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Siniy watched the beautiful, ice-blue mare as she came into their midst. She followed Lord Baldur into his cave and his one hope was that when she emerged, she would emerge as a new member of their Glory. For he had lost his heart to her the moment he set eyes on her. There was something about the way she moved, and the way she carried herself that spoke to him. This was a mare who had seen hardship in her life and was not beaten down by it. She walked through their midst with her head held high, not ashamed or embarrassed by anything. If Lord Baldur did not accept her, he was afraid he might just have to leave the Glory and follow after her. But he was getting ahead of himself. He would wait until she came out before jumping to conclusions that might be wrong.

An hour passed and both she and Lord Baldur emerged. He introduced her as Glacial, and told everyone she would be assigned to patrol duty. He left her to mingle with those gathered, and he wasted no time in welcoming her. "Greetings Glacial. I am Siniy Yedinorog, but everyone just calls me Siniy. Welcome to our Glory. If there is anything at all I can assist you with, you have only to ask. I am at your beck and call." He bowed his head to her, and upon raising it, he looked straight into her eyes and smiled.

"A place to stay? Why of course, follow me," he said, and he led her off to show her a number of empty caves in which she could make her home. He was tempted to show her his own, but he thought better of the idea. Best to give her time to get to know him better before making that bold move. When she had chosen one that suited her, he left her, and went in search of Eclipse. He wanted to see about having her assigned as his patrol partner. That would give them time alone. Time to talk, and get to know one another better. He wanted to know everything there was to know about her. And he wanted her to know everything about himself.

Siniy was walking tall, as his meeting with Eclipse had gone exactly as he had hoped it would. Glacial would be paired up with him on his next patrol. He had given the patrol leader his word that he would see to it that she was instructed in the use of the Horn, though it would be him who carried it on this first patrol, as well as the mountain paths that could be so dangerous. He promised he would not let any mishap occur to their newest member.

He left his meeting with Eclipse and went in search of his new patrol partner. He hoped she would be as open to the pairing as he was. He went and checked her cave first, but she was not there. Next he checked in with Willow, the Glory's healer, but she had not seen the new mare. He was heading to see Cosmos next when he caught sight of her in the distance. He hurried to catch up to her, calling out, "Glacial! Wait up!"

He trotted up to her and came to a stop. "I just met with our patrol leader, Eclipse. He is the one who determines who is teamed with who on patrol. He informed me that you would be assigned with me for your first patrol. I hope that you will find my tutelage adequate to the task. We are scheduled to relieve the current patrol when they return in two days. That should give you time to rest and I can show you around the Glory's home turf."

As they walked about the Glory's territory, he tried to answer each of her questions. He was just happy she was glad to have him as a patrol partner. They would have a lot of time to learn all there was about each other in the days and weeks to come.

"Yes, I was brought here by a young human female from my previous home. I've been here for quite a while now, but there are few of those I knew before who are here. I keep hoping that one day some will show up, and we will be reunited."

The days passed, as he and Glacial waited for the current patrol to return. He made sure to take the time to meet with her at least once every day, teaching her the new alarm codes for use with the Horn. She wouldn't see the Horn until the current patrol returned. The day finally arrived, and the two of them headed out on patrol.

They were high up in the Icefury, and the snow was thick on the rocky paths. They walked sure-footed though, having been raised in just this sort of environment. He could see that Glacial was as at home up here as he was. "You carry yourself well Lady. I can tell you are accustomed to walking on snow and ice."

"No, none in the Glory have life mated, yet. Eclipse rescued Wilca from up here when she fell during a flight. I think perhaps she felt indebted to him for that, and is why she mated with him, but I've seen no indication that she wants him as a life mate. Not too long ago, before you arrived, Lord Baldur told all of us that if we chose to do so, we could go in search of winged unicorns to mate with. He came to the realization that we need more winged patrol members. Before Wilca arrived, he was the only one of us who could fly, and we would patrol alone. You'll find, if you try to reach anyone back in the Glory, that we are too far away for them to hear our thoughts, which is why the patrol on duty always carries the Horn. It can be heard no matter where we are in the Icefury. However, we need to take care when we blow it, for it has been known to cause the snow to fall from the heights. You don't want to be in the way if that happens."

"Avalanche, yes that's the word. I had forgotten it." He took a moment to consider her words before he answered her question. Should he be truthful about his feelings for her now, or should he give them more time to get to know one another? He was ready to take her as his life mate right this second, but he couldn't be sure if she had those same feelings for him. If he told her how he felt, and she was not of the same mind, it might put her off from him, and he couldn't dream of that happening. Finally he came to a decision.

"I've thought about it, I won't deny it, but honestly, I'm of the same mind as you Glacial. I don't want to mate with just any mare, even if she does have wings. I want to give my heart to one special mare, and know that she and I will always be together. I want to raise whatever children we have, together. If I were to mate with a someone from another Glory, there's no guarantee that I would ever see those children again, and what good would that do us here? Lord Baldur wants our offspring to strengthen our Glory, and not someone else's. I'd have to find a winged mare who was not committed to a Glory, and try to convince her to come live up here. And honestly, there aren't many mares that I know of who are as willing as you are to do that." Now he would put forth a little feeler to see how she reponded. "I would much rather life mate with someone like yourself, than one of the former."