Winter had passed like a long night dreaming. Grey clouds kept the forest and its floor covered in a thick mantle of snow and ice. Winter winds, caught only a little by the naked bramble, still swept a chill into Indian Hemp's bones. It was as if all life slept, put on hold by the cruelty of winter.

Horses huddled in clumps, but Indian Hemp didn't join them. He accepted Vercingetorix's invitation to come nearer to the rest of the herd, and he did come nearer, but he only wandered close in his hopeless search for food. He did not share in their warmth or get friendly with any mares that were not his own. In fact, he didn't get friendly with his own mares. It seems they all had their own agendas.

But like all long winters, the spring always comes to warm the misery from Indian Hemp's hot-blooded self. As swiftly as the cold set in, the freezing temperatures vanish, melting the snow and coaxing a flourish of new, green growth from the forest around them. Indian Hemp's winter coat is shedding in patches. He's been rubbing on trees as he passes to relieve the itching. From beneath the shag, a sleeker look appears, as well as some ribs, wanting for spring vegetation to fill the gaps between them.

Today is a particularly warm day, so Indian Hemp finds himself in good spirits. The spotted stallion trots a wavering course through the trees and grabs mouthfuls of greenery as he goes. As usual, he skirts around the crowd at the heart of the territory, not wanting to intrude. In his travels near the herd he spots a familiar flash of white through a veil of branches. Indian Hemp slows and turns his face to the form of his lovely Sehrish, perhaps his favorite mare. She stands on the fringes of the group, looking in.

Indian Hemp calls a cheerful greeting, and pushes through the branches that separate them. There is only a moment of enthusiastic approach before he notices the shadow at her side and stops dead in his tracks. Indian Hemp's white-rimmed eyes widen further, and his mottled ears come sharply forward. His heart is suddenly in his ears and his stomach in his throat. Butterflies have taken wing everywhere inside him. This must be his daughter, and she is quite possibly, the most beautiful thing he's ever seen.