Nephilim glanced at Rohanne, but said nothing. Mariael and Maziel had been born the season after his and Rohanne’s child had passed. Nephilim was the constant parent in their life but when he’d had them he was nothing more than a child himself, a year older than they were now. He couldn’t fathom the thought of either of them carrying a child now and hoped they felt the same. To him they were still the wobbly-legged foals who’d tucked close to his speckled haunches as if he were their mother rather than their father.

Maziel’s ear twitched. “It’ll be nice to have someone else here.” She remarked with the same natural sweetness in her tone. If nothing else, she thought it would be nice for a friend of her father’s to be here again. Though he needn’t tell her, having traveled with her sister and father at odds for long enough, she knew how guilty he was when they’d returned to the Bay to find it empty. Perhaps having a friend’s return would help ease the burdens he was holding on his shoulders.

Mariael looked at Maziel and back at Rohanne before nodding in agreement. “My father gave me leadership over the Bay,” she explained, “and I’m doing want I can to convince others to come live here, too. We’ll be happy to have you here with us.” Mariael’s voice still sounded too cold, as if the ice of Tinuvel was always in her veins. Maziel sounded like kindness and warmth, Mariael sounded as if she was conducting business rather than meeting the newest member to stay in the Bay.

Nephilim looked at Mariael for a moment, wondering if she would always be standoffish when initially conversing with other horses. At least there were glimmers of times she would bring those walls of hers down.

“Did you like Tinuvel when you were here before?” She asked, her attention maintaining on Rohanne, curious as to her intentions of her life within the Bay. Mariael was very, very proud of her home and of her island, which meant any who did not recognize the beauty of it were seen as less than in her eyes. Nephilim and Maziel would be much more understanding.