These last few months have been hard on Zjeena. She's only seven, but lines of age spread across her face like cracks in a fine porcelain. Without Liland, Zjeena wouldn't be the mare she is today. She wouldn't be Queen of Paradise, supported by two pillars as strong a Rougaru and Monster, but the relationship she had with Liland tore down much more than it built up. Zjeena has lost four children to hardships created by Liland. Nattergal wanders the islands somewhere Zjeena doesn't know where. It's been nearly a year since Zjeena's seen him. Havelle should be here but she is not, often wandering to the crossing or stealing away to confide in her friend, Bacardi. Jorn and Eirik are lost to a world far beyond this one.

It never crossed the young mare's mind to join her two youngest sons wherever they had gone, but there were times when she thought the darkness might consume her and her heart might cease to beat. Zjeena's legs kept moving, but time stood still. Her blood turned to ash in her veins.

It was on the darkest of nights that the brightest beacons of hope appeared. Alastor and Sybil give Zjeena a newfound sense of purpose. Through this, she is able to lift the veil of her sadness. Her heart beats with the hearts of a living, and her blood flows alive with the love of children akin to the love of her own.

No longer does Zjeena melt into the shadows far from the herd. She stands proud with her new babies, where anyone else might find her. It is the handsome face of Rougaru that emerges from obscurity. Zjeena chews on rich, jungle foliage, enjoying the shade of a broad-leaf canopy. Her adopted children doze nearby.

A smile spreads across her face, an expression once lost to her, now coming as easily as ever. Butterflies take wing in her belly. It doesn't matter how many times Zjeena admires Rougaru's fine, masculine features, he always takes her breath away. "I have.", the mare replies, casting a brief glance towards her sleeping little shadows. "Alastor and Sybil", she utters their names with reverence. "They're precious, aren't they?" Eyes full of love, drift back to Rougaru.