The pale roan mare looked shocked at Şahin’s suggestion, but she agreed to it readily enough, even if her response was barely audible. He was grateful for that. He had no other ideas about how else to keep the boy safe without isolating him entirely— and that was not a healthy or desirable solution to a future problem, as it would only cripple the boy socially and reinforce the idea that the world and the horses within it were something to be feared.

Xina stepped forward and it was Şahin’s turn to be shocked as she reached toward him, her motions hesitant as if she expected rejection (or was still wary of his own integrity). The Nez Perce held himself very still and twisted an ear toward her, angling his head slightly to keep her fully in his wide range of sight. His breathing was still shallow, his motions deliberate but relaxed as if he were in the company of a highly skittish horse. In a way it was true, he thought, and he had a hunch that she was about to do something that would change the nature of their relationship— for the better, he hoped.

Şahin felt her hot breath and the soft press of her muzzle against his shoulder, followed by the familiar-yet-unfamiliar sensation of her blunt teeth dragging lightly against his skin, and his breathing relaxed to something more regular. Grooming. An intimate, companionable, wonderfully social behavior, and the stubborn mare had initiated it. There were layers to Xina, and Şahin felt he was finally being shown the first or second layer that lay beneath the horse she showed to the world. He wondered how deeply he would have to dig to find her trust. Afraid to hesitate in case Xina withdrew, the stallion extended his own head and set his teeth behind her withers to groom her with short, consistent scratches.

For awhile he was content to enjoy the grooming in silence, but he didn’t want to part company without asking Xina about the bedraggled stallion he and Mera had encountered on the Crossing. “When I took Mera to the Falls,” he said, lifting his head enough to speak clearly. His lips still brushed her skin, and his tone was conversational, but his heart beat a little harder as he recalled that encounter and the anxiety it had produced in him. “A stallion approached us, and he knew your name. Said Mera reminded him of you.” He’d also said he was looking for home, the Shore, but it had been so long ago that Şahin had first met Xina and Mera that he couldn’t recall where the bay roan and her daughter had lived before. “He seemed a little touched in the head so I took Mera away from him— where did the two of you live again, before coming here?”

He was very interested in her reply but equally afraid that this might not have been the best circumstances to bring the subject up in. Şahin resumed his grooming and hoped she would not run off to investigate anything all by herself. For all that she lived in Paradise, Şahin thought Xina had a hard time considering herself a part of the herd, and therefore entitled to the protection, safety, and support that such a social structure offered.