A sense of uneasiness had settled over their beautiful home, and while Arael was by no means close to the source of the malady, she could feel it spreading. It seemed to stem from the appearance of Xiomara, which had baffled her and caused her to retreat from the Warrior Queen where she might have joyously gone to greet her. Arael couldn't understand what had changed, considering that from her experience, the two of them had been friendly, if not much closer.

But she could not mistake the tension that spiraled across the herd and quieted the playing of children and the whispering of mares. Something had changed, and she could feel that now was not the right time for a reunion, even if her heart cried out to know how Velahrn was doing. How the other Shore residents were handling things. How she was doing.

Instead, Arael paced on the outskirts, humming softly to herself as she kept an eye turned inward toward where she had last seen the fierce Shore Queen. Her own heat had begun to fade shortly after she had met with Ironclad, which filled her with both nervous excitement and anxiety. She had so clearly failed her first daughter that she was terrified to mess this baby up, who already seemed leagues more important than her first. Etheria had led her to Xiomara, pregnant and afraid so that she would be vulnerable enough to accept the dark Queen's rule. And then, had shown her the path to Ironclad's side.

And while she wouldn't say the path here had been smooth, it had been rewarding. Here in this land, she awoke each morning to the brush of Etheria's grace on her face, no longer hidden by the dense jungle above her head. With the child she was now certain that she carried, she was on the path to a much brighter future and she couldn't wait to see what would come.

Medusa's agitated prance initially made Arael pause, inferring that she did not want company… But the longer she watched, the more she realized that the young Queen was clearly upset about something, and that that something probably had a lot more to do with the current object of their King's affections than it did with the season itself. "Queen Medusa," she called out gently as she set her path toward the white touched queen. "Is everything alright? The whole herd feels… off."