Words spoken so simple, and so innocent; and yet so, so powerful. They were enough to knock the wind right from her, they were practically deafening. Never before had Saffron felt so moved. There were no words to describe the pride she felt swelling within for the mare she considered her very own; Saffron had saved Enigma, but it was Enigma that had given Saffron a renewed outlook on life that kept her going. Guilt began to knot in her gut. She’d neglected to tell Enigma why she’d returned to this place. Why, when the words sounded sour coming out of her mouth, one would think that she would want to stay so very far away, and yet, here she stood. And she couldn’t, now.

Just as she couldn’t, then.

Or any of the times she’d tried to encourage, and force Enigma out of her company. Saffron breathes in a ragged breath, and exhales, as her tail catches a cool breeze, tattering aside. With curiosity and interest, she watches as Enigma prances away. Every minute she spends in the company of the young mare, Saffron feels a part of her spirit return; she doesn’t feel as old as she is. But then a painful ache in one of her joints reminds her.

It was a difficult thing for her; to her mind, she is still only six. Full of strength and pride, and able to provide Enigma the playmate and life-long partner she so desperately desires. And with each passing day, her body reminds her just what she refuses to accept. That she is twenty years old.

Liland’s question reaches her ears, and Saffron turns her face to him, ears laying back against the tangles and knots of her long, wavy, regal mane. “ Do I look like a mare who settles for half-measures? “ she asked, as though that should have been obvious. She cast a glance about, before she turned her attention to the dun stallion, “ He ruled Tinuval. I ruled the bay. “ Which by extension, meant that she’d also been a matriarch of the whole island; But her interests were here, at home, tending to the family.

“ I am sure, as a stallion, you won’t complain with my decision to stay. However, I will make one thing clear to you: I am not your, nor any stallion’s mare. My king died years ago. I’ll not bow my head to another. “ she replies firmly. In all of her years, there’d only been one stallion that she’d ever come close to respecting as much as she had Jareth, and now even he was gone. May his soul, and her first born rest easy. And she hoped that in the after life, their souls were united as they had been in life.

After she’d said her piece to Liland, she turns her attention to Enigma, who she approaches quietly. She reaches out to brush the velvet of her muzzle and whiskers up the length of her back, only to catch a tuft of her mane near her withers, giving it a playful tug. Saffron didn’t often opt to play with Enigma, but every once in a while, she’d try. Which was more than what any other horse her age could say.