Dirk watched the fae creature before him as she seemed to come to a realization of sorts, a sheepish sort of realization. A brow rose in response as the forest sprite averted her gaze and he listened as she spoke. Even her voice was somehow magical and he had to suppress the urge to shudder. He was reminded of stories of his childhood where pups were spirited away by forest sprites when they were naughty. He knew them simply to be stories, certainly no grown man of his caliber would believe such things….but still. It was a bit unnerving to come face to face with a creature that so closely resembled the stories one was told as a child. Brushing the unease aside, Dirk focused on the woman’s words rather than her appearance and found that he was rather curious.

Dirk remained silent as he absorbed the female’s words. She’d attempted to kidnap him and his laird with only good intentions. Secrets and quite obvious discomfort with the whole situation. Certainly there was something going on here that bore further scrutiny. Arturio would want to know of this. No doubt the new alphess of Diveen would as well. As Dirk watched Zelda bow her head he continued to remain silent, inclining his own head in forgiveness. So far there had been no harm done. The clumsy attempt to steal had been easily thwarted. He was more curious than offended at this point and even if he were offended, he knew better than to pick fights with the fae.

As she continued, Dirk’s ears perked forward at the mention of the children and the new King of the moors. The whole ordeal had never sit well with him despite his own history of using stolen pack members as leverage. It was one thing to use a stolen wolf to negotiate hunting grounds but quite another to use them to blackmail an entire pack to leave their ancestral home. Though what interested him the most was the stipulations about Arturio. Brows furrowed and ears twisted outward as Dirk took a step forward. ”Easy lass. No harm done.” His voice was low and gruff, but he hoped at least somewhat reassuring. He was never really sure how to ease the minds of the fairer sex; particularly those who appeared to have stepped out of some childhood tale.

She continued, seeming to get to the root of her concerns or curiosity. The rub between Arturio and Blackthorne. He knew at least a little about the situation. Something to do with a friend of Art’s being pursued by the Darkbringer, but there wasn’t much more to know. Dirk suspected that perhaps the loss of Asteraia was related to the incident, but had not received any confirmation one way or another on the matter. She was tactful in her inquiry, this little fae queen. And certainly there didn’t seem to be any malice in her or subterfuge. Though really who could be sure about the later. After a moment of silence, Dirk settled himself on his haunches and considered the russet female before him with a slightly tilted head. ”And what would ye do with this information, Lady Zelda? Ye have yer wee bairns, ye’ve no intention of aligning yerself with my Laird...what use is any of this?” It wasn’t a particularly telling bit of information or one that he felt could be used against Arturio if it was disclosed. Blackthorne already knew the reason for the quarrel and Zelda had vowed to remain neutral. He would part with the reason, as he knew it, if he could glean a bit more information from the female on her interactions with the Darkbringer.