I sat among the desert heat, my barrel already beginning to show signs of the child that was growing within me. I was extremely happy to be having another child with Eli as Adelaide had convinced me that not all children were as much trouble as my first born but I felt something ominous approaching. I wasn’t sure how far off it was but in a passing thought I would feel troubled, and though I could not distinguish was sort of trouble was on the horizon I just simply pushed the ideas away so Eli and my daughter could not see. I didn’t want to make them worry.

I gazed up at the sun as it hung in the sky. It was strange how simmering the land was even with the season of winter approaching. I gazed towards the horizon where a collection of mountains huddled together in the distance. Surely the cold weather must be wage there. I missed seeing the snow somewhat, but I did enjoy not having to feel the nasty bite of winter’s chill. Of course I am not saying that the deserts excruciating heat was any better but if I had to pick between the two the heat was the way to go.

I had not seen Eli or Adelaide yet today and I was growing weary for some company. My dark eyes scoured over the land searching for either of their forms. There weren’t that many bodies milling around much these days. I hadn’t seen any other mares lingering about the terrain in quite a while, nor stallions for that matter. It was a shame as I always like to have a little bit of company but times have been hard as of late and I knew that the competition for mares were growing fierce. I had noticed the amount of stallions that lurked in the commons each time Adelaide and I visited to get away from the dry heat of the desert. It seemed that stallions were out numbering the mares and it was a bit discerning knowing that soon my baby girl would be old enough to be picked off by one of those brutes and I never wanted what happened to me to happen to her.

My mind flashed back to that one fateful evening and I flinched, quickly pushing the thoughts away. It seemed like another life time ago now, a dream maybe, but I knew that my older daughter who was the product of that rape still lingered somewhere out among the islands and she was the one thing that kept me tied to that night. I hadn’t seen my eldest daughter still since the day she had left but I had heard of her staying on the island of Tinuvel with a nice young stallion whose name escapes me now. I miss her dearly though I imagine she doesn’t miss me one bit, and I think of her often but I refuse to go to her and risk compromising her happiness with my presence. I have finally resolved that it is better this way, us being apart, and I try not to dwell on it too much and think of my younger daughter who openly loves me and her new little brother or sister who I hope will do the same.