Being hurt was an understatement. He may have won the election, but his prize was gone. Not only his prize, but the betrayal he felt. His toy had voted for the young pup pit against him. So many questions circled his head, but still he goes after Ivanna. Unable to find her, Cullen runs into the last horse he expected to see, his son. Verrat was grown now with a prominent limp of his back leg. He knows he was the reason his son would never be the same which is why he was avoided him for this long. ”Looking for Ivanna?” Her name slips off his lips with distaste and anger. Cullen snorts as he realizes this is why he couldn’t find his victim.

”Everyone talks about how terrible you are, but I keep defending you. I did defend you until now. Ivanna was the final straw.” The death glare of his ivory flesh and blood was intense. It reminds him instantly of his mother. She used to give him that ‘I will kill you’ look all the time. He laughs which only makes the steam roll off Verrat’s shoulders. ”I’m done hoping you’ll change. I’m done being tied to you.” Cullen wonders if this was how his mother felt when she walked away heavy in foal with their child, Verrat’s twin sister following at her heels. Verrat stayed behind because of his want to know his father and Cullen thought he could be the one. Cullen believed Verrat could be the one to take over the Lagoon, but the boy was too soft of a child. He was now more hardened like he needed to be, but only because Cullen left him alone.

Cullen just stares at his child for a few seconds before coming out with a slimy comeback. ”I can always make more if I wanted,” he smirks. Verrat stomps a foot before turning and leaving his sire behind him. Cullen watches his son go, his heart hardening with each step. Sure, his dreams of seeing his child rise to success was gone, but losing the loyalty of his child did hurt. Verrat was his only son left on these islands. Thanatos was long gone with his saucy mother and he had no idea what gender Lilithiya birthed. For all he knew, Thanatos and Verrat were his only sons. He no longer had any of his own children to teach and all of the colts he had brought here were nearly grown. There had to be something to curve his mind.

Cullen makes it way home only to be bombarded with Ironclad. The young stallion quickly begins going off on him. Something about Panzer wouldn’t leave his herd alone, yada, yada. ”Shush.” He snaps to quiet the stallion. ”I have a lot going on right now and I don’t have time to push around large stallions like Panzer.” Ironclad stomps his hoof. ”He is your bachelor. My father and you might have gotten along, but if this continues we are going to have a problem.” Cullen snorts and pushes past Ironclad. ”Fine. Whatever.” He keeps going with a sour look on his face and anger in his eyes. Ironclad storms off because like Cullen, he had other important things to do. Cullen’s motives become dead set on dealing with his loyalty problem from his favorite pet.

By the time he finds Varanduil, his skin was seething. Teeth lash out towards the sooty palomino before words of anger slither off his tongue. “I gave you worth here Varanduil. I gave you power, I gave you reason, and I gave you a job. So why is it my loyalist member voted for someone else?” Light blue eyes narrow as he stares his pet in the face, inches away from his nose with his own.