This was the moment in which she had been waiting, the moment in which she was summoned by a call that spoke of a challenge to her authority. In a sense it was a relief, almost, to be answering it with her own and treading towards the one who seeks to face off with the Empress. A relief to reveal her own strength and prove that she was a worthy successor, not for her own benefit, but for those who might doubt her. Might doubt Andras selection of her. What had Praetor said? That because she had not been raised and trained for this role, she might be the best suited for it. Strange how that worked and yet, had she not been raised for such as this? In the harsh environment of her youth she had fought, she had starved, and in the end she had ultimately killed - more for revenge than anything, yet killing, in any form, had no defining reason.

She faces off with Carnage with her own face a tense look that is both fierce and frightening. Only those of a weaker stomach would turn away despite how daunting she was, for she was as Carnage depicted her, broad and stout and in every sense a bulldog of a wolf. There is very little about Aithne that can be considered supine and lovely except, perhaps, the flash of her green eyes and the red rim around her left pupil; it is not often she smiles, at least in a genuinely thrilled sort of manner, but maybe even then she might be on the verge of pretty.

Carnage stands in the face of the threat of Aithne with a calm exterior that suddenly breaks into one of cool reserve, dipping her head while Aithne's eyes track the movement as if intent to strike. Yet her snarl subsides as her ears swivel forward to catch the sound of her voice, her eyebrows slamming down to narrow her eyes as she glares at the female. "Is that so?" She answers in a dry, agitated sort of tone, clearly not thinking there should be a reason that she would be so eager to meet this female. Yet the gleam in her eyes does not dismiss her, for Aithne is intelligent and clearly this wolf thought she had something to offer Iromar. Maybe she did.

They are at an impasse and Carnage seats herself, a clear indication that she is trying to ease the tension that fairly sparked between them. Did she speak hyperbole, this wolf? As if everything she said was of importance to Aithne, as if she offered some great skill she had heretofore left unnamed? Still, it would be quite dense of Aithne to send away a wolf who had potential to offer something to pack and Carnage, for her sleeker and more feminine form, looked well built and capable of whatever needed to be done. Strong bodies were always a plus so long as the head could be counted on as well.

Aithne does not sit, instead she just shifts her weight to the side, easing out of her fighting stance. "It all depends, then, on what you think you have to offer a pack such as mine? You say you make messes and you clean them up, are you of a profession of assassination or mindless murder? I know nothing of you and it would be folly indeed for me to let in a stranger who comes seeking attention in the middle of the night for the fun of it. Remedy my knowledge, stranger, and I shall see what use I may have of you. Firstly, what is your name? I suspect you already know mine but I am Aithne, Empress of this land." It is rather long winded for Aithne but she has started to become accustomed to such speeches. Being an Empress meant peace talks, it meant speeches with the pack, and so much other stuff that seemed a ridiculous amount of talking, yet she was finding that she wasn't as bad as she once assumed.