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Heh. He could tell what she was thinking by her movements. Worry spread across her face so obviously and every few minutes she would fidget slightly, nervously. They had made a deal and she would honor it, regardless of if she wanted it or not. He had to do this. Nothing could fix the crimes he had committed long ago, but the least he could do is try to make things right.

He had bed many mares in his life so that requirement was easily filled. The mare was beautiful. It was part of why he chose her. She reminded him of Isolde... another mistake of his past.

The mistake he wanted to fix reached further than that. As he was Lord Soth, he had a Lady once, Lady Korrine. It was she that he had wronged completely and it was there that he wanted to make things right. He knew that was impossible but the gesture.. he knew she would understand. She always understood him where others had failed. She saw good in him when others had not.

He had killed their mutant son. She had loved their son as she had loved him and he had taken from her something that had nearly destroyed her. In his rage, he had almost destroyed her as well. It was his love that kept him from killing her that night. Instead he left. He left her to mourn the loss of her -- their -- son all alone. He was a b*****d and he knew it.

He would claim the basket from the silvery mare that reminded him of Isolde. He would leave it with Korrine. Even if it would anger her, he knew that she would love the foal within. He knew that she loved him still just as he would always love her. He knew that as much as he knew that he did not belong with her. He was nothing but trouble and pain. It was his curse. It was his lot in life.

He had heard of her attack and near death at the hooves of another stallion. He had heard how she had raised those foals with love as any mother. No, better than most mothers. She was always so strong. Not physically, of course. No, he thought with a grin, remembering times in their youth when they had played together. She never had that physical strength but it was her inner fire and determination that made her popular among the males. It had caught his attention. Korrine was proud, strong and beautiful. Her beauty was not as obvious as other mares. It was one that grew on you. It grew on you and within you until it blocked out all the other mares. Korrine was pure life and love in one package.

He had done so wrong. He had robbed her of a foal between them and though this 'gift' would not be of her blood, he was confidant that she would know what it meant. If she did not act on it, he would leave and never return, but he had to see. He had to know. Could he make up for his past mistakes? Is he really meant to live a cursed life until the end of days?

Lord Soth had been watching the mare for days now and he was growing impatient. He needed to get the basket to Lady Korrine before the foal was ready to come out. It would be harder to strip a child from his or her mother when it was out and had grown attached, especially if that child might meet its death.

However, the large stallion had been doing a lot of thinking in the last two days and since there was three baskets instead of the two he was expecting, he decided he would take two of them. He knew the mare would not be pleased with this change of plans at all but it wasn't like she had any real choice in the matter. "Angelique, you make choose one basket to keep." The muscles in his body tightened and her lowered his head to look into her eyes, letting her know that he was not to be messed with.

Naturally, the mare broke down and cried. He never liked that about females. They were too soft, too emotional. He hated dealing with them. Why couldn't a mare be just as strong as a stallion emotionally? Why did they always resort to being a blubbering idiot? That's one thing he liked about Korrine. Though she was emotional and she did cry on occasion, she did it far less than the average mare, and she's certainly been through worse.

"Make your choice."

The stallion turned away from her and eyed the black basket intention. "I do not know," he stated honestly. "The black basket is going to be given away and the owner may choose to destroy it." The large stallion nearly rolled his eyes as the mare broke out in another batch of sobs. It really was becoming irritating. "Be quiet," he ordered, though it came a little more gently than he had wished. He knew that his actions were cruel but that was part of the deal. That had always been the fate of the basket in question.

"The other I will raise as my own son or daughter. I will not forbid you from seeing him or her as you wish or vice versa. However, any decision that affects the foal will be made by me. It will not be questioned, it will not be argued upon. I will not prevent you from being a mother, but a mother is all you will be. Do you understand? In return, I will not claim any deciding rights to the foal you have chosen except that of being the father. I would like visitation rights if I ever decide to act on them. Even if I do not, I demand the foal be knowlegable of who his or her father is."

The large stallion turned to the white basket and studied it for a moment. It was so opposite the others as well as himself. "I will leave the gray basket in your care until I return. If for any reason you leave or try to change the deal, I will take all the foals from you. Do you understand? They will be raised motherless." Once he was sure the threat was made very clear, he turned and grabbed the rim of the black basket with his teeth and began to drag it away. If he didn't stop to rest, he should be able to get to Korrine's clearing before morning.

It was morning by the time he returned but the mare was still there, near the baskets. Whether she stayed out of fear or mere acceptance mattered little to him. "The foal will live," he stated coldly. The mare obviously relaxed and provided no further questions. She was smart. She knew that she would not get any answers or information from him. Though the situation was not a happy one, he had made a good decision in a mother. She was intelligent, beautiful and maintained herself with dignity even when the situation was a sad one. She had cried but she wouldn't be much of a mother if she hadn't.

Wasting no time, he walked over to the gray basket and pulled off the lid. He could hear Angelique gasping nearby from shock but then walking forward to curiously look at the foal with him. This one was a boy as well.



"His name will be Loren, after myself." This brought a quizzical look from Angelique as few in this land knew him as anything but Lord Soth. He had to admit, the foal was striking. His gray body had a shine to it much like his mother but his hair was as dark as night, like his own. When he opened his eyes quickly at the light that had suddenly been forced upon him, he had caught the pure white of them momentarily. He really was a good blend of both parents and Soth knew that he had chosen well.