Silence followed her summons, which - while it stung to know her sisters felt no need to answer her call - was not entirely unexpected. Even if she had won the vote, Róisín knew that she had not won their support. The longer she sat waiting, the more it felt like the Peak women were just out of sight, waiting and watching for her next move. Róisín longed to connect with them. It felt like it had been years since she'd had a confidant, and while making friends had seemed easy in a herd of so many other foals her own age, doing so now in a group of adult women was proving impossible.
To the dun mare's surprise, the first equine to venture her way was the one she least expected to see. Or, well, second least anyway. Rói was pretty certain that Oswin wouldn't be seeking her out anytime soon.
Róisín didn't have to search her memory for the name of the painted mare that approached her. Clarity had been the first - and only - to speak up against her original appointment as General, which meant that Róisín had been both fascinated and frustrated by her. She spoke then of not being sought out, which to a girl who usually did the seeking was a hard concept to grasp. The dun hadn't really understood her point of view then, but she thought that maybe she did now after watching Oswin struggle to lead them from afar.
It didn't mean that she agreed, but she could accept it.
"Hello," she answered back with a dip of her head, her gaze guarded as she looked upon her sister of over four years. "And thank you." She answered with her mother's manners, caging the sassy and still-wounded retort that circled in her mind. In truth, the Prime Minister position had never been Róisín's goal... but she could not allow the sisters to remain without a leader (no matter how inexperienced she may be) in the current world. If no one else was going to try and lead them, then Róisín would do her best, even if her best was just to serve as the figurehead against which the world and her sisters threw their hatred.
"It's Clarity, right?" She asked, despite already knowing the answer. She'd been curious of the monochrome mare after her statement at the elections so long ago, and had inquired to learn more of her without actually seeking her out. It had perhaps been... petty of her to not just seek out Clarity, as she'd clearly indicated a desire to be spoken to. At the time, Róisín had been so swept up in the grandiose plans that she was making with Oswin and Bane that holding banal conversations about Peak life had seemed distasteful. She knew better now.
"I meant to thank you for stepping up to defend the Peak. I appreciate it." She nodded respectfully, thinking of the battle for Fishbone. Clarity had lost to the desertbred pest, but it was not from lack of trying. Rói had tried to look for the mare she knew only by sight afterwards, with every intent of issuing a challenge for her freedom, but there was no sign of the enigmatic Fishbone on Salem.
"Do you mind if I ask you something? It's been on my mind since you spoke out when I was running for General." The dun didn't press further, giving Clarity the option to acknowledge or refuse the request. If she made any indication for Rói to continue, she would do so with a curious lilt in her voice as she fixed Clarity with a scrutinizing gaze. "You mentioned not feeling ready to be General yourself back then, if I remember correctly. Why don't you feel that you are ready?" She would gesture gently toward Clarity's fit figure and the well-earned battlescars she'd gained. "You are clearly a strong warrior. What else do you feel you need?"
Anath had put forth her name for General in the last election, although far too late for it to be counted in votes. Had she offered her candidacy earlier, Róisín would have had no problem supporting her. However, the more capable leaders the Peak held, the stronger they would all be together.