Falls

Midas hits the nail on the head. Rowena is no ordinary Vulcan. She was raised among mares bound together by their hate. They force fed her a diet of pure malice and scorn. She was molded to become an extension of Circe's vengeful spirit, and trained to become the ultimate weapon. She was to be the undoing of the stallion that committed the greatest crime against her mother. Rowena will admit, she hated Vodnik. Her young, malleable mind believed every venom-coated word and one-sided argument her mother presented to her. She entered the Ridge as a spy, fully intending to dismantle his kingdom from the inside out and present him to the Coven to pay the highest price for his crimes.

It didn't take long outside the confines of the Coven to see her mother for what she was. Vodnik had his flaws, that's for sure, but there was good in him too. It didn't take long before Rowena grew to love her father, to understand what made him tick, and realize that stallions really aren't the villains her mother led her to believe. It was Circe who was the villain. Vodnik was no innocent, but he didn't deserve the punishment Circe had in store for him. Try as she might, Rowena failed to diffuse the situation, and even without her help Circe's hate spelled the end of everything Rowena held dear. Even Circe herself didn't survive the battle.

After that, the Coven saw Rowena's attempt to thwart their plans of revenge as a betrayal. Mares she grew up with, mares she considered to be aunts and sisters, so consumed by their hatred, and so totally brainwashed by the elders, put a price on her head. Rowena was banished back to the islands. Show her face on the mainland again and those she once called family will end her.

This is why Rowena doesn't believe in the goodness of love anymore.

Rowena didn't end up on the Peak by choice. She ended up there by chance. With Macabre being her only remaining foothold on this world, she followed Macabre, and this is where Macabre chose to go. Rowena has a lot of mixed feelings about the Vulcans. They seem less hateful than the Coven, but she still can't seem to connect. After everything she went through, she needs a fresh start in a different atmosphere. She wants to be near Macabre, but she also doesn't want to stay on the Peak forever. This is another reason why she finds herself lingering around the falls. The falls are a peaceful land near the Peak. She can escape but still be near Macabre. Maybe someday she'll meet someone else who can help her find her footing, help her gain the confidence she needs to let go of Macabre, and get her a ticket off the Peak and into her own life.

Rowena doesn't know whether to laugh or take offense to Midas' comment against the Peak. She doesn't disagree, but it's still an insult. Her ears draw back and get lost under her mane, but she can't stay angry. As the conversation continues, she is drawn by her thirst for further kindness, and her ears find their way forward again. Rowena's stomach lurches at the thought of travel. She and Macabre agreed to visit Atlantis once the weather turned. She is eager to return, and to tie up loose ends, but she's also afraid of what she'll find there, or more so what she won't find. Facing the past is something Rowena needs to do, but the visit will be painful.

Rowena follows Midas' gaze. Is he looking towards Atlantis too? Before she can ask, the stallion hastily dismisses himself. Surprise causes her to hesitate, but she can't just let him go. The black mare launches into action, a sense of urgency helping her body to forget its tiredness. She leaps nimbly onto the banks and closes their distance at a trot. "Hey! Wait!" She shouts after him. Catching up, she pulls up along his left side and tries to catch his eye. "Midas, are you going to Atlantis? I'm going there too, once the weather is well enough for a swim. Maybe we can go together."

Rowena doesn't know why she's inviting this stallion along on she and Macabre's trip to Atlantis, but the thought of never seeing him again sends her into a panic. This isn't the same feeling she had when she met Ailill. There aren't any wild romantic fantasies playing out behind her eyes, but there some sort of chemistry. Midas isn't the only one who feels it. Ever since he touched her neck, her skin crawls with the desire to be touched like that again. Rowena can't just let him leave.