Had Nyimara chosen to leave the past behind, Siobhan would have been content to forget about the chocolate mare's existence. It was not the red mare that kept trying to blow on the dying embers of their feud, desperate for some sort of spark to hold onto. Her life had found meaning in more wholesome endeavors, such as the children that looked to her for protection and sustenance.

As Nyi's teeth score into her hide, Siobhan shies away from her with a soft squeal, but does not offer physical retaliation. She knows well enough that even battle-weary, Nyimara is stronger than she is, and that she will need every calorie she can muster to make it through this winter. Blood pools in the shallow wound but does not fall from such a small injury, but the toll it takes on Siobhan's mentality is deep enough. The fact that the chocolate mare would lash out at her now, after the battle for Siobhan's ownership is over and she has been reduced to mere property, is telling enough of the cruelty that swirls in Nyimara.

There would be no respite for her here.

"Show him what?" Siobhan snarls from the short distance away, and then laughs harshly as the mare continues, her own auburn tail whipping through the air in strict defiance of the way her body shakes in the cold. "He gives you all of this and you want more, you greedy bitch? What more can he possibly give you?"

Again her tail lashes, and she draws her neck upwards, eyes flashing and ears pinned. "I can assure you that he doesn't want me, Nyimara."

As the chocolate mare's attention turns, so does Siobhan's, and a lump closes in her throat, stilling the words that would come next. She hates that Sigurdr has seen her this way, and her posture immediately softens as she takes in the colt she had not seen for many, many months. The way he has grown breaks her heart with the surge of pride and sorrow that mix together, and a wry smile twists her lips that immediately freezes as Nyimara cuddles close to him.

She didn't deserve to be his mother. Sigurdr deserved better.

Her hesitance gives Nyi time to respond to him, spreading lies like the viper she is. Sio's face immediately darkens and she shakes her head, heart breaking for the truth she feels that must be delivered. "Do not coddle him with your lies, Nyimara. He's nearly an adult, in case you've forgotten how much time he's spent without you."

Immediately she regrets the venom and hatred in her own words, not wanting to make this any harder for Sig than the truth that Nyimara created had to be. "I wish I was here of my own accord, Sig. I have missed you so much." Her voice cracks at the end as she admits how much his absence had hurt. He was not of her own blood, but he was a part of her chosen family, and she loved him as though he had come from her own body. To see him now in pain, hurt her worse than she could put into words.

Her lips press together, her mind eagerly supplying her with the memory of the longing in his tone as he spoke of his sibling and Ailill. "Your mother forced me here and called me a slave in front of your sister." Her skin twitches in revulsion at the memory. "She and Ailill are still safely in the Ridge."

She sucks in a breath to steel herself against the admission she must make now, the truth of it cutting deeper than a thousand knives. "Your father made it clear he could not forgive me for loving another man, and so I did not come with him. And he did not stay with me."

She wants to elaborate more, to fully condemn Nyimara for the villain that she is, but the tears that gather in her lashes choke her into silence. How had her life become such a mess?