After her trip to the Commons (and that strange meeting with Fahrenheit), Impa had returned to the Peak with the intention of spending time with Mouse. But the grulla mare had a filly now, and a blue roan mare with fat white spots seemed to keep close company with the stocky mustang. Impazienza hadn’t dared to impose her company upon the three and, still unsettled by the matter of Aliyana, had kept mostly to herself for the past couple of days. She hadn’t avoided anyone as she grazed her way across the far slope, but neither had she sought anyone out. The throbbing in her right ear had faded, although she could still feel the bruises on her shoulder and barrel from her fight with the rapist in the Savanna. All in all, Impa felt good.

She was on her way to converse with Anath around midmorning when she heard the General’s call cut the air, and she snorted. Great minds thought along similar trails, she supposed. The blanketed mare picked up her feathered hooves to a trot. As she’d been on the far side of the Peak, she didn’t arrive until after a handful of other mares. Impa approached the group, careful to keep everyone on her right, and ran her good eye over those standing there. She only recognized Mouse, the grulla’s filly, and Anath. Among the others was a silver grulla and a red filly, the blue roan tobiano she’d seen from a distance with Mouse, and a pale mare splashed with blue. Aliyana and her filly were conspicuously absent, but Impa gave the palomino mare the benefit of her doubt. The Peak was a large territory for so few, and it was possible that Aliyana was on her way.

The half-blind mare uttered a whicker in greeting to Mouse. If both of her sides had not both been occupied, Impa would have gone to stand beside her. Instead, the hefty blanketed mare placed herself on the right side of the General, both to keep a familiar and trustworthy mare in her blind spot and to block the golden mare should Anath’s temper rise again. Hipshot and comfortable, Impa directed her attention to those she did not recognize and introduced herself. “I’m Impazienza, though you’re welcome to call me Impa.”