Faolain can feel the grief in the atmosphere of the Ridge after the silver mare came for Siobhan. The Akhal-Teke has difficulty discerning her emotions, for many of them are new. She is no stranger to loss or failure, but she is a stranger to responsibility. The weight of Sio’s absence, though they had not been close, is difficult for the black mare to shoulder despite her knowledge that such things come with the territory. She cannot change events of the past, but she can learn, and be better in the future. She thought to offer her help to Ailill in getting the red mare back, but she isn’t sure if now is the time; Nyimara is untouchable, as is Sio, for some time.

Feeling useless and uncertain, Faolain paces the paths of the Ridge well into the night, listening to one of the girls left in Ailill’s care scream. It is alarming, but she knows the purpose of the screams, and for a while she keeps her distance, until suddenly they stop. Faolain’s talent for comforting others in their time of grief is laughable at best, but she is now more concerned than when she could hear the wailing and keep track of the location of its source. With black ears swiveling, Faolain sets off toward the beach at a trot. The last wail she had heard was mixed with the sounds of waves, and her pace quickens as the ugly possibilities race through her mind.

When she spills out onto the sand, her body little more than a silhouette against the white sand, she pauses. A red filly stands at the edge of the waves, silent, pondering; as she takes a step into the water, Faolain takes another step into the sand. She hangs back and watches, but the filly does not turn back. Brave girl, Faolain thinks, and steps quietly forward until she stands with the child in the shallows. She has not met Akadi, knows nothing about her aside from her scent within the Ridge.

”Where are we going tonight?” she asks casually, her voice uncharacteristically gentle. She can see the filly within her peripheries, but her eyes remain on the waves in front of them. She does not know what to expect from Akadi; the black mare has almost zero experience with children, not to mention being a complete stranger to this little one. But she knows that trying to stop someone, even a child, usually does not work, so she does not intend to hold the filly hostage if she is determined to leave. If Akadi departs, Faolain will follow.