Akadi had stepped a few paces away from the adults. Small in stature, she still did not tremble with fear, though something in her told her she should. Dark eyes looked in the direction the golden stallion had come and settled on the older filly. Curious, her entire body turned to face Roisin. She had never seen another foal before. Of that she was sure. Eyes and ears attentively forward, she took a step and hesitated. With a glance over at the adults, she seemed to ask for permission from them first, already trying to trust them with her life. The stallion nodded his head and Akadi could feel like she could breath. The smaller filly took a few more steps toward Roisin and stopped a respectful distance away, though her neck and head were stretched as far as they could go. Hello? she asked with a shy boldness and a hopefulness that gleamed in her dark chocolate eyes.

Ailill watched the two fillies. His face fell at Riosin’s reaction. He would have thought the cheerful filly would have been more eager to greet the new comer. The look on her face gave him pause, and he could not place the emotion he saw on her. It was surprising to see another foal so suddenly in their midst, true. Perhaps Roisin had been so young when Aislinn arrived that a life without her sister was not even a foggy memory. Lost in thought for a moment, light eyes studying the two of them, his tail wisped through the air, brushing away his concerns as well as Siobhan told the story of meeting the new filly.

His face turned so he could watch her with his soft eyes as she spoke. The grin that almost constantly lived on his lips tugged them still broader as she spoke. He knew there was nothing in her that would allow a child to be left alone when it was in need. It sounded like this young soul was desperately in need. The more the red mare spoke the warmer Ailill felt and more drawn to her.

Siobhan’s last sentence hung in his mind and the air between them. The significance of the double meaning hung heavy on the stallion’s shoulders and he wondered if she had meant it the way he secretly wished she did. His stomach turned at the thought of the pain this could bring and still there was a hard pounding in his chest. You are amazing, Siobhan. There is nothing that would bring me more joy than to add to our family and watch it grow. His answer was just as coded as he reached out to run his nose softly over her neck and shoulders, asking her silently what she truly meant.