Božena descends like a thundercloud upon the gathering, bearing down from the higher slopes carefully. her steps are slow, pain and fatigue weighing heavily on her massive black body, but she draws ever closer. between her efforts in the war and the battle that had taken place in the lagoon, it would be some time before the mare was back to her usual self.

the stallion that perches below them is unfamiliar, not one of those she had shepherded from the murky southern territory of the bachelor herd. as she comes closer, easing down the rocky path to stand towering behind the three mares, her soft dark eyes appraise him warily. she does not interrupt his speech, only nodding her large convex head to acknowledge the group. he speaks compellingly, despite his cautiousness, explaining his reason for being there and his hope for the future with deftness of language that Božena herself could never hope to achieve.

she hears passion in his voice, and while she believes in much of what she says, and hopes to achieve such change, there is reason to pause her desire to side fully with the fair colored stallion.

he speaks of rodinas, families, being dismembered all the while crusading for freedom of their members. Božena saw the hardened truth to his words, knowing that some were indeed forced into lives they did not want to lead… but who were they, the leaders of the lagoon and the peak, to decide the fates of so many… to mold the young and shape them into what they desired… they would only be ripping the shackles of the herd life away to force their own cuffs upon the youth…

her large head tilts inquisitively, watching with intense curiosity as the shorter draft mare questions the stallion with a degree of intensity she hadn’t expected. though it was his son who had murdered her sestra, macabre, the towering black mare does not feel animosity toward the stallion. just as she hadn’t toward verrat. as the heavy mare finishes speaking, Božena clears her throat, eyeing her sestry, before directing her intense gaze at rade. though her accent is heavy, she speaks determinedly, addressing him but speaking to them all….”we have lost something dear to us, but we must move forward. it is I who brought the remaining bachelors to this mountainside. and for reasons you speak of. we must learn to stand beside one another and not against. no matter who our leaders are and what causes they stand for. she vaguely suggests the cause he seems to speak of, and the dangerous idea of taking away the liberty of the herds to run their families as they see fit. her deep brown eyes harden slightly, showing him a hint of the sternness that lay beneath, and she continues. ”i agree that we must work together. we must mend these divisions that have been sown over the seasons before now. but, in other matters, i disagree. we must not seek to tear all children away from their rodinas, their families…. we must seek out injustice as and if it occurs, and only then should we insert ourselves.” the massive black mare has offered her opinion, and can only wait eagerly to see what the rest of her company thinks.