Her misunderstanding leads slowly to another misunderstanding of his - the two of them having differing insecurities that were ripe for the misinterpreting. Her, that he thought her capable of fighting like Harlequin or like so many other mares. He, that he was believed to have shirked his duty or done anything she had disapproved of. Of course she did not assume he NEEDED her to fight, but she had not heard him counter the other mares in their belief a fighter was required for the position. It hadn’t even occurred to her to think of Galexia since she’d left their Desert.

"There has only been one time that I have failed to fight for my herd and I take sole blame for that. When the young mare, Galexia, claimed the desert, I knew I should have challenged....but I couldn't fight her. For one, she was pregnant. I couldn't forgive myself if something happened to the foal. And second, she was young, the same age as my first daughter, Paisley, who I've only seen once since she was a filly. Galexia reminded me too much of her and I couldn't bring myself to harm her. If her mate had stepped up, I would gladly have challenged him but I couldn't fight her. That's why Melisma stepped up to do it...cause I failed in that regard."

It is about there that she realizes their mistakes - her own and his. Berit shakes her head, but he continues before she can say anything. "I would never want someone to put themselves or their children at risk. I would always put myself between them and danger. I always will." Her promise comes in an earnest desire to express her affection for him. "But I think you misunderstood my misunderstanding. I did not think this because of your honor - I would have been distraught if you had fought a foal-laden mare. You would not be the man I fell in love with… I simply thought you believed as the others believed… that a Lead Mare is no good unless she is a fighter." It is her turn to smile sheepishly, "It seems my insecurities only became better at hiding - they are not yet gone."

"Maybe you should make sure the other mares know these thoughts as well. They took from your words that you weren't interested in the position at all, not that it meant something different to you. I believe you would make a fine lead mare, Berit. You know it's not my decision to make, in the end. I made it this way to make it the most fair I possibly could, so everyone could be in agreement and there would be no resentment." Her eyes widen, between her explanation of her misunderstanding and the sentiment on what she believed made a Lead Mare -- he had stunned her with his response to them.

"I believe you would make a fine lead mare, Berit."

Her face seems almost stuck in the surprise, having thought that he might not have felt that… no, she should have known better. He had never discouraged her. How could she have thought he’d say anything but that he believed her to be a fine choice in whatever she pursued? "I would want no position that was not mine by earning it. My method of leading is one that requires the trust of those who I’d lead, after all. You cannot bequeath me anyone else's trust but your own" Inside her a change happens in that moment, for the first time since he’d have started trying to improve her own self-image. Not a discarded mother to a fallen Lead Stallion. Not an interloper interrupting the women of Cain’s herd and heart. Not a hanger-on.

But they adjust topic and she allows that steadiness of intention take root in her belly. She would speak to the others soon. For now, of course, they move on and he exposes a small insecurity of his own beyond his choice not to fight Galexia. She gives suggestions, earning her a smirk in his growing better humor and making her chuckle. Then his mind wanders and there is no small bit of her heart that takes his downcast expression as a wound to her heart. "I think you're right. I just hope I can get to them in time….. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to let my thoughts wander off, there."

"You have seen such losses, Cain. Taken everything that life has thrown at you and kept your sorrow and mistrust in yourself inside." She feels the warmth of him emanating out to her and sidles her steps so that she could press herself alongside him. Her gold eyes still remain shy, perhaps only just a little coy, but her muzzle traces the skin of chest and shoulder with a small graze of teeth across the muscle as she drew the thick muscle of her neck in tight. "If you will lay your insecurity on me, I will do the same. If you will take your comfort in me, then I will take mine in you." And in that moment, she is sure she does not only mean the emotional comfort that the words meant on the surface. "If we are each others, then neither of us will ever be a failure, right?".