Ailill's words cut like a hot knife through butter, drilling down into the core of her heart where the pain all festered. Bjorn wasn't dead, but she sometimes thought it might be easier if he was. The grief she knew how to deal with, but abandonment was foreign to her, and therefore harder. It was one thing to be able to blame fate, to curse at it and scream until you were blue in the face, it did not matter. Fate was nameless and faceless, and could not take offense. You could not place the blame on a creature the same way you could when you were left behind.

And if Siobhan were being honest with herself, it wasn't as though she had fallen for an entirely upstanding citizen. The more distance from him that she had, the more clearly she saw through the rose-colored glasses that had allowed her to explain and excuse Bjorn's behavior. The harsh way he dealt with Belikov. The capture of Poka. The trading of Kalayani and her newborn mare to the Lagoon of all places. How could he send a young mare and her infant to the wolves of that damned swamp?

She had relied on her mother's words that sacrifices were the currency of those in power. That Bjorn had been forced to make tough decisions to make his herd thrive. But her time with Ailill was slowly but surely showing her there might be another way.

With effort, Siobhan recalls the words the golden stallion has whispered to the two girls on more than one occasion. That they can decide who to call family and who to trust. Perhaps it was time that she start making that decision for herself.

Siobhan sucks in a sigh and offers a trembling smile, but does not immediately speak. His comment about the girls brings back much-needed lightness and she nods. "Perhaps the lack of herd members is a blessing in disguise. At least there are no boys for them to chase after."

His offer to watch the girls rewarms her heart all over again. As much as she adored the two of them, sometimes it was overwhelming to have them both around her all of the time. It had been a real blessing after the whole situation with Faolain, as it left her little time to think or dwell on her feelings. However, the flutter in her stomach suggested that she needed to get a few things straight in her head. "Maybe after they come back. I've never been to the Falls, but I can't imagine it's hard to find."

Siobhan is surprised to find that Ailill has no children. Not only is he handsome, but he is kind and gentle, and sweet, and protective, and loyal. She could go on. But then, perhaps that is the reason. Ailill would never force a mare to raise a child she did not want, and Siobhan doubts that he would sire a child that he could not be there to raise. The latter is just a feeling, but having watched him with the girls, she has no doubt that it is true.

As he recalls her initial interaction with the golden stallion, a giggle bubbles up and she bumps his shoulder with her own. The sight of Ailill sputtering away from her as she rushed in to aid the newborn would forever stand out in her memory. "The look on your face was priceless."

In reality, she had not been entirely over the Lagoon's raid and seeing a golden stallion standing over a helpless child had set off every single warning bell she'd possessed. Up until that point, she'd had no reason to seek out his companionship and thus, had not yet learned of his inherent goodness.

Not quite willing to let it go, with her curiosity still raging. Her tone still light with teasing she continued. "I'm surprised though. You're such a good dad I thought you had experience, maybe with that fancy mare from Paradise."

Siobhan had seen them together in passing but had not lingered to eavesdrop. Both she and the visitor had been heavily swollen with child and Sio had not been in a mood to interrupt whatever it was that was going on there. In retrospect, she felt slightly vindicated that the roan mare's foal had not been Ailill's.