Einarr wanted to reach out and embrace Megaera, to pull her in close to him and wrap her in his wings. He wanted to shield her from the grief of failure, of losing their daughter. For what--or where--was she, if not dead? The black's heart sank deep to his cloven hooves. His lion tail wrapped around his back legs, ears tilting downward. He looked away from Sohalia as she stood there before him, and he watched the feisty bay he called his own. She did not stay rooted, though, as dancing figures began to appear below them.

The bloodrider raised his head above Megaera, catching the slightest glimpse of red and blonde. His heart skipped a beat. While he had not been at her birth, had not had time to rest on her and dote on her and name her, the warrior knew she was his. The gentle kiss of white on her muzzle was enough to solidify it, though with her primitive markings and carefully sloping shoulders--so strong, so agile even at this young age--Einarr knew she was produced from his loins. He swallowed a knot in his throat. Einarr knew the knot well--it appeared when Mordecai was saved from Histe, and when his twins were safe from him. Standing on a dune now, looking down at the delicate dun, the knot was swallowed down.

Megaera ran off to meet the filly, her movements wild and sudden and screaming of a mother's love. Einarr lifted a cloven hoof to follow, but stopped himself. He had asked Sohalia a question that needed answering, and it was what kept him to hear the answer. Placing his hoof back in the sand, the white-marked man turned to face the gray mare once more. He did not see his son--his son--run to embrace Megaera and Vastra. Black ears tilted forward to listen to what the woman had to say to him. His brows knit themselves together at the obvious expression of pain on her face. What the hell had happened? He took a step toward her, just as the words fell from her mouth laced with sorrow.

Everything inside of the man went cold. His muscles felt like instant stone as he stood there, staring at the Wildfire's mate Sohalia with concern. Did those words really just come from her? Had he heard her correctly? The Wildfi--Gaucho--was dead!? Einarr's chin lifted, face tightening. Blood eyes looked away from Sohalia and to the sky, anger apparent in his face as it hardened and his jaw tightened. "Vod chafaan." He whispered, voice laced with anger. Who killed him!? His shoulders shook, looking back to Sohalia.

The only words he heard in her explanation were Sun God and Sikeax. Had that tiny, puny, weak healer poison their Sultan? The khal was dead and she stood in his spot. Einarr raged, ears tight down in obsidian mane. "Sikeax kill Gaucho!?" Einarr snapped, tail lashing out and teeth gnashing together after the question.