The Ridge herd has grown beyond Siobhan's wildest imagination, and yet she feels lonely among them. With Ailill gone, off to look for their missing Akadi, she felt as though her other half was missing. The longer his absence stretched, the more her hope waned and she began to fear that he had left her, just as Bjorn had. Of course this time Siobhan was not likely to fall for the remaining Ridge guardians, no matter how pretty their complexions.

Even her youngest daughter had grown tired of needing her mother for every small thing and was off on her own adventures most of the time, supervised by one older sibling or another. It left Siobhan a lot of time to think, which often served as more of a curse than a blessing. Now that Bjorn was back on the islands, she found her mind wandering to him more often than not. Roisin had carried the news of his return and his plans, but she had not set out to find him yet. Her heart still fluttered at the thought of him, and she could not yet tell if it were the lingering feelings from years past or just the last dregs of fall fading from her body.

The knowledge that she would not have another child come this spring was heavy. Ever since Roisin had been born, she had looked forward to the arrival of a new child each spring, each one a testament to the one that she had lost. And she wouldn't lie. The possibility that another orphan would end up in the Ridge was high, given the propensity for that very thing happening… and if she had no child of her own, how would she save the precious little soul that showed up?

Of course, Siobhan sternly reminded herself. This was all highly hypothetical, and it wasn't as though she had ever really been the only nursing mother in the Ridge since the very first season. It seemed too personal of a question to ask the Ridge Guardians or the other mares in the Ridge, but she had her suspicions now that the two men had taken residence in their jungle residence. Siobhan wouldn't pretend to understand how that four-way relationship worked, but as long as the men did not bother her or her children, she didn't particularly mind.

Sighing softly, the speckled mare turned toward the beach, hoping that the clear air and rhythmic waves would help to calm her thoughts. She wasn't sure how much longer she could hold out being alone.