Zjeena didn't expect Liland to be happy about the terms of her release, but the outburst that follows her confession is more than she expected.
The mare takes another step back. Her ears turn back, not pinned in anger, but drawn in surprise. Her eyes still shine with tears, and the sadness within them only deepens. "What?" She gasps. "Liland, you can't be serious." He had always told her she was his queen, his equal. His reaction now reveals a devastating truth. She was never his equal, and even as his queen, she was never free.
"Liland. Think this through." She pleads with him. "This fighting has to stop. These feuds will never end if you can't swallow your pride let them go." Zjeena's frown deepens as she continues, and her brows knit together with the seriousness of what she says. "There is nothing to pay back. It's breeding season, and I was Rougaru's mare. He didn't have to treat me well, or care for your children while we were there. He didn't have to let me go. He didn't have to let our daughter go, and yet he did." She sighs and shakes her head. "There is no plot to turn me against you. If Rougaru wanted to turn me against you, he wouldn't have let me return to you with love for you still in my heart."
For a moment she casts her gaze aside, Liland's words still ringing in her ears. "I will find one of his mares this season or next and I will breed them as repayment." It is further confirmation of how Liland values mares. Zjeena's heart sinks. If this is how he feels, how he has always felt, her words will hold no weight. She has no power here.
For the first time, a thought crosses her mind. Maybe she should have stayed in Paradise with Rougaru. She was afforded more freedom there. She thought it the other way around, but now she's beginning to see, she's had it backwards all along.