Kohelet rushed to Fell the moment he stepped out from the cover of the treeline, her nostrils fluttering softly with a quiet nicker of welcome. It didn't even cross her mind that she abandoning the stalwart figure of her father, only that she needed to reassure herself that Fell was not only well, but still real. A part of her had been half-convinced that she had dreamed him and those wonderful days in the Bay up.

The sound of her name - broken though it was - from his lips made her flush with pleasure all over again, and she settled at his side with a soft brush of her muzzle over his lean shoulder. She had no idea what it would be like to live in the Bay permanently, but she hoped it would come with at least a few more days alone with him before he inevitably filled it up with a bunch of other mares. She knew how to live in a herd, but that didn't mean she would be eager to trade away her alone time.

"Daddy, this is Fell." She said after a moment, her head raising proudly despite the nerves that raced through her. She felt like so much was riding on this one moment, and it was all on her to balance the desires of both stallions. It didn't matter that she was the only one that had placed this burden on her shoulders. To her, it was imperative that she find a path of peace between the two of them; without some sort of an agreement today, Kohelet knew her father would be forced to resort to violence in order to keep his crown, and that was the last thing she wanted. Curling back to touch Fell again with a brief brush of her muzzle against his neck, almost as in apology. Explaining who her family was had been the least of her concerns the last time she'd been in the Bay, and she didn't know if this was coming as a rather rude surprise to him.

"And this is my Father, King Solomon of Tinuvel." Her gaze rose nervously to her father's face again, attempting to read his mood beneath the careful mask of neutrality that he wore.

---

Watching his daughter run away from him to cling to the young stallion was its own unique kind of blow. It was one thing to know that she was growing and maturing, finding her own lover and having children, and another, sharper, pain to know that someone else had become her safe haven. In the blink of an eye, this black stallion had replaced him as Kohelet's home base, and the realization left him hollow. Surprisingly, there was a difference between knowing this had happened - such as with Halcyon and Fritjof - and seeing it firsthand.

In-person was very much worse and certainly didn't help Solomon's first impression of the young black stallion, not that much would have. Fell looked half-feral by the time he emerged from the hidden depths of the Bay and it did nothing to assuage Solomon's concerns. Was allying himself on this half-wild creature truly the best path forward? If anything, it made him even less eager to hand the safety of his young daughter over to Fell, and yet he knew that if he were to try and separate them now he would be facing two opponents instead of one.

And it wasn't like he was overrun with other options.

The tobiano king inclined his head as Kohelet introduced him, but took a moment to carefully choose his words. Kohelet had told him that Fell did not really speak, although she was a little unclear whether this was a choice or a defect. If it was a choice, it was a strange one, but Solomon could see the allure. He'd always felt as though he spoke more clearly through touch and body language than he ever had through speech, and yet there was no denying that muteness came with certain limitations.

"Welcome to Tinuvel," he finally began, forcing his feelings for Valka and her disappearance to the back of his mind. There had been no battle to mark the changing of leadership, which seemed to imply that Valka had abandoned it and her herd to whoever the next lucky claimer would be.

"I know you've already spent... time with my daughter," his eyes narrowed at the implication of just what that time had entailed, "and that she has expressed a desire to stay with you." A much younger Solomon would have likely tried to assign his daughters to the herds that offered him the best advantage, but even newly-arrived-on-the-islands Solomon hadn't been so cold or controlling. These days, the only time he wished he could step in is when his daughters went to those places that he knew were dangerous to their wellbeing. If Kohelet wanted to stay next door in the Bay, then who was he to argue? At least it was next door.

Even so, he doubted that Fell knew him to be that kind of father. "I'm inclined to allow it," he spared a glance for Kohelet's tense face, her wide, hopeful eyes fixated on him and suppressed a smile. She reminded him of the days when Suleiman and Silka had still called the Cove home; the lovesick expression on her face had been the same one that Sul wore every time he looked at Silka"But in return, I need you to support my crown."

And to treat his daughter well. And to not be a hot piece of garbage. Those things, Solomon hoped at least, were unspoken. Perhaps in time, once he'd had a chance to understand more about the new Bay ruler, Solomon might be able to offer and request more of an alliance. An agreement to stand against Rougaru, and to allow safe passage between their herds for more than just Kohelet. All of those things, however, would take time. For now, they only needed to hammer out the basics.

Sharpening his gaze as he appraised the young stallion in front of him, the lean king finished what he had come to ask. "Can you agree to that?"

Solomon