Size is definitely not an indication of power! Look at Ima. The little golden queen had oodles of it running through her veins, and yet she was tiny. Zilpah herself actually has a fair amount of power, she simply prefers not to use it for ill (nevermind the fact that it isn’t really up to her to command her friends to do anything). Friends don’t do that.
She’s tried to be a good adoptive mother to Sawflesh; she tried to teach her the ins and outs of the Desert, the good things and the bad. She tried to teach her where to find shade and how to avoid the poisonous critters. She tried to teach her that everyone could be nice (and should be!), but that not everyone is nice. She tried to bring the girl around her family - around Yael and Gaza - and tried to impose fatherhood on Zale. She tried to do everything that Ima had done for her, but in childhood seems so long ago (despite her persistent innocence), and Ima had been Queen then, often more Queen than mother.
The winged bay mare returns from a trip to the Field, circling high above the sands to find the ones she’s seeking. When Zilpah does find the lovely red girl she’s come to love, she swoops down on her red hawk wings,glad that she’s chosen a spot under some shade, ‘cause it was really freaking hot out under that sun. A genuine smile floods her face and the moment she’s stable on the sand, she folds her wings in and bounds over to Sawflesh. “Wake up sleepyhead! It’s a beautiful day! What do you want to do?”
The world was their oyster. They just had to take advantage of it.
Zilpah
a song of sand and snow