The dangerous and unpredictable fire which had raged through the surly beast since that spring had eased into a somewhat manageable simmer with the arrival of winter; his volatile temper and pent frustrations calmer for a time at least. No longer did he feel quite so strong an urge for violence as an outlet for the anger that tended to well up inside him, though the temptation was truthfully never far away. The altercations he'd been a part of that summer and late fall had proven beneficial in a way as a buffer for the frustrations that ate at him, though each had provided their own respective downfalls and headaches.

It seemed that the both the Dale and the mares residing within it continued to draw the greedy eyes of those with a taste for power or lust. A mixture of stallions and mares alike felt the need to test his control and challenge the position he held. The battles fought against the horses, either literally or figuratively, appeared to come from all sides anymore... from a challenger wishing to shed his blood at the Summit to the conflicts that arose within the very heart of his harem, amongst his own mares. One very equine seeming to spearhead the movement.

Rhaego had not foresaw the outburst from the forest nymph; he didn't realize she had felt so wronged by something that he never believed was his fault, not entirely at least. They had once been... friends? Was that what it could be called? It was a connection the unlikely pair had forged through mutual interest and agreement, but somehow that connection had evolved over time, deepened so subtly that Rhaego hadn't fully noticed until it was ripped away. He'd grown to respect the dryad mare and her commitment to what she stood for; her loyalty to himself and the Dale. But since he'd retrieved her from the eternal winter forest after being stolen away, nothing had been the same. They had clashed - each of their tempers flaring in response to the other when they did happen to come face to face, but nothing had been so bad as the day that Talien and Baylor had arrived when Aileen's outrage had gotten so far beneath the burly stallion's skin that he had reacted with violence. Since that day, a steely and almost impenetrable silence thrived between them.

The mealy king had been greeted with a bitter coldness almost every time his path crossed with Aileen's, if he'd been greeted at all. Her hostility towards him only fanned his volatile temper and frustrations. Thus he'd found himself retaliating in his own passive-aggressive way by honoring her wishes not to see him. It would be better that way, because if she were to tear into him again as she had that one fateful day, he was reluctant to consider what might happen. The thought had crossed his mind that he would be much better off in the long-run if he simply chased her from the Dale - but discovering himself frustratingly unable to do that, Rhaego found his options severely limited. He couldn't run her out, he couldn't risk what might come from a confrontation, so to avoid her was the only option left as much as it irked him. If to be alone was what she wanted, then so be it... he'd give her just that. The mare had a way of pushing his buttons now more than ever and the raw irritation that she caused had proven to be a dangerous distraction. He'd slacked in the running of his harem, lost sight of the aspirations for more, and had settled into a dull and brooding routine of simply patrolling the rolling, open hills of his home. Let her have her precious forest to herself and see how long she lasted before she saw what he did for her, for her home. She'd come back to him eventually and all would be right again.

It had not been Rhaego's intentions, not in the least, that the white demon had taken advantage of his absence in the forest... yet the darker part of his mind saw justice in the event which transpired. Aileen had made it clear she did not want him around, well she got her wish. True he was not a bit pleased the ivory stallion thought it was fine to waltz in and plant his seed without consequence, but there would consequences, Rhaego vowed, perhaps not now but later. It had been later that the pangare stallion had learned of the trespassing and not till now that he knew for a fact something had indeed occurred.

The seasons were all wrong for breeding and birthing but there was no mistaking the scent of blood and afterbirth that lingered on the crisp night air. A blanket of snow layered the ground beneath the stallion's hooves as they carried him through the darkness towards the origin of the scents in a rarely travelled section of the forest. He walked slowly, heated breaths looking like smoke rising from his nostrils in the ambient light cast by the snow and night sky. The burly beast arrived upon the location of the birth and stopped short, the scent of blood and death assaulting his senses and causing his nostrils to wrinkle and ears to flatten immediately. Aileen was no longer there, but the still body of the foal she had expelled lay there untouched amidst the bloody and trampled snow. Holding the expression of distaste, Rhaego stepped slightly nearer to inspect the body. The figure was ill-formed and never would have stood a chance at survival had she been born alive. The color was difficult to discern in the lighting and through the afterbirth that remained over the body, but one trait was easily recognizable in the foal and that was the wings. Rhaego snorted harshly and pawed the ground - fortunate for the child that it had been born dead. The stallion turned abruptly and walked off from the scene of death with haste. His path followed that of the forest mare's without a second thought, not to confront or apprehend her but to see how she faired. There'd been a concerning amount of blood in the snow that drove him to want to see her. The lethargic pace had not gotten her far, yet the stallion paced himself uncertainly behind her, mindful of the last few times that they 'spoke' and unwilling to incur her wrath... not tonight. It felt like too much to hope that anything had changed between them, so once he saw that she was well enough - not in need of assistance or a healer - the stallion would take his leave and once again leave her to her own devices once more.