In some ways, Solomon still clung to beliefs that many considered outdated. He still firmly believed that the risk of land ownership should fall on a stallion's shoulders, although not because he viewed mares as being weaker than him. Ysabel, Xiomara, Daciana, and Parvati (among many, many others) had all shown him that their strength matched and even often exceeded his own.

But Solomon would never be put into a position where he would need to decide whether the risk to his unborn child was worth the fight. Nor would anyone ever force him to carry a child he did not want. No one could separate him from a child that would die without the life giving nourishment he provided.

Thus, it was hard to see Parvati buck tradition in such a spectacular way. She attempted to take the way he'd lived his life with more lovers than any one stallion truly deserved, and attempted to twist it in reverse without considering how possessive most stallions were of the mares that they loved. Where Solomon could give each mare their own child to occupy them when he couldn't, Parvati could only deliver one that had to be shared between all of her current lovers, each of whom would be left to wonder if they were truly a father.

It was not an impossible style of life, as she'd proven to him, but one that bucked the very nature of their instincts and he knew she had struggled. Solomon was not proud to admit that a part of him had hoped that that struggle would eventually deter her from that style of life and allow her to adopt something more traditional, like the herd that Xiomara had kept on her own in the Shore. Something easier to maintain. All of that, of course, was water under the bridge. The weight of life had finally caught up to his precocious daughter, and he felt terrible for the gratitude he had for this fact. He adored her, and was immensely proud of her, but he would not lie: knowing that she would face less risk as she healed from her heartbreaks soothed a piece of him that had worried over her endlessly.

He listened as Nicodemus answered his question, aware that it had been a rather generic one. He wasn't sure how to go about strengthening their bond, only that he wanted to make sure Nico felt the support that he should have offered Parvati. He didn't want to make the same mistake twice.

"Good," Solomon murmured, pride in his eyes. It was good to hear that the Inlet was attracting new members, and that Nicodemus was already working to make it his own. As the calico spoke of Salem and a mare he was courting, Solomon chuckled, his thoughts immediately darting back to the past. He'd found Golden Illusion and Shararat there, as well as his glass-faced girl. He knew that he should feel guilty for how things had transpired with Feray, but he was not a perfect man, and she had been perfect for him. He shied away from delving too deeply into those thoughts and nodded. "Salem girls are something else," he said knowingly, but found himself unable to resist adding a warning to the end. "Just be careful of Nyimara... she's gone quiet again, but I would not put it past her- or your brother-" he tripped over this, words catching, but kept going, "to try and hurt you to get to me."

Nico then went on to inquire about the Cove herd and Solomon bobbed his head, taking a mental inventory of who remained and who didn't. Some had returned full-time, others had bobbed in and then away - for which he could not blame them, even if his heart hurt - and others had never left it at all. "Better," he admitted honestly, knowing that the last time they had spoken, the Cove had been in shambles. "If there is one thing I've learned," he said ruefully, his lips tugging up into a lopsided grin, "its that a good queen is worth her weight in gold. She will hold your family together while you deal with the rest of the world."

Of course, he probably knew that, having grown up with Ysabel as his mother. Ysabel had been a strong mare, a strong leader, but their differences had proved too great and his sins too many to forgive. He could not blame her for the way she'd grown distant from him, but it had left him no choice when it came to taking her crown.

"How do you intend to structure the Inlet? Do you plan to have a queen and a second?" Solomon had initially planned the Cove to be led in such a traditional way, in an attempt to give his chosen heir - whomever that was - a chance to lead their own subherd. In reality, it had proven to be more effective to have two queens because of the target he often painted on his own back. Having one queen to focus on the herd and another to focus on outside threats with him allowed him to stay focused and not get too distracted by the feuds that had once threatened to swallow the islands whole.

Solomon