes harden at horizon, agitation growing as Rexanna hems at telling the truth.

To the elephant, a man of action, this was maddening. The meager calm that had come over him fled, thick muscles twitching beneath his silvered buckskin coat. His jaw ticked as he waited in silence while she composed herself, her words, her truth. His ears relaxed, finally, no longer pinned against his head as he waited in vexed stillness.

He felt her teal eyes on him, just as she began to speak again. Her words of love, and the sounds of his name from her mouth pulled at him- tempted him to let this go. It would be easy. They could be lovers, he could have her to himself- he would have to have her with him at all times-

“I either became his prisoner or a free willed concubine.”

Rage. Red. His ears snapped forward and his head snapped to his gilded woman. Dark blue eyes sparked, his large form growing with radiated fury. It worsened as she furthered her explanation. He was barely contained inside his thick hide. Any woman, let alone his Rexanna, forced into an agreement such as this inside a land he had risked so much to journey to. A land that he so proudly resided in. Sharp edges of his large ebony hooves cut into the frozen earth beneath the snow, aching to obey his straining muscles and pummel whomever this sadist was.

“Sex slave?” His voice was deathly quiet, vibrating with suppressed wrath. She had finished speaking, standing before him. So small, so wilted- proudly ornamented face held so low. Shame etched it’s ugly, self-deprecating lines over her splendid body. He blew a single, hard breath out from his thick lips and took two large, swift strides towards her.

And he held her. Thick neck wrapping tightly- perhaps too tightly in his suppressed anger- around her withers. He held him to solace her, he held her to calm himself. “I think many things of you, Rex. ‘Sex slave’,” he spat the words, “is not near any of them,” his voice was reverberating from his chest, deep and just barely controlled. “You are beautiful. You are bright. You are-” the fury cut off his words.

“If anything like this happens again- anything,” he squeezed her, “You come to me, Rexa-“ he sees the approach of another equine “-anna.” He finishes his words, his command, and swings to face the oncoming stallion. He stands close to her, pressing his side against her, fury still lacing the hardened muscles of his stature. There is so much to this conversation, but it was being interrupted.

The winged unicorn might have impressed the elephant in a different setting. But Tembovu was too preoccupied to care presently. Giving the barest of nods, he recognizes the introduction of the unwelcome stallion, his body language- which was usually so welcoming- was incredibly unwelcoming at the moment. This feeling intensified in the air as the pegasus pointedly spoke to Rexanna and purposefully ignored himself.

Anger made him uncharitable to the newly appeared winged man, “A truly wise man need not proclaim himself as wise.” He looked down at the stallion, his ill contained ire making his form larger, towering, “As useful as you think yourself to be, I assure you that your wise talents will be more appreciated elsewhere.” His tone was clipped, cold, commanding. Much as if he were back to commanding soldiers, subordinates. He did not need- they did not need- a stallion who knew so sorely little about their predicament sticking his nose where it did not belong. Glowering, hard eyes stare down this ‘Alexander,’ waiting for his departure as he pushed his taunt body against Rex.

TEMBOVU

Beware the weight of a vengeful soul.