"You bitch," he snarled, ears flattened to his poll, nostrils curled into a hateful sneer. It had taken him hours to find her after she'd screamed her challenge into the still spring air, hours that had allowed her to hide away the children he might have been able to use to threaten her. Hours that she might have used to forge alliances and make friends. Hours that gave her an advantage she did not deserve.

She smirked at him, though the grin trembled on her lips and did not linger long. "You lost." He stepped forward and she took one back, lifting her head and narrowing her eyes. It took everything in Asmodeus to not lunge at her, regardless of the fact that she was his family. She had stolen away his chance to prove to Nyimara that he was a worthy King, had stolen their advantages out from under their very noses, and now stood - defiantly - where he should be standing. He stalked another step forward, head predatorily low, ears flattened.

"But it doesn't have to stay that way." Kohelet interjected hastily, her voice firm despite the fear he could sense in her.

His eyes narrowed, but he found himself intrigued despite his better judgment. He said nothing but motioned for her to continue explaining, raising his head back up and fixing her with a harsh stare. "I don't want to stay here any more than you want me to stay here, Asmodeus." Which was true enough, although Asmo had never given voice to those thoughts. He resented the reminders of his past in the Cove, even while acknowledging that holding Kohelet gave them important leverage over both Solomon and Fell.

"So here's the deal-" she continued, tossing her forelock to the side and drawing herself upright as if she were speaking to her own misbehaving children. "I will give you the Desert and tell our father to let you be, but you will not come after me, my children, or Fell." The patchwork stallion stared her down, mulling over her proposition. He was initially surprised that she had not included Solomon in her cease-fire, but perhaps it was because she was wise enough to know that he would not have agreed if he had been included. Solomon needed to pay for what he had done. Needed to be held accountable for the way in which he had abandoned Asmodeus.

It didn't matter that it worked out for the better in the end, the initial insult was still real, and still unresolved.

"Deal." He growled, not knowing if he would ever again have Nyimara at his side. This, at least, would grant him the Desert and the capability to protect what had become theirs.

"Then it's done," Kohelet said firmly, backing away from him without looking away. She seemed to sense the predatory glint in his eye again, the one that had immediately begun to contemplate double-crossing her and forcibly claiming her before she could leave, but she added a quick caveat that kept his hooves firmly in place. "The Desert is yours as soon as you can no longer see me from the shore."

He chuckled bitterly but inclined his head, acknowledging her effort to thwart him. "Then go."

He watched her leave in silence, thoughts whirling. He had promised not to go after her himself... but he had not (nor would have) spoken for Nyimara. What she would decide to do when - or if - she came back would be up to her.