The last of his misgivings melted away as the other stallion spoke, one word in particular resounding through the chaotic whirl of his thoughts. Children. Conquistador knew what it was to be born without a home; the first few months of his life had been spent wandering at his mother's side, seeking the place that had been promised to them. Searching for the island of Atlantis. By the time the colt had found its shores, however, his family had been scattered to the winds. I would have died if Rade had not come for me, the young stallion abruptly remembered. When vengeance mattered most to Debonaire, my brother thought only of my well-being. No matter what has become of him, he will always be the blood of my blood.

With a wrenching effort, Conquistador redirected his mind from the past and back into the present. "I am sorry to hear it," the solid palomino spoke slowly, buying himself time to gather the wayward strands of his thoughts. "It is a cruel thing to tear a home from its family." Or to tear someone from their home, a voice whispered silently in the shadows of his mind. The younger stallion resisted the impulse to pin his ears at the reminder, and focused instead on Braylen's face - the ghost of a smile, the dark edges of concern that it concealed, obvious only to Conquistador because they matched his own. He couldn't help but feel that their meeting was more than coincidence - that there was some truth or purpose to the other's arrival in the twilight of his own life in Paradise.

Our home was lost - my children - Suddenly, Conquistador understood. Paradise had served as a sanctuary to him in his childhood, shielding him from the worst of the world. And if it could serve another the same way - if it could ease the worries of a father and the suffering of a family - he could think of no worthier cause to yield it to.

"We are not so different, you and I," the tawny stallion began, his tongue heavy beneath the weight of truth. How could he hope to make a stranger understand his sacrifice? "Though my coming exile is by choice, what else could I have done? The bachelors took her from me - stole the one who holds my heart. And as one boy against countless men, I could not hope to win her freedom in a fight, so I - I traded mine for hers." For a moment, brown eyes met blue directly, and then they slipped away again, grasping for the small details he would take with him when he left - the curve of an ivory shell erupting from the sand, the shadows of circling gulls.

"I leave for the Lagoon when the sun sets," Conquistador continued. "And when I go, I want you to stay. Make this your home, as it once was mine - bring your mares, and build your family. And should you ever need help protecting them, I will stand at your side - even against my new brothers." It was a dangerous vow to make, but the young stallion would not break it. He had failed his own family once; he could not stand silently by as another was torn apart by the bachelors' whims.