Çiçek listens with rapt attention, her expression contemplative. She thinks back: what has she been feeling? The mare was so caught up in her thoughts, lately, that the physical parts of her life took a back seat. She hadn’t been paying too much attention, and hadn’t noticed much, but now that she runs over the recent weeks with a fine-toothed comb...

Perhaps it wasn’t just the truth of the new limits upon her time here, or the explosion of colorful life, that kept her almost constantly roaming. Perhaps it was her newfound aversion to the way the salt on the cool sea breeze laced the plants along the coast, ruining their sweetness, or the strong urge to find whatever random fruits her dam had spoken of, to see if they tasted as good as they sounded (And which often lurked in the heart of the forest). Of course, the thick tree cover gave her ample privacy for all the bathroom breaks she’d started needing, and the spaces beneath them were a cool, dark place to rest during the afternoons following her sleepless nights. All of this could be waved away with some sort of other explanation, especially if each incident was happening separate from the others… but in context, thrown in at the same time, it sounds almost identical to Siobhan’s detailed descriptions. As she checks all of the boxes inside her mind, a grin spreads wide over her face, and she laughs again, brightness glimmering like sunlight within her.

“All of it, for weeks,” she confirms, “but I thought it was because -”

Now it’s Çiçek’s turn to pause. Her words come to an awkward halt, and she peers at Sio, tentative and curious once more. She has kept the secret of her and Solomon’s agreement completely to herself, holding it close to her chest… but her new friend has admitted she doesn’t see much of Rivaini or Faolain, and that they’re not quite close. Can she trust her with this information, too, like she does with the news of her possible pregnancy?

Çiçek isn’t one to go blindly into something, and she holds great faith in her instincts of self-preservation. This mare isn’t throwing up any warning flags. To be honest, the dun-striped girl is tired of keeping everything to herself, and she can’t think of anyone better than Siobhan to divulge to. “Sio,” she beckons, stepping closer and dropping her voice. Rivaini had a penchant for jumping out of random hiding spots, and while Çiçek loves a good game of nip-and-chase, this is one thing she doesn’t want her to find out secondhand. She wanted to tell her guardians directly, when the time was right.

“The thing is... my visitor rules over the Cove, on Tinuvel. The day he was here, we - I - made a promise…” Çiçek clears her throat, breaking eye contact to glance at the forest floor. Her voice is barely audible over the sounds of the life teeming all around them, though whether it’s affection or trepidation tempering her, she can’t quite tell. “Come Spring, when the snow thaws up North and the sea calms again, I will go to him, and stay there at least through the summer.” Her gaze focuses on Sio’s face now, searching for her reaction.

After a second, the anticipation gets to her, and the creamy mare points her head skyward, her voice more of a normal volume. “I just wish I knew for sure, you know? If I’m with child or not. The anticipation is so hard to handle.” It’s not like they were specifically planning for one, exactly, when she and the whitesplashed King had coupled on the beach, but a baby adds an entire extra layer of emotion into the mix. A baby would have complicated things further even if she was staying on Atlantis. If she’s going to need to worry about the life of a child, too, when travelling North, it would change her decision-making process entirely. “I’m ready for motherhood, I think, but I want to be as prepared as I possibly can be.”

“And maybe,” she says finally, her tones holding a rare twinge of sadness, “if there is a child involved, our Guardians won’t be as upset with me when I tell them of my plans.” Çiçek knows the value of growing up with both of your parents, knows how hard her family fought for even the possibility of it, and it’s what she wants for her own foals… even if it means she has to leave the place, and the horses, that were the first to claim at least partial ownership over her heart. What she has with Solomon, child or no, is worth exploring to the spotted mare, as well as the first island home of her ancestors. How she can convey that without coming off like she’s deserting them forever is what stumps her, keeps her up at night. No matter what happens - be it this child, another one, staying permanently in the Cove or heading back here or maybe, even, travelling elsewhere - one thing Çiçek will never do is forget this place, this Ridge with her little shadow and her stern firebrand and all the memories of her and her family’s past made real. As sure as the birds that flock to their shores each winter, so will she, for as long and as often as her guardians will have her.