Rhaego had to give the dual-toned mare credit for surprising him. He didn't see her so much as flinch in the face of a seventeen hundred pound copper beast rushing towards her and not coming to the ungraceful stop until he was practically upon her. However, the surprise of short-lived... shouldn't she have been afraid of his approach? Any sane horse would have been, should have been, right? Yes, or at least that's what he thought. His suspicions are instantly on high alert... something was not right here. Why did she remain so calm, so unaffected by his demanding voice or the obvious signs of his temper as he narrowed dark eyes upon her splashed bodice.

A ragged breath is expelled roughly through his nostrils as a loud snort as the husky draft stallion shifts and turns to face her in a slightly angled position, tensed muscles bulging and rippling readily beneath his copper and ivory pelt. Thick locks of ebony forelock streaked with the purest of whites veiled half of his face and he tossed his head arrogantly to shake them further out of his vision. His heavy hooves stilled as he settled just the slightest, ears flicking to catch the dove's words and then casting subtly back.

"For what purpose does your King have in sending you to meet other Kings, like I?" From the less than subtle lilt to his gruff voice, it was no secret that he suspected her as a spy. Why else a mare with a herd be here saying such a thing? Having only just regaining the Dale, Rhaego was in no mood or inclination to let a mare play role in dethroning him. The day he was dethroned would be the day that he would truly have met a worthy opponent. Yet this mare, did she think like the others who had challenged him for rights to the land here? He bristled, meeting her brave eyes with a fiery intensity, evaluating her as she did of him and needing only a hint that she harbored ulterior motives to set him into motion. "You graze in the Forbidden Dale. I am Rhaego."