Oswin no longer left the top of her Peak. She was far removed from herself as she had ever been and, in truth, lost in knowing how to get back to herself. Oswald and Filumena were old enough that they didn’t need to keep her company and their growing intrigue about the world couldn’t keep them tethered. They wanted to be down in the foothills, walking Crossing Isle and getting their first tastes of the world away from their mother’s watchful eye. Too, she had to imagine it wasn’t easy for the children to be around her as much. As loving as she was with them, Oswin was far more quiet and somber than she had ever been. If the children tried to ask, she brushed them off. There were things she didn’t want them to know. Thoughts she had that she needed to keep them spared from.

The first time she stirred from the top of the Peak in seasons was because of the sounds of a fight drifting up from the ground below. Curiosity pulled her down the path, though there was no haste to her steps. By the time she reached the flat ground the dust had settled, the fight was clearly done, and she frowned in confusion at the sight in front of her. There was Clarity, Fishbone, and a stallion she didn’t know…

You look lonely, little dove…This rock is barren. I'll keep a bed warm for you in the Hills

Her stomach rolled with disgust immediately, pale ears flicking back and flattening against her poll. While she sulked up at the top of the Peak another vulture had come to pick at the weak target of a quiet, empty place. It always happens this way, doesn't it?

Guilt might have touched her later but for now it was anger. Oswin’s blue eyes flashed as she strode into the clearing, lifting her chin and giving the stallion a very pointed glare. Neither of these sisters had stepped forward to support her continued cause as Prime Minister, but Oswin held no quarrel with them for it. Her current withdrawal was a personal crisis, not one of anger toward her sisters.

“What does Marceline want with a Peak mare as her captive?” Despite the rage burning hot in her belly, Oswin managed to ask the question she needed to know. She doubted Marceline had asked him to fetch Fishbone specifically, as the mare hardly left the Peak as far as Oswin knew… then again, since she’d withdrawn into herself, how much had she missed what was going on?

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.