few of the original bachelors she had won from the lagoon still actually resided at the peak. over the years, božena had granted some their freedom and let others disappear altogether. it had been a small consolation prize, driving cullen’s horde from the southern part of the crossing all the way up to the rocky meadows of the peak… but that victory had never brought her sestra back, nor could it have. it probably had only further exacerbated the tension between the bachelors and peak mares instead of her end goal of bringing them together for a fresh start. still in all, Božena was not sorry she had done it.

nattergal was a problem she hadn’t known how to solve. only days before his disappearance she had planned to go to fearghas and see if he would agree to house the sullen colt. she could not release him altogether, for he could not even offer her the promise of causing no trouble for the sestry in the future. it had seemed like the best option for both, because his misery plagued her, and he clearly hated the peak. and then he disappeared.

she doesn’t know whether to feel relief or exasperation at the stubborn creature's absence. on one hand, she was happy to be rid of him, and on the other, it seemed unjust that he just make off without honoring any of the terms she had set for his release. life as the prime minister was too busy to chase after one bachelor, she decided, and from there Božena put him out of her mind.

as time passed, she had grown to know most of the bratry by appearance, if not by name. she always attempted to be cordial at least, if not familiar with them. still, she had not gotten to know most of them nearly as well as she would have liked to. bran had been so young upon his arrival but he was matured now, without the gangly coltishness he had been marked by. when he approaches her, Božena lifts her head from the meadow grass with surprise.

she is very much uncertain as to his thoughts about her. knowing that he was so close to nattergal, the prime minister had largely assumed that his feelings toward her would mirror his bratrs. disgust, hatred. but when her dark eyes fall on his sturdy form she is surprised not to see those emotions there. something else seems to hold him.

she had bristled, stiffening defensively at first at the assumption he would have little more to do with her than the petulant arguing nattergal had subjected her to, but when he speaks, the huge black mare softens. her convex muzzle bobs at his question, she knows of him, and with ceremonial politeness she extends her velvety maw to exchange breaths. she listens carefully, broad ears fixed upon the stallion at rapt attention.

the more he speaks the more she feels a blossom of shame opening in her heart. by assuming that he had always held the same opinion of her that his bratr had, she had let him down. she is ashamed too, that she had not thought of how nattergal’s sudden disappearance might affect him. though they were as good as strangers in some ways, Božena truly thought of the bachelors who had resided with the peak mares so long as part of the rodina, her family.

her own voice is steady and warm as she replies with thoughtfulness. ”Bran, i am sorry I haven’t spoken with you sooner. I know the loss of your bratr must be painful… i lost my family too once.” she had lost everything once… she pushes the thought away to focus on the task at hand. ”i had many reasons for bringing you all here so long ago… but perhaps I did not do exactly the right thing in exactly the right way. I am glad you have come to me.” it was more than she probably should have admitted, but it was clear he was open to such a dialogue where nattergal had not been. ”you are welcome here, bratr. as a friend. and when you are ready to go, i only ask that you promise not to bring harm to the sestry in the future. it is all I have asked of any of you who wished to leave.” she wants him to know this, to know that his brother could have taken his leave any time if he had only made such an oath.