The child remained unresponsive for the most part, and while Parvati seemed largely unconcerned at her lack of life, Solomon could not shake the feeling that something was very fundamentally wrong. He smiled as she laughed, but his eyes remained somberly on the girl until his daughter mentioned that he had been her motivation for the life she had created for herself.

You know I did all this for you, right? She could not have scored a more direct hit against his heart if she'd had homing lasers and he felt cold all over, knowing that she had waited years to see him visit, hoping to make him proud while he stayed away because he did not understand her lifestyle or the risks that she took. Parvati had always been a unique blend of her dam's impetuous nature and his own determination to see it through, never taking no for an answer even when all signs pointed to something being a lost cause. Time and again he watched her fill the Inlet with men that all seemed to eventually take offense at her attempts to force them into a subservient role. Now, only a few remained, but those few seemed to have kept Parvati whole and healthy, despite it all.

"I know," he said, pride and pain fighting for dominance in his voice. "You've done a good job." And she had. He could not picture anyone else who might have been able to gather so many stallions in a single place and keep them from ripping each other's heads off each season.

As he offers the question, he can see that he has struck some sort of nerve, although he does not yet know what it is. His own green eyes narrow and he watches her for a moment, wondering if she will come clean on her own or if he will have to pry the answers out of her. "What's wrong, Parv?" He sucks a tight breath in through his teeth as she attempts to deflect, dropping the bombshell of her departure on him in a clear attempt to distract him. It certainly wasn't that he disproved of Nicodemus ascending to lead the Inlet (if anything, he almost looked forward to someone more traditional, someone whom he wouldn't worry for each and every time he got to fighting in the winter, heavily preganant), but her timing of this news was suspicious. "What did Nyimara ask of you?"

Solomon