Conquistador didn't realize he'd been holding his breath until it rushed past his lips in a sigh of relief. Though he is determined to speak only the truth to Sahin, he had not been certain how the stallion would perceive his words. Whether he would conclude that the reason Conquistador is determined to leave is because there is nothing to hold him here - that he would prefer the company of complete strangers to the herd that has cared for him over the course of his childhood. Instead, Sahin assures the colt that he will always be welcome in Paradise, that it can always be his home. And he knows that it always will be; wherever the journey of his life may lead him, his heart will always belong here.

With lighter, livelier steps, Conquistador follows the spotted stallion onto the sandbar. Both wind and water swirl around him as he is submerged up to his thighs in the sea; conflicting currents war beneath the deceptively calm waves. And in their center stands the palomino colt, briefly torn between the gentle tug of waves that would lead him back to shore, and the insistent strength of the riptide that sought to carry him away. But then he stops to stand beside Sahin, so close that their matching golden coats meet, and the stallion's body shelters him from the brunt of the tides' battle.

After a moment spent in companionable silence, Sahin begins to speak again. And as the colt listens to the offer he extends to his young charge, a flood of warmth fills his chest, and the icy fingers of despair loosen their hold on his heart. The stallion's words paint a picture of hope - for surely Rade could not stand against them both. He could share the burden of his secret with the man who was more than a father to him, and they could bear it together. And he could stay.

It is all Conquistador can do to curb his excitement, and choose his next words as carefully as he had chosen his first. "Sahin, I - I don't know what to say. I would love to stand beside you as your second." The boy falls silent for a moment, sorting through the snarled chaos of his thoughts and emotions to brace himself for what he knows must be said. "But it wouldn't be fair of me to accept your offer unless I was as honest with you. You know that I was brought here by my brother - but I don't know if Xina ever told you of his intention to return for me. She suspects that he will stop at nothing to bring me back with him."

He inhales a deep breath of the briny air to steady the quaver of fear that has stirred in his breast, and continues. "I don't want to go, but neither do I want to see any of my family come to harm...not even Rade. Whatever else he might be, he is my brother, and he not only saved my life, but also brought me to the place that has become my home. I- I don't know what to do," Conquistador admits, casting a shamed glance at the stallion beside him. It isn't easy for him to admit how helpless he feels in the face of his uncertain future; the colt has been taught by Xina to conceal any signs of weakness.

But the bay roan who is his mother in all but blood is vulnerable in her own way - she is a prideful creature, slow to trust and determined to stand on her own. Conquistador is different; his early weakness had taught him that sometimes, it was necessary to borrow another's strength in order to learn to stand alone.