Whatever it is that she has said, it seems that something has clicked in his mind and she watches as he deflates a little. It should make her feel satisfied or proud, but it only makes her feel guilty, as if she had kicked a dog that was already down. She reminds herself that he has lost someone too, which he confirms a moment later by giving her a name and referencing the child that she had left behind. Her shame intensifies and the fierceness in her gaze melts away, leaving only uncertainty and unease.

Although Nicodemus was a villain in her story, the more she calmed down and learned of his situation, the more she understood that it wasn't a role that he had wanted. He had merely been acting out of the same panic and pain that had led her to lash out verbally the moment they arrived in the Inlet. As if reading the direction of her thoughts, he confesses to about as much and promises her that no matter, what she would be freed once they got back to Paradise. This only made her feel worse, but she nodded mutely, acutely aware of how selfish her acceptance was.

She felt for him, for Raini, for their child and child to come, but she'd been so close to grasping her own smidgen of happiness that all she wanted to do was to hold onto it, tooth and nail. She had even been considering having a child of her own with Annubis this season, but now all of this had thrown that into doubt.

"I will try to speak with him," she murmured, her voice small and doubtful. She didn't know for certain how much she meant to Annubis, and therefore did not know how much of his goodwill she had to spend. In asking for a mare's freedom, he not only might ignore her plea entirely, but find that she was not worth his kindness anymore. She wanted to believe he was not like that, that he cared enough for her and Promise to bend, a little, but she was hardly a good judge of character, as she had learned the hard way with Sigurdr.

The silence that followed was still tense and awkward, and she found her gaze drifting away from the stallion to the land around them. She had spent some time in the Peak as a girl, and so she was used to this sort of austere beauty, but it was still strange to look upon it and know that her parents had walked here, once. She frowned, her heart aching briefly at the thought of her momma and she glanced back to Nicodemus. Lyrae had been good at hiding, even better at being quiet, but perhaps this stallion knew of her.

"Since I'm here," she began hesitantly, her ears tipping back as she realized this stallion had no reason to be kind or tolerant of her questions. "Have you heard of a mute mare named Lyrae? She used to live with Solomon, I think." She had heard of her supposed sire's death some time ago, although the news hadn't meant a great deal to her. Her "father" had never come for her, and though she had no idea if he'd even known where she was, she still resented him for this fact. Not enough to be glad he was gone, but enough to say his name without a waver.