She does not look at him when he questions why she would think such a thing. Can he really blame her for thinking such? She might have elaborated for him but he quickly filled the short silence between them. She had not realised how much relief she would feel to hear that it was not her fault that Fantazer and Zhenya had been ripped away from them. In all honestly, she had not truly thought Lyden would be so cruel but it set her mind at ease to hear it all the same. While she partly agreed with his sentiment regarding Zhenya, she still has to wonder if a taste of a well-functioning herd and strong ties might have changed the mare’s mind.

She cannot quite grasp his thoughts of Fantazer however. The way she see it, he did have another choice; to keep his mares in the forest and leave Caesisus in the bay until he found another mare to trade or came up with another form of negotiation. Stallions can be partial to trades of future offspring. She cannot understand where the urgency lay – after all, given her brief encounter with Soljor, he is not a cruel stallion. Caesisus had not been in any imminent danger, not from anyone but herself anyway. So why was Lyden without choice?

He goes on to explain his reasoning behind Sophia’s trade but she had never really been a part of the herd so Jörmungandr has little opinion on the matter. The mare seems nice enough and she would not have minded to get to know her better but as she bares some of the same ancestry as Lyden, it is better she resides with another herd. He spoke of getting Fantazer back and she turned her head back so that she could look at him once more. ”If the opportunity arises and she is keen and it does not put the rest of the herd in danger then I believe we should try as hard as we can to get her back. I do not wish to poke sleeping lions though. If such an action is likely to cause trouble then we must think of the needs of the whole family and not just one individual as difficult as that is.”

Her explains his need to bring the perlino here and still she does not fully understand despite trying. She has heard of inexplicable, inate bonds but has never experienced that herself; perhaps that is the problem. It seemed Lyden put his feelings for Caesisus above his priorities for the rest of herd. She wants to tell him that he could have waited, that they could have found another way. She wants to tell him that he should have consulted her first, perhaps she could have provided another answer. She wants to say she understands where Soljor was coming from; how would Lyden feel if she did the same as Caesisus with another stallion? Ripping a loved member of the herd away only continued to set Caesisus off on the wrong foot. She does not tll him any of this though and merely listens as he continues.

The knot in her stomach lifts at his apology and she cannot hide the smile that briefly flashes across her lips. He finally understands! All the mares she had regarded harshly had turned up without her knowledge while Lyden knew them well. When presented with the same situation, where he did not know the mare either, he had the same reaction although some of that might have been down to the scent of the peak on Impazienza’s skin. ”I am just pleased you understand now. I do not mean to be harsh but there are a great many threats all around us. I just want our family to be safe and happy.”