His call was startling because she had not been paying attention to her surroundings. Flinching, the mare jerked up her head and looked over to the approaching stallion. The scent of battle was still fresh upon him; the reek of another stallion and the sight of the drying crimson blood. For a brief second Wren forgot about being upset, but then his question made it all come crashing down upon her again.


“I am fine, Liland.” she replied, tilting her head away as she tried to stop her own tears. They refused, though they did slow their descent down her face. “The hormones of a pregnant mare is all.” the pale colored woman said before allowing her blue eyes to look upon his face again. She wondered if he cared, or if it was just the child, she carried what he cared about? Nothing more than a vessel for his seed.


The awful thoughts that clouded her mind caused her to look away again, to stare down at the snow around her hooves. “Are you okay?” she asked, her voice coming out weak and shaky at first. “That other stallion…. He didn’t hurt you too badly, did he?” Everything was so uncertain; so many changes. For a mare new to these Islands, who had faced so much change before coming here, it was of no help to her already worried mind.