It's like Rowena conjured the copper-colored mare from the strength of her memory alone, because when she opens her eyes again, there she is. However the years may have aged Macabre, the sight of her still fills Rowena with an overwhelming feeling of contentment. They may not have known each other well, but Macabre was Rowena's closest thing to family other than Vodnik, and after all that's come to pass, Macabre is all that Rowena has left.

As if the Ridge itself didn't conjure memories painful enough, the sight of this familiar old face pushes Rowena past a breaking point. Through waves of joy and agony black mare can't acknowledge how silly Macabre's question really is. All she can do is croak, "Yes."

And the tears begin to fall.

Rowena doesn't remember moving her legs, but somehow she finds her face pressed in the crook where Macabre's neck joins her shoulder. Heavy sobs shake her body.

The final confrontation between Vodnik and Circe happened months ago, but this is the first time she's cried about it. Rowena spent so much time alone, in shock and in denial. Coming here, seeing Macabre, and smelling all the foreign scents on the Ridge have suddenly made her parents' deaths, and her banishment from the coven so real. As much as she was taught to hate Vodnik, she couldn't. Instead she grew to understand him, even love him. As much as Rowena resents Circe for the hate that consumed her, she was still Rowena's mother, the mare that nurtured her and taught her so much. Rowena grieves for the both of them. And for the first time in her life, Rowena is completely and utterly alone, homeless and without purpose. It's terrifying.

A few deep gulps of air cease the sobbing. Rowena takes a step back and dries her tears in her feathers. Leveling one blood-shot eye with Macabre's, Rowena apologizes. Were her cheeks not covered in fur, they would be rising red. "I'm so sorry..." She feels like explaining but doesn't know where to start.