If Oswin were younger her brash, bold, loud attitude may’ve driven Anath up a wall (even if it had been a bit amusing). She felt adrenaline tap her veins as the older mare spoke of the Peak’s agency, echoing Oswin’s own words muttered years ago to her Code Breaker. Remembering her dampened Oswin’s excitement and quieted her spirit, making her look off to the far away distance and up into the blanket of countless stars. Macabre.

Macabre had been one of the sister’s who believed most in Oswin, and Oswin hadn’t been here to stand by her side and fight with her when she died in the war. That pain was one that could almost bring tears to Oswin’s eyes, but she blinked them away quickly and drew a small breath as she looked back at her current company. The ghosts of the past should be put to rest there, for tonight. She and Anath were looking at the future, and Oswin tried to point her attention completely that way.

“I feel like the Peak has always been there for the marginalized. When mare’s couldn’t fight for themselves, the sisters stood up to fight for them. We should do that still, just… not only in favor of mares, but stallions too, and in recognizing that mares themselves who lead territories could be tyrants. We should still fight for those who can’t fight for themselves, for one reason or another.” She paused and frowned as she glanced off. Already she and Anath had talked quite late into the night and the walk up the mountainside had not been easy.

But if the legend could humor Oswin for one last tale… there was a reason Oswin was so passionate about constantly seeking to dispense justice. Tonight seemed the perfect night to tell that story.

“When I was about a year old I found out my mom had a child before me. She refused to talk about him and became over-emotional when I asked, forbidding me to ever speak of him again. I found him when I was older and she and my father left the islands.” Oswin frowned. “He told me the truth. Told me he was a product of force-breeding and our mother wanted to kill him as a foal, even tried a few times, but his aunts stopped her from doing so. When I found my dam again, I asked her about it. I was older, and she knew I wouldn’t give up until she explained everything. She…” Oswin’s throat tightened and she shook her head. “What she went through was horrific.”

At times, Oswin wondered if she should have been so fired-up and insistent that her mother tell her. But she had been young and angry and bold and filled with too many emotions. She’d hated seeing her brother cry and she’d wanted to yell at her mother for blaming Nephilim for his conception, a thing he couldn’t help, and treating him so cruelly when she’d been so loving when raising Oswin. But then she had told Oswin how she was trapped for three days on Crossing Isle, not allowed to leave until she submitted to the stallion who bit and kicked and chased her into the trees and away from other horses who might help her.

Then, she told her that had all happened right after Oswin’s favorite story - after Dock had met Black Heart Machine.

I’m so sorry Mama… I didn’t… I didn’t know… She remembered crying, feeling horrible for constantly making her mom tell that story without ever knowing what horrors had followed.

Shhh, it’s okay… Her own mother’s voice was raw with tears as she tucked Oswin close, then breathed a gentle, warm breath on Oswin’s cheek, lips gently brushing her daughter’s pale forelock. You know though, that’s also the day I met your father. If I hadn't been there, maybe I would have never known him. I’d go through hell a million times so long as it meant I’d have him at the end of it.

Oswin blinked, clearing herself of the memory.

“But before that had happened she had met a mare from the Peak. Black Heart Machine. The way she described her always amazed me and I was just in awe of the mares of the Peak, who chose their own path and didn’t bend to the rules of the islands or what they were expected to be or do. I came from a large herd and though my father didn’t trade his daughters or expect us to leave, most of my sisters went on to join other herds with a stallion they chose and have foals on the other islands. So,” she glanced at Anath. “That’s why I joined the Peak. I wanted to be a part of something that would try and be there to stop those monsters in their tracks. I want us to help everyone, anyone on the islands that we can. We can’t hold any alliances, but maybe we can be some sort of…” She huffed and shook her head, “I don’t know. Some sort of law of the islands.”

oswin
this is as brave as I know how to be.
I know it’s gonna hurt you, but please… be a little proud of me.