OOC: Setting this after Deidre is born (even though her thread is after yours), hope you don't mind <3

As each new day passed, Siobhan found more reasons to smile. Deidre. Aoife. Aleksi. Noname. Even Tigerlily's twins, Thorin and Skadi, brought smiles to her lips these days. Seeing the horde of children enlivening the dreary Tinuvel landscape had helped the red mare to find a few pieces of her old self again. She wasn't whole yet, not entirely, but she no longer dreaded the rising of the sun each morning, nor hid in solitude behind the scarce and stunted trees.

She watched quietly as the peach colored mare entered the Inlet without challenge. The threat of Cullen kept her hypervigilant in these first few weeks of Deidre's nascent life, and few things escaped her attention. Neither Bjorn or Tigerlily seemed bothered by her presence, or, at the very least, the pair of them seemed preoccupied with other matters which seemed to imply that they didn't think this intruder was a threat. Siobhan did her best to leave the lovebirds alone when she could, hoping that by reducing her presence in their lives, she would somehow minimize the impact that she had. Siobhan couldn't imagine how hard it must be to love someone new with their maudlin ex staring longingly from the bushes. Worse, still, if their maudlin ex still harbored feelings of her own.

Years ago, Siobhan would have gone to greet the new arrival without hesitation. She had loved to meet her new herdmates back then, in the hopes of meeting a friend with whom she could bond. Now, suspicion colored her observation and she couldn't help but wonder which of her enemies this stranger knew. Had she come on Cullen's behalf? Nyimara's? Aranck's? Or was she a new enemy that Siobhan would need to contend with in the future?

The absurdity of that very thought broke her out of that mindset and she chuckled aloud before shaking herself. It was easy to see wolves in every shadow when you'd been hunted as she was, but she knew that somewhere out there, good horses remained.

Still, she is cautious and tucks her trio of children away just out of eyesight of the mare, and then lifts her own head to call out in greeting. The nostalgia of it all was powerful and she swallowed hard against a sudden bundle of nerves as she picked her way closer, head high. Once, she had worn the mantle of Bjorn's queen, and while she had not worn a crown in some time, some of the old habits died hard. She favored the mare with a tight but not unwelcoming smile as she halted, and inclined her head in greeting.

"Hello," she said softly, her amber gaze searching the other mare's avidly for the slightest sign of avarice. "Is there something we can help you with?" Normally, good manners would call for an introduction or a welcome first, but Siobhan had long ago eschewed good manners in favor of self-preservation. Until she knew who and why this mare was here, she wasn't about to volunteer her information.