Her right ear still throbbed dully from her fight with the rapist in the Savanna, and she felt her muscles pull against deep bruises on both her barrel and shoulder, but as Impa emerged from the ocean on the shores of the Crossing she could not say she hurt too much. If anything, she felt as if she’d delivered more pain than she’d received, although only Styrke would know for sure. Still, it inflated her pride to think she’d succeeded in what she had set out to do, and so the heavy blanketed mare returned to her Peak with her head held high and her ears forward. Every so often, the right one would give a twitch as if to dislodge the lingering pain.

Impa did not travel far beyond the border once she’d crossed into the territory of independent women, and instead turned to view the mare and filly she’d rescued from Styrke before the trio had even reached the base of the mountain. She wanted to talk to the mare before they joined the rest of her sisters, and to give the filly a chance to rest as well. The ocean had been unusually placid during their swim, and for that she was thankful. If Impa hadn’t been so intent on getting the mare and foal to safety, away from the rapist, she never would have driven them the way she had. There hadn’t been time to waste on Luthien to answer any questions or explain herself, and so she stopped now where they were not likely to be disturbed so that she could speak with the palomino mare.

“Welcome to the Peak. My name is Impazienza,” she said, and smiled, though she was certain that the conversation ahead of her was not going to be a pleasant one. She didn’t even know if the mare she had taken had been in Styrke’s herd, or if the filly was his daughter. Maybe she should have tried to save more— there had been other mares in the Savanna, not just this one. Impa cocked a hind hoof and rested the tip on the soft soil beneath the grass. “I’m sure you’re wondering why I’ve taken you and your daughter away from the Savanna. The painted stallion I fought, Styrke, is a rapist, and by bringing you here, I have removed you and your daughter from immediate danger.” Her voice was steady as she spoke, and Impa kept her eyes on the mare to gauge her reaction to what she was being told.