As Ailill pointed out that boys would soon be chasing after the fillies, Sio mock groaned with a laugh. Both of the girls were beautiful, and it was only a matter of time before they began to catch the attention of neighboring boys, a scenario that Siobhan had no experience handling. She would have loved to have seen Laoise grow to that point, for she was certain that her black daughter would have charmed the boys as surely as she had charmed all of the adults in her life.

In many ways, Roisin was similar to the older sister she would never meet, and yet vastly different. Laoise had been all energy, all confidence and verve. You could not have convinced her that the whole world didn't love her with the exact same energy and confidence that her parents did. Ro was quieter. More prone to self-reflection with a desire to do good, real good. She was the savior of the injured animals they cross and remained fascinated by the flowers in their home. She was a true jungle child, and it was her growth that kept reassuring Siobhan that she had made the right choice.

Ailill brings her back by defending his shocked face, and a bemused smirk twists at her charcoal lips. Her defensive posture had not been her proudest moment, that was for sure, but she had always erred on the side of caution.

Cullen had torn a gaping hole through the herd of the Ridge, and while the whole scene had lasted only moments, Siobhan had not yet fully weathered the effects. Seeing Ysabel hurt on the ground and the images of the terrified foals being driven into the surf would haunt her nightmares forever, right up alongside the sight of Osiris' lifeless body. The only thing worse than the children's kidnapping had been the aftermath of their rescue and the knowledge that she was no innocent.

It was her own hoof that had ended Adolfo's life.

This, of course, had only reinforced her belief in Bjorn. How could she condemn his acts when she, too, was a monster? She couldn't, really. And had fate not forcibly separated the two lovers, she might never have had reason to do so.

He comments next on the fancy mare that had come to visit him and Sio stifles a smile, but not the chuckle that results from his comment. She knew little of Rougaru, but plenty about his daughter. "If he's anything like his daughter, then yes, I imagine so."

She works to keep the dry bitterness from her voice, but the thought of Nyimara always soured her mood. Siobhan could not understand what drove the silver co-queen, but it was evident from the lack of her presence that she did not linger in the Ridge any longer. Whether she had fled to flaunt her wares before another stallion or had simply run back to daddy and left the herd to rot was unknown, but either way, Siobhan was glad to not deal with her.

At Ailill's question, Siobhan's gaze ducks to the ground, unprepared for being called out despite the fact that she had instigated the conversation. To cover her surprise she itches at her knee, buying time to form a response that wouldn't give away the inappropriate direction of her thoughts. She flicks her gaze back to him, a small smile on her lips, knowing he likely hadn't been fooled by her ruse.

"I thought someone might, as she seemed as likely as anyone else." She finds a thread of their earlier light-heartedness and grasps onto it. "Hard to believe a pretty boy like yourself hasn't found someone to swoon over."

She teases him, but the thought fills her with some weird combination of queasiness and butterflies. She wanted Ailill to be happy and to find someone to make his heart whole, but at the same time, it filled her with a spark of jealousy she hadn't felt for months. And if she was jealous over this stallion that should not be hers to claim, did that not mean she was betraying all that she had sworn to Bjorn?

Swallowing hard, Sio shifts away from him a step, needing to distance herself from the heat of him. She couldn't not notice the warmth that emanated from his body, or the way that when she sighed his skin brushed against hers. "I think I'll take you up on your offer, though."

She works to bring the levity back, a smile playing about her charcoal lips. "Think you can handle the two of them all by yourself today?"