Summer was slowly crawling to its end and autumn coming to greet it. The close of the season meant many things, but two stuck out to her in particular. For starters, Oswin understood she needed to avoid Tyr during Fall at all costs. If her sisters voted to keep her as Prime Minister rather than tell her to step down, Oswin couldn’t become pregnant and locked to Crossing Isle again. Her new plans needed her to remain an active force, an example for her other sisters.

She still did not know what the answer for the Peak was, but she was quickly coming to understand it wasn’t the brutish force she’d been trying to apply before. They needed to be more transparent. More open about who and what they were. They needed herd leaders to understand they were not a threat to the herd's life. They needed everyone to understand they wouldn’t stand for injustice.

The second, of course, was the chance that she could not be Prime Minister after her sisters took their vote. What would she do if each one of them turned against her? Could she blame them? It wasn’t spoken aloud but was far too obvious Oswin was in bed with an influential Lagoon leader. Surely it wasn’t just Roisin who took issue with this. Maybe they all did and Oswin wasn’t the wiser.

Gracefully accepting her sisters telling her they thought her unfit to lead them would be a blow, but it was one she was trying to prepare herself to suffer. She hoped she wouldn’t have to.

The sight of an unknown mare caught her eye, standing at the base of the Peak. She whinnied out to her and changed direction to head her way, reaching out to share breaths once she was close enough. “It can be a dangerous climb if you don’t know your way up,” Oswin gestured toward the inclined path that would eventually flatten out to the impressive summit of the Peak. “If you’d like a guide I’d be more than happy. I’m Oswin, Prime Minister of the Peak.”

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.