The moment she was released, Kohelet raced home, urging little Mazikeen and Serenity before her as quickly as she could. She could not wait to leave the Badlands behind and breathe in the fresh, crisp air of her homeland again; to see and meet with herdmates that didn't ostracize her out of suspicion or outright dislike; to curl herself against a stallion that loved her.

As far as captors went, Rafe had not been terrible. Apart from his idiotic inability to justify his position or to provide proof of his claims, he had stayed true and had not allowed her to be harmed, even when the coarse little brown mare from the canyons had attempted to take her pound of flesh. Had the circumstances been different, Kohelet might have enjoyed the chance to learn more of the Salem residents, but things were what they were, and she doubted that any Tinuvel-born horse would ever be comfortable on Salem again.

The moment her little band was safe - Serenity off to the Cove to tell her parents what happened, and Mazikeen nearby - Kohelet raced inland, her head lifted as she cried out for the other half of her heart, desperate to see his face again. Rafe's words lingered insidiously in the back of her mind, and she knew that she would have to get the truth from Fell sooner rather than later, but she couldn't bring herself to care yet. She needed to hold him against her again, to reassure herself that he and Una and Khoshekh and Emhyr were okay. It had been terrifying to find Mazikeen on the beaches of the Badlands, and she had waited each and every day for one of her other children to be so rash. Their absence made her more than grateful for their individual preferences for their father, even if such preferences had been a source of jealousy for her in the past.

"Fell!" She cried out again as she slowed to a breathless jog, the heft of her pendulous belly swinging with every step.