As quickly as Sahin appeared it seemed he had just been lying in wait for her to reach out for him. Or was he simply waiting for her to fail so that he could swoop in and take over? Crown rising as she waits for him to near, Xina is apprehensive about this meeting but knows that she cannot lash out with her tongue as she had before. It was not the way to make allies. So the mare is quiet, eyes watchful for any sign of the aggression their last meeting had spurred on but as he reaches out for her Xina sees nothing left of their harshly spoken words. Instead his eyes are softer, his body language calmer which allows the mare to blow out a heavy breath as she reaches her muzzle out to meet his. After she drinks in his scent, Xina pulls away and back into her own space.


Sahin speaks first, quiet and inviting and Xina turns her head slightly away from him while her eye rolls to take judgment of him and this situation while her ears stay tilted towards him. She is not a woman that forgives and forgets and after the disappearance of Debonaire, due to death or by his own will, Xina is wary of letting another stallion in. In truth she had been waiting for Sahin to do the same. To die because of his age or leave them by his own will, either way breaking Mera’s heart. But she had to let go or it would devour her slowly from the inside, leaving nothing but a corpse with a soul trapped inside.


“I wish you could understand.” She said quietly, not knowing how to put what she needed to say without giving it all away. “I wish I could just open the door for you to see without trying to explain it all.” Xina had never been one to ask for help, the mare wasn’t even really sure how. Her shoulders had always bore the burden with no task ever being too big. Even now she wonders if she should just bear the brunt on her own. “I suppose starting at the very beginning would be best.”


“A stallion named Debonaire is Esmeralda’s father. He was the Lead over the Shore where we lived before. He also fathered a stallion named Rade….and Conquistador.” Xina paused, her eyes again taking in Sahin as she gave him a moment to let that sink in. “One day Rade came to me with this little bundle at his side. Conquistador looked closer to death that life but I took him anyways at the last clinging hope of having something of Debonaire’s. At the time I didn’t question how Rade acquired him but he promised to return for him. When Conquistador was strong enough to leave my side.”


A heavy sigh escaped Xina and the usually strong mare looked deflated now after telling that little bit of history. It had weighed so heavily upon her, dragging her down in a fit of nerves and anxiety. But she wasn’t done. Now it was time to move onto what she really wanted to talk to Sahin about.


“Rade has changed since the last I had seen him as a foal. I could see the darkness in his golden eyes, the man he has become. He is a Devil in disguise and I cannot let him poison Conquistador’s soul and turn him into a monster as well. I push him constantly, teaching him how to be strong mentally and physically but as the time draws closer for Rade to come back I have realized I cannot allow him to take Conquistador. Debonaire deserved a good son, but even if that were not the case I care too much about the boy to let him fall to such fate. So I am asking you Sahin; will you help me protect Conquistador? No matter the wrath that Rade may bring upon us?”