He remembers their meeting back in the fall before he took over the Inlet. It was an unusually cold fall with ice hammering the Inlet. It had been the first time he remembers seeing Tinuvel covered in such thick ice for so long. He met Icewine huddled together with two of his mares for shelter from the storm. Nico had noticed those two mares were no longer in the Inlet and two others had replaced them. It made him curious, but his friend was a private stallion.

Icewine kept his family affairs close and stayed out of the drama his sister created. Not to mention his own drama he was creating by challenging other herds for members. Though no one has come for Pyre he knew he could only get so lucky once. The next time, and their would be a next time, might not be so easy. But this was not the time or place. Nico adjusts his posture as his friend begins to speak again. He listens as best as he can, but his bias is strong. "I see you feel passionate about this Icewine," He says. "I will give it deeper thought, but I cannot promise anything."

After all he only had one boy still considered a child. Ganondorf was two and Augustus would be two come spring. He could still send them, but he also couldn't imagine his son's spreading the same terror Vadim and that last stallion had caused for him. That was not the type of stallions he wanted his sons to be.