The red mare seemed to startle at the sound of my voice, which was not really that surprising. I suspected that she had a reason to come here, whether it be to foal or to escape, and I still wasn't certain what I planned ot do about either thing.

Even so, she did not greet me with hostility and so I offered a wary smile and a bob of my head in greeting as I settled near enough to her to allow easy conversation. She assures me she will be fine, first, but I don't know that I believe her. Her voice carries tremors of fear and uncertainty, and I try to soften the harsh lines on my face. Social grace has never exactly been my greatest skill, and whatever amount of it I had once possessed had likely gone rusty from disuse.

Her question, though, gives me pause. I watch her as I mull it over. I held no authority in the Arch - real or imagined - and even if I had wanted to chase this mare back to the Arch with bared teeth and threats, I wasn't sure that it would accomplish much. And yet my loyalty lay with Zion, as should this mare's, and it rankled some instinct deep within me to think that she was trying to run away from him.

Plus, I couldn't lie to myself. The thought of returning a wayward mare to him simply to earn his approval was worth consideration, too.

At least the first part of her question was easy to answer, and so I latched onto that. "At first, because I was curious where you were going. Then you crossed the border, and now... I don't really know. You looked like you were afraid of being alone." I made the equivalent of a shrug, my gaze darting away from her for a moment as I chewed on her other question.

After a pause, I finally spoke again, returning my gaze to hers. "Do you want to go back?"