It was clear that the painted Queen had much turmoil on her mind, no doubt in part to his recent actions but could he really be blamed? He was a wolf, a beast, a monster. Yet here he was, wasting away in the shadows of the forest with only an occasional visit from his shadow nymph to entertain him. It was only natural that he would grow impatient and unsatisfied, especially with the return of old rivals as of late.

The distance between them is even more clear as he approaches. Instead of rushing to touch him or press her body possessively against his skin (as was her way), the painted mare maintains a look of displeasure. Mahogany ears snap backwards amid the cream and ivory strands of his knotted mane. Eyes of golden yellow gleam bright as a look of irritation settles firmly across his own whiskered lips. ’I’m not happy at the drama you caused…’ she begins. A devious smirk flickers momentarily across his lips. And I am far lessed pleased by your loyalty. the beast snarls venomously in his mind but he refrains from letting the creature’s words pass his lips. At least not yet.

’Why Fell’s herd? Why my niece?....’ the questions that bubble from her lips are irritable in their delivery and give his mind reason to wander. Golden gaze traces the heavily swollen sides of her belly, admiring the movement and fluttering of his child within. So many other herds he could have stolen from? No. There was hardly an island untainted by Solomon’s lineage and Parvati was living proof of the desire to spread that seed. Her niece? Well how was he supposed to know that? Sure he should have been a bit more suspicious considering Tinvel but still his true reason was only to piss off his younger brother and considering he had done just that, he rather liked to think the job had been complete… for the most part. Sending the pretty little girl home tarnished and shellshocked might have been the beast’s idea but he had liked it. The fact that part had not happened was… unfortunate. He would just have to find other ways to dig at blackie boy.

She shakes her head and the painted stallion blinks his eyes, drawing himself back to the present moment. Pale lashes blink the distant thoughts from his eyes as Parvati brushes the subject aside for a more pressing matter. Curiosity drives his ears forward and he stomps a hoof impatiently. ’....about Yasmina. I need to be honest with you.’ Yasmina? Sure he had his suspicions about the girl’s looks but from the moment she welcomed him across her back, Loupgaru has kept his questions to himself and only ever protected the child as any father should. She drops her gaze to his hooves and instinct causes the hairs along his spine to raise in suspicion. Whatever she had to say could not be good. Had something happened to his daughter? Was she stolen? No that could not be. He had just seen her that morning racing across the open glen with a smile on her face, surely he would have heard her cries of protest or smelled the unwelcome stranger if she had been taken.

’...she is not yours….Fell’s.’ The words hit him hard and for a moment, he is frozen to the spot, only the fluttering of his nostrils hint that breath still entered his lungs. Yasmina? The same little girl he had carefully guarded since birth. The same filly he had raced and taunted in play? The same that Parvati had so adamantly claimed was his own? Fell’s?? That last bit was perhaps the worst. It explained the Inlet Queen’s continued absence and presence in the Bay. It all made sense now. This was why she had been so furious by the fact that he had tried to steal blackie’s daughter. This was why she had immediately attempted to pacify the Bay herd instead of standing up for the rights of her own guardsman… he was no father.

Anger and fury flared in his golden eyes as a gutteral snarl hung in his throat. Were it not for the obvious swell of her belly, he might have leapt at her with the desire to taste her blood. Yasmina was not his. For months on end, he had suspicions and yet at each turn Parvati had soothed them with quite words and reassurances. Now… now the tables have turned. ”Liar…. LIAR!” he growls, his voice heavy with emotions he never expected that he would find himself holder of. Liar. She had lied to him. He had stayed for her… for the children she claimed were his own and now… now he was left to question everything. He takes a step backwards and turns, turning his back on the Queen and mother of his children that he had vowed to protect. A queen of lies. A hard snort blasts from his lungs as he lowers his own thickly muscled neck and gives his proud head a shake, forcing the weight of the news he had just received back into the recesses of his mind. He dare not try to sift through them now.