The fierce winter wind whips hard across the snow-blanketed mare, causing her to exhale a sharp snort in protest. Raven-tipped ears snap backward in frustration as the mare fights her way through an ice-encrusted drift of snow. Crystalline ooids cast a sweeping gaze over the mountainside that stretched ahead of her. Angst and frustration tug at her heart as the rose-colored mare stops and draws strength from the mountains she so loved. Why she felt so frustrated was more of a tangled knot that she did not necessarily WANT to unravel.

Winter usually stalled the Lagoon stallions’ attempts to pierce the mountain mares' armor; however, there was a particular Lagoon stallion that suddenly seemed…. absent.

Khyber.

Despite her continued defiance to the attraction that always flared when the brown and white stallion appeared, his recent disappearance has left her feeling almost torn. Part of her wanted to risk a visit to the Lagoon if only to ensure that her son and his father were indeed well and merely hunkered down to survive the winter weather in what warmth they managed to find in the swampy bachelor's territory. That part of her needed to set eyes upon them both, needed to see that they were safe and not locked away in a cage somewhere or forgotten and in pain. That last thought left her near breathless at the consideration and she is forced to shake her dished head to rid her mind of those thoughts.

The other part of her howls above the rising wind, swirling around her ears and screaming the warning into mind. She is the Minister of the Peak mares. She should not have any feelings towards a stallion…. Any stallion. Males are a mere tool to assist in the production of children and an enemy at any other time. ”Stop this!” She snarls, hoping that hearing the words aloud will silence the whispering tones that beckon her away. She has responsibilities here. Daughters here. Mares who looked to her for guidance and reassurance that the near-constant challenges they faced were not a mere never-ending battle. She could not fall into that softness.

Yet another snort blasts from her nostrils as Khar blinks through snow-covered lashes and once again turns her watchful gaze to the loosely gathered herd below, searching for any signs of threat or danger that needed her attention.

Khar'pern

The jungle is dark but full of diamonds;