Ysabel's commentary about the size of Siobhan's family brings a grin back to her dusky lips. If anyone had said that a year and a half from her arrival in these islands, heart broken by the loss of her first daughter, that she would soon be the mother of three girls, she would have never believed it. She hadn't believed in such happiness until she had lived within the Ridge. And in truth, Bjorn and Sigurdr were the main reasons she had eventually come around.

She still couldn't calibrate the stallion he had been with the stallion he was now.

"Fate has a funny way of taking everything you thought your life would be and turning it on it's head," she offered softly with a small smile. She can sense that there is more than the golden mare is not saying, but she does not press her for more information. Ysabel had lived here long before Siobhan, and there may be other ghosts that she needed to visit within the jungle depths.

I’m glad I have run into you, she says and Siobhan nods, entirely in agreement. "Me too." In truth, she was lonely here in the Ridge in a way that she could not explain. She had the girls and Ailill of course, but it had been a long time since she had allowed herself to have a friend. A part of her irrationally hopes that Ysabel has come to stay, that together they might find some semblance of a new future after all that has happened, but she knows this is unlikely. Ysabel has her own family and her own life to lead.

Her thoughts are only confirmed as Ysabel goes on to explain what she knows of Bjorn, and the mood immediately grows somber. Images of his tear-stained face and the finality with which he had turned back into the surf flashed in her mind. Siobhan, still raw from the events of the night before, struggled to maintain her composure and allowed her gaze to drift to the ground as Ysabel confirmed the facts that she already knew, as well as some that she did not. To know that Bjorn had specifically sought out the one land that his old lover had fled to for sanctuary implied that he knew exactly what he was doing. That Nyimara had bent his ear and would grind what was left of his heart until all that remained was the poison that she filled him with.

Revulsion slithered across Siobhan's body and her skin jittered with disgust. After a quiet moment, Siobhan's gaze rises back to Ysabel with sorrow written in their depths. "I know," she offered softly, her words short with the effort to hold back the worst of the sadness. "He was here last night."

Siobhan's neat ears turn back as she shoves away further memories of the pain she'd been in. "I am sorry that he has taken your homeland, Ysabel. He is... different now that he is back." Her gaze darts to the ground, but comes back up almost immediately. Bjorn, for better or worse, was a part of their past. What they had now was a chance to move forward, and the grullo stallion had made it clear that he would not sacrifice his own wants for either of his old queens. "Have you come to stay, then? I would love to have you around again. Making friends with the new leaders is... tough."

Her gaze raises hopefully to the golden mare, a small smile finally appearing back on her lips. She is oblivious to the inner turmoil that Ysabel suffers, having incorrectly attributed it to Bjorn's actions. Had she known of the wedge she was driving between the golden mare and her handsome lover, she would have done what she could to soften the blow. Siobhan did not enjoy sharing, but at least with Ysabel she would not need to worry that the mare was out to manipulate her lover into becoming a terrible person. And who was she to deny someone happiness when it kept getting harder and harder to find?