His touch against her growing stomach sends shockwaves of instinctual fear down her back and she squeals. Minette knows that he would not kill their child, but she has learned that there are many ways to suffer and that death might be the easiest of those. She presses her nose to the spot he touched, unconsciously trying to rub his scent from her body. She wonders forlornly how the birth of the baby will affect their relationship. A wave of nausea hits her as she has a flash of suspicion. Will he want a foal from her during next year's fall season? Will she continue to supply innocents to her captor?
The silence that falls between her request and his response feels like hours. Minette feels frozen in time. A slight tremble shows in her body.
"I did not seek her out, sir." she replies. The truth is more complex and Min is not sure how to explain. She knew that there was another mare around, but she did not want to explain her misery to anyone. For a short while she wanted to pretend that she was full of life and possibilities again. And the ravens… the pale gray mare's dreams are filled with them, the same as her days. Her fellow herd mate and prisoner will not relieve her fear, because they are both trapped within the same labyrinth. But Minette does not know how to answer him, and so she says nothing else.
He pushes her to accept his gaze, and Minette does so with a small step backwards. She quickly tries to pass the movement off as simple readjusting. Gryffen is forever forcing himself into her space, and she has still not gotten used to his demands on her.
"What could happen to me that has not already happened?" Minette replies bitterly. "I am as safe there as I am anywhere." She exhales heavily, and then changes her tone, trying to be submissive and seem as if she does not care what his response will be. But she does. So desperately does she feel the need for an outlet that she is not above begging, or swallowing back her revulsion. Still, her longing and fear show clearly in the lines of her body, and it does not take a skilled hunter such as Gryffen to realize this.
"I thought perhaps a visit to the Meadow would make the…. the pregnancy- and my enforced isolation easier to bear through the winter. Especially since once I-when spring comes, I will probably stay close to ho-" she bites down on the word home, and changes it quickly, "to the mountains."
She is not good at games, having never needed to play them, but she tries to subtly hint that she would repay his permission with further unquestioned obedience. Minette avoids thinking of how little bargaining room she has.