The red stallion knew little of sickness. He did not know that his mother had been plagued by such an unseen beast, and that before his father had ended her meagre life, she had been sick and dying anyways. Vercingetorix did not know that the woman would not have been able to stand and feed him, and perhaps he should have been doomed to die as well- had his father not intervened.

He did not know that the dark skinned brother of the bay had fallen ill, for he had never seen the colt. While Yscha had taken part in displaying the boy like he was a trophy, it seemed as though the false mother of the twins had not bothered to bring them to gatherings. For some time he had wondered on and off if they had perished, or perhaps if they had disappeared with the sabino mare- until Costello had decided to poke her nose into the aggregation earlier. Even now, he wonders why she has stayed, knowing that she has almost reached maturity and that soon it would be time for the red dun to drive her brother away from the herd thanks to the strong instincts to keep any and all males away from his companions, and he assumed that Costello would be going with him.

Instead, as she moves to avoid his gaze, Vercingetorix ducks his head in an attempt to keep it and behind her he spots a glimpse of the black body that belonged to her brother. Assuming that the boy is long dead and that his sister had simply been standing vigilant, his ears roll back with uncertainty and he ponders the possible solution to this.

Had he known where his mother had died, he would have returned to her side- had Mordred not ensured that the boy was glued to a protective and demanding false-mother, he would have gone back.

Costello suddenly turns, and the stallion lifts his head again, confused even further. She darts into the clearing before the red dun can follow, but in a few steps he is right behind her, staring down at the small, sleeping body of her twin. Grateful that the boy had not passed away, he watches carefully as shivers appear to run across the colt's skin and listens to the seemingly laboured breathing- he worries that the child will not last through the night. Vercingetorix thinks to his mother and how his father had attempted to put her out of her misery- claiming mercy. For a moment, the notion passes through his head, surmising that if the boy were to not make it through the evening, that it would be best to finish the ordeal and be done with it, but instead he ducks his head and steps away, just as Costello stands between him and her brother.

Contemplating leaving them and assuming it was best to keep and eye on the filly from the safety of the herd, the stallion eyes her for a moment before speaking up again. “When is the last time you've eaten?”