Fechin is busy studying Aodhan’s fetlocks and staring at his metallic spots, much as she had done. Those spots do seem like a dead giveaway that even if he wasn’t their uncle, there might be some family relation… somewhere. Their grandsire had other descendants, it had been explained, and so the stallion could easily be one of them.

Her twin glances sidelong at her - a rather conspiratorial look shared between the sisters - that leaves them in quiet agreement that this is a matter for their mother to settle. If they can find her. Before @[Aodhan] can elaborate on @[Fechin]’s question, Brienna interjects: "Remember, he can change shapes.” The yearling warns. If he could disguise himself as a bird, why not a horse with spots? Why would he? her glare says when she looks back at the shapeshifter.

A pale ear flicks to the stallion as he starts to speak and Brienna watches him guardedly.

She learns that their grandparents were devoted to each other. That Leilan took control of the Isle for Breckin, their grand-dam. It was an endearing story, one that might have made Brienna go soft-eyed if Aodhan hadn’t chased her across Nerine to tell it. He does come bearing a warning that clouds Bri’s curious expression. Roz? she thinks, storing the name away for later.

What threat might she pose to them? Was she another shadow for the North to fear?

A scent fills the air and when Brienna turns her pale face around, there is her mother. The girl’s face lights up with relief and the yearling filly even manages to smile at the arrival of her mother. Her uncle and his missteps across the moorlands are momentarily forgotten.

It isn’t until @[Eurwen] starts teasing the baroque stallion that Brienna finally starts to accept that there might be some merit in what he had said. Her spotted dam is bumping shoulders with the taller male that Brienna shyly teases (and she has a gleam of fresh sweat to prove it): "Uncle Aey tried to eat to me.”

Brienna stands quietly, at first. Her silver eyes look from her spotted dam back to her older sister and then finally to her uncle again. Her tail whips between her legs and she still can’t tell where he fits in. If he stays as he is, then maybe he can in Nerine. If he keeps changing shapes (and the yearling is looking at him again, studying him), it might be something she has to talk to Mama about.

Their mother is playing with the stallion’s mane and Bri tilts her head curiously because the action is something that she and Fechin do. Her mother has a… brother? What an odd thought for a child. Brienna can feel her face squinting as she watches them, her blue eyes dancing from her dam to the stallion as if she looks hard enough, the truth will reveal itself.

It does.

@[Aodhan]’s head changes back to its earlier shape and the filly pins her ears, baring her teeth briefly before she gets scared enough to bury her face into the comfort of her twin’s neck. Thankfully, she doesn’t shake like she does when the thunderstorms blow through Nerine. Brienna keeps her eyes firmly shut and doesn’t open them until she is ready. The yearling stamps her front hoof, irritated with his Magic.

Feeling Eurwen’s brown eyes on her emboldens Brienna to speak up. How dare he speak to their mother that way.

"Mama can have five hundred babies if she wants,” the yearling says, defending their dam. It seems like a high enough number - in fact, it’s the highest she can think of at the moment.

Glancing back to her sister and then her mother as they speak of the ‘Roz’, she snorts. They seem so concerned with this monster that he speaks of that she thinks they forget whats in front of them. Brienna just glares up at the shapeshifter. He might be able to distract them but he wouldn’t fool her. Maybe, he could be this ‘Roz’ that he was warning them about.

Their mama cuts to the quick with the spotted male and Brienna gives her head an imperceptible nod of approval. Bri turns her silver eyes to look up at her dam and her face softens when she looks away from Aodhan, when she peers up at her mother from beneath her pale lashes. It’s an easy look to read - appreciation. It touches the corners of her mouth and the yearling almost lifts them up in a smile.

For now, the spotted stallion is speaking about Roz again and Bri turns her white head to apprehensively stare at him. She wonders if he took another shape when he met this mare. Part of the yearling thinks that she can’t blame the way that her supposed grandmother would react if she encountered @[Aodhan] much the same way she had. Perhaps he had sharp teeth that gleamed menacingly when he smiled, perhaps there was a predatory glint in his green eyes when he approached her.

Snorting softly, Brienna doesn’t think her thoughts are entirely out of line.

It was a confusing situation to follow. If it was their granddam, why would she pretend to be somebody else?

The spotted filly looks to the ground and nearly kicks out at a rock, trying to stand patiently like their mother had encouraged them to do. (What good was a dancing Diplomat?) Brienna is half-tempted to snort again, trying to vent some of her frustration in a tangible gust of hot air. Their uncle had been a rock? What an unusual shape to take. Her ears flick forward and she looks up, letting most of her silver-eyed gaze remain hidden beneath her forelock.

He laughs and Brienna tilts her head slightly, wondering if he might take the form of one of those new shapes he insists are so fun.