It seemed as though their lives could never be peaceful, and they could not spend a season together. Every chance she got, Nyimara was knocking on the door to take Siobhan away from him, and Ailill was powerless to stop it. Another challenge had been issued, and he had not risen to accept it. Time and time again he had fought and he had failed. As much as his heart desired to leap to his lover’s defence, he knew his body would fall yet again.

The battle the dark mare waged against the Lagoon Boss weighed heavily on the golden stallion. Every blow and bite he could feel an itch on his own flesh. Still, he stood with his nose resting softly against Siobhan, whispering hopes that she would not be taken away from him again. When at last the final strike hit its mark and Cullen fell in defeat, Ailill felt as though he could breathe again. His lips softly caressing Siobhan’s sweet red neck, assuring both of them they would be together another season.

Days had passed since the battle and life had gone back to ‘normal’. As the sun rose over the waves, Ailill stretched out for a walk along the beaches. This was one of the days Zvaid had chosen to come with him, but moved independently of the stallion. Still, Ailill’s light blue eyes followed the young colt, a small curve of a smile on his pale lips.

Throughout Siobhan’s pregnancy with the child, his stomach had turned at the thought of what was growing in her. The toxic spawn of rape, the blood son of a monster. But when the colt took his first breath and looked up at Siobhan and then Ailill with dark eyes, he could not help but instantly care for the pale boy. True to his being, Ailill had come to embrace Zvaid though he were a son fully born to him.

It was not long however, it became visibly clear they were not of blood. Zvaid’s body was almost pure white, save the top of his head, as though the gods had grabbed him by his eyes and dipped him in white. His body had already started to thicken, harkening to his father’s draft build. His hooves began to feather and wild locks poked from his mane and tail. Where Aranck had been the night sky, Zvaid was a star. And he looked to Ailill as a father.

Day in and day out, the golden stallion had been with his soul son, tirelessly teaching him a way of life so counter to that of which he had been conceived. The threats and fear that constantly hung over Siobhan, Ailill tried to shield from falling onto the colt’s shoulders. There were times Ailill knew Siobhan felt the torment of what had happened to her, and he longed to protect both her and her son from the cruel memories. He could never determine whether he succeeded or failed…

Mornings like this though, when the sun was rising, its rays washing the world in gold, he could look at Zvaid, the light having him glow, he could see the growing true spirit in the boy. Though he did not carry in outward armor of gold, Ailill’s soul slowly started to burn in his young heart as well.