The colt responds to Rhadra's invitation with only a little hesitance. She sees the brightness of unshed tears in his eyes and murmurs soothingly to him as he comes near, reaching out to lip at his mane and nose comfortingly at his crest as he settles himself closely against Izzy. "You've been very brave today," she commends him quietly even as Izzy hunches her head like a turtle trying to retreat into its shell. Her trembling has slowed now that she is cozied between her mother and the stable frame of the colt, though occasionally a small shudder vibrates through her as adrenaline resists its replacement of calm. Rhadra keeps one eye and ear cocked on the chaos below, but the action is rapidly diminishing at the two mares succeed in driving the marauders out of the Peak. She transfers her gaze to the children as she continues in a soft, soothing voice, "Both of you did well. It is very brave to stand up to bullies, but it is also wise to know when it is best to run. I'm proud of you two."
Izzy's tears have slowed, and the longer the three stand unmolested the more relaxed she becomes. Sniffling, she props her chin up on the colt's white-blotched flank to survey the ledge they stand on with tired eyes. What had been an adventurous jaunt to the mountain's base had rapidly become a living nightmare. "Mama, can we go back to the lake?" she asks, flicking one ear back to hear her dam's response. The lake is high up the slopes and surrounded by a flower-filled field. The water is clear and blue and still and herons wade at the far end, sometimes. Collision might still be there, a stallion she has come to regard as her father, and she longs for nothing more than the knowledge of his strength at her back and those wide, empty fields all around them with no way for anyone to sneak up and ambush. She shudders again as tension tightens the colt's flesh under her muzzle, then turns to tuck her head against her mother's shoulder with her ears lying flat. "I wanna go home," she mumbles, eyes squeezed shut.
This is a marked change from the bold girl splashing in the creek, and it worries Rhadra. "Yes, dear. In a moment." The events of the day are sure to resonate strongly within her daughter —and this colt, who was just as much in the thick of it as the Vanners were— for days to come, maybe longer. Conscious of this, Rhadra reaches over to the boy who stands so stiff and contemplative beside them as he murmurs a vow she does not think is meant for her. Still, she noses his short mane aside and scratches her teeth gently against his neck to encourage calm as if he were her own son and says, "I think none of us will forget today. Not for a very long time. Come," she adds, nosing his tear-damp cheek. "Join us higher up the mountain, by the lake. It's beautiful there, and there's nothing quite like a nap in the sun near the water. Izzy has been bored to tears lately chasing her own tail— that's why we came down today. And how lucky we are to have found you," Rhadra smiles. "Which reminds me, we did not get a chance to finish introductions. Izzy, Rhadra, and...?" She gestures at her daughter and herself before pointing her ears expectantly toward the piebald colt.
rhadra