The silence bothered her. It wasn't that the Peak was the most lively of any land; the harsh mountains made idle wanderers unlikely and often encouraged members to keep to the parts of the cliffs that they knew well. Still, the absence of Bane and the other sisters in the wake of Kolfinna's captured was hard to ignore. Somedays it felt like she was the only one left, carrying a flag that she was the only one that still cared about.

She could not help but smile as Oswald turned toward her. She had always regarded the sweet little colt as if he were one of her younger brothers, and his presence had kind of become the anchor she needed in the wake of Iscariot's disappearance. Being a big sister had always been her favorite part of life in the Ridge, and being alone that first year in the Peak had made her feel empty inside. In retrospect, she wondered if this attachment had been part of her anger at Oswin's decision to send little Ozzy to the Lagoon, but she kept that thought to herself. Whether it was that the prior Prime Minister had seen the logic in her words or for some other unknown reason, Oswald had remained in the Peak where he belonged.

"Ozzie," she greeted warmly as she helped to close some of the distance between them, scuffing the grass noisily with her hooves to give him an indication of where she was. "Of course you can," she responded with a small chuckle to his question and did her best to ignore the chime of guilt in her breast that he'd even felt the need to ask.

"Who said you could get so tall?" She chided playfully as they settled into position, stretching her neck up so that she could tousel the thick forelock he wore. In many ways, she hated the way he was growing to resemble his father, but she knew beyond a doubt that parentage did not equate to behavior. Oswald was sweeter than she believed Tyr had ever been, and could not foresee her gentle pseudo-brother ever becoming as hardened as the Lagoon's general.

"How have you been? Keeping up with your little sis?" Given the tension between Roisin and Oswin, the dun had not gotten as close to Oswin's daughter as she had to her son. She remained friendly, of course, and was more than happy to engage her in some sort of play or conversation, but she always felt the heavy cloud of conflict that came anytime she was near the Prime Minister.