He arrived, tension on the wind; a cold look in those pools. Little gentleness, obviously yon parent was mad. The breath I'd been holding was released, Fina shifted back and forth, anxious. Golden eyes fell forward when he started to speak to Drom, staring down into the ground. It didn't take years of knowing to understand he was angry and the current subject of such disappointment and fury. Yar, tis me.

I remained quiet, even when his attention came to me. His gaze on me, but I found myself unable to raise my stare. The weight of him was overwhelming, it was an unfamiliar pressure on this soul. I would have rather felt the physical pain brought by lighting than hear the disappointment in his tone and witness it behind a set of orbs I’d come to value above all others.

Yar, I listened though, listened well. Even as his voice rose and the earth trembled. My ears fell back, body shivered as if chilled; it wasn't until he finished and silence had fallen that I realized my chest was aching.

Exhale.

Quietly I raised my voice, it was soft compared to his thunder, a tree that had been shaken, bent to the will of him, but not broken, "I cry ye pardon."

The anger I felt for basin was stemmed from years of outward and distant grief. From the moment when Cera had been wounded by a basin cur, to Africa. I’d shown a unicorn mercy and she paid the price with her wing. There wasn’t even a number for how many who had given their lives for either foolish mistakes or its likeness brought from members of Basin kin. I thought back, remembering the bitterness that laced my tongue as each new story was weaved from the lips of others, friends and family alike. I'd been keeping a tally of their wrongs and finding it almost expected for their clan to be misguiding and traitorous.
"I..." Words stuck in the back of my throat, which had tightened with impossible coil. I didn't bother defending myself, there wasn't a point in such effort. I had been wrong, judgmental and harsh against them. Based on an expectation of wrongs, based on the pain those from said clan offered my closest friends.

Yet, he expected forgiveness.

"Ye speaks true and I hear it well." Shame taints my tone, crown is still bent down. How could I trust them? Was it even possible at this point? "Tis no secret I hold little love for those who live in the Basin." A thing he likely knew, "I don't know how to trust them..." In this I was weak, in this I was angry with myself, trapped beneath my fear of retaliation should I lent them trust. I hadn't flew down to question them because of these expectations. "I shall try..." This couldn't be something that suddenly changed within me, a small part of my soul fought for the right to hate them, the other pieces were weary of this tireless war that raged secretly within me.

Yar. I'll try.

An image came into my mind. Fina was nudging my consciousness, bringing me from thoughts. “The Basin filly,” I began, “If ye would bless it…I would seek to break words with her. I’ve wronged the child in this.” For their pain I was sorry, and my misguided soul ached to correct the sin. Perhaps in some small way…I could make amends. It wasn't much, but, it was a start.

I waited, preparing for…well…I wasn’t sure.

Cover me with a sheet
I know I'm not forgiven, but at least I may find peace