No, she didn't want to step away. Not right now, not yet. The fire he had lit within her still smoldered and cast a warm glow over the barren landscapes of her heart. She wanted to pretend, if only for a short while, that this brief connection had been more than simply a need of the flesh, that there was a deeper and more profound reason why they, of all the horses that roamed in Helovia, had crossed paths at this particular moment. Even if it meant fooling herself - because even now that little voice was whispering to her at the back of the mind, telling her not to be such a naive brat - Shadow wished to savor this instant for as long as it lasted. A new day would dawn whether she wished for it or not, and when that happened they would be forced to face reality and answer all these difficult questions one last time. Stay? Or leave? Together? Or... each to their own path once more?

For now, all she wanted to do was dream. And in a dream it didn't hurt to talk about the missing child, the lost mother, the hopes and dreams she had carried for so long without ever voicing, because the opportune moment had never arrived. Well, here she had it.

"Why not? You aren't bad company, and I have no herd to go back to" she replied with a slight smile, speaking easily yet with regret in the voice. "I used to stay with the Dragon's Throat, but that was many years ago and the horses I once knew are scattered with the wind. My son too..."

Something caught in her throat and forced her to stop and swallow. Okay, so maybe it still hurt. Some wounds just went too deep to be forgotten, even if she tried.

Still. His question seemed to be warranting more answer than what she had given, and as Shadow regarded the pale stallion she questioned herself again. Why would she stay? For him? For her? For the sake of a child that may or may not be growing within her?

She recalled how she had shivered as he came walking through the snow-capped landscape, like a ghost of silver and blue. Lust, surprise that anyone had answered her needy, shameless call, delight as he seemed to share the same longing for closeness. And the maddening, all consuming passion that followed.

Shadow smiled softly. The answer was quite simple, really.

"When I called, you were the one who came. I didn't want to be alone then, and I don't want to be alone now. I would rather stay together... At least for a while?"

She did not say please, she did not beg. He would never hear her plead for anything; the blackbird was too proud to ever do that, not for anything. But she could ask, and she did it graciously, quietly, shyly even, because she was still a mare too used to rejection and loss, and she knew that a refusal from this man would hurt. Yet it was better than to leave and regret; she had too many of those already, and it wouldn't be fair to decide for him what he ought to do.

A soft, black nose reached up towards his and paused halfway, quivering nostrils the only sign that she wasn't completely calm, the only hint to the flutter of inky butterflies in her belly.

This wasn't love, that much was clear. But she still wanted to stay with him, if only for a little longer. If he would let her.