Joy at the birth of his son was overshadowed by concern for his daughter.

Şahin walked the beach and searched the waves —an activity he had been far too busy to keep up with given how busy his life had become. He didn’t realize how refreshing it was until now as he looked for signs of his daughter in the water or on the sand. It had been quite awhile since Şahin had seen Mera. Once they had returned to Paradise from the Falls, the two had parted ways. The Nez Perce assumed his daughter wanted time to herself, given that she was newly matured, but as time stretched on he began to doubt the reasons for her absence from his life.

What if she had taken offense to his moment of control in the Falls, when they were faced with that unkempt stallion who knew her mother’s name? Şahin focused on the press of his hooves in the wet sand and the tide that swirled up and around his hocks with a rhythmic consistency. There had been moments when his thoughts of her were not strictly paternal, but —no, he’d suppressed and hidden those until all he thought of when he saw his daughter was exactly that: his daughter. It wasn’t likely she had ever picked up on those given how few and far between they were. Şahin would like to think Mera would have approached him about it rather than avoided him if that had been a concern of hers.

He shook out his mane and stopped to let the tide wash over him. The water felt cleansing. He flared his nostrils and inhaled deeply, taking in the warm, briny scent of his home and forcing his body to relax. He missed Mera. He could not even consider what it would mean for him when she finally left to find a herd of her own, hopefully with a stallion who was good to her and mares who accepted her easily into their family. For whatever reason the fates had refused to grant him a daughter born of his own blood and body during his time on the Islands, or a relationship with either of the two foals he had sired. Şahin did not even know if they were alive. Mera was the first child he’d had a chance to raise here, and she could not have come to him at a better time. The peppy buckskin roan had saved him.

Şahin closed his eyes and exhaled.