When Lyden speaks, her already flicked back ears press down hard against her skull and her blue eyes narrow. She would be more than happy to let him handle the mare all by himself but she isn’t convinced he knows how to deal with the situation correctly and she doesn’t trust the mare enough to leave her. She is incredulous at his words; did he just threaten her position as lead? Or did he maybe just imply that she was not fit for the job? Either way, she can feel the fiery heat of hurt and white-hot rage prickling along the entirety of her skin. She has to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from screaming at him or attacking him outright but the metallic taste of her own blood does little to sooth her.

When she leads them to the pool, each step is made with absolute precision, fighting against the shaking rage that flowed freely through her blood. While the perlino bathes the wound, Lyden moves back to apologise. She tenses at his touch and her gaze remains stony and fixed on the mare throughout. Though the logical part of her brain knows that he is not actually saying she lacks compassion completely, except for her son, the irrational part hears exactly that. All she hears is another dig at her abilities as a leader. She does not appreciate it and does not bother to acknowledge him.

She is ready to lead the way up the low sloping bank to the small clearing within the trees but the mare’s words stop her in her tracks. There is defiance in the perlino’s stance. Jörmungandr fights the urge to kick her for her thoughtlessness audacity. Not content to draw predators to the shore, the mare now both defied her ruling and intended to endanger the herd even more directly. Jörmungandr snorts. ”Frankly, I do not care what you would prefer. Stopping in the clearing to clean your wounds is for the herd’s benefit as much as your own.” though at this point it was getting more and more difficult to want to help at all. ”It is better for them to be alone a short time than to spend an entire sleepless, uneasy night surrounded by the stink of dried blood and the increased threat of predators because of it.”

The sooner she can get rid of the blood that still dotted the pale mare’s coat, the sooner the herd was safe from imminent danger. If they went straight to the herd, the uneasiness would linger long after the scent of blood was gone. She knew it would put everyone on edge and could almost guarantee that Azazel and Fanatazer would stay up all night in concern for the injured mare. She is not entirely sure about how Aureila might react but suspects she would either stand guard as Jörmungandr herself would do or she would be right there with the other two. Zhenya may or may not be bothered as she does not seem overly concerned with the herd in general and Jörmungandr still can’t figure her out.

At the moment though, while the herd is more vulnerable without its leaders, she trusted their ability to stay safe and defend themselves. Aureila was tall and powerful and while Jörmungandr still did not fully trust the mare, she had no doubts that she would be capable of keeping everyone safe if the worst happened. Lyden’s son Braylen would be there too and, while he might still be young and filling out, he was making an effort that suggested he might take on the responsibilities of his own herd sooner than she would have expected for someone so young. She suspects he is probably standing guard now.

Keeping her attention on the mare and her body angled to block the path to the herd, she remains steadfast. ”If it is an issue then Lyden will check on them and the immediate area.” Truthfully, it would put her own mind at ease if he did. She would do it herself but she does not think Joukahainen would be able to keep up for the duration and she will not leave him. She also does not trust Lyden to clean the wounds properly or efficiently. It is a mare’s work after all and stallions are useless at it, or so the gamla tík always told her.

Her gaze flickers briefly over Lyden, trying gauging his thoughts on the matter. While a tired ache hand begun to burn in her tense muscles, she is more than willing to fight him for the sake of the herd if he attempts to defy and overrule her decision. If he is wise, he will agree to the safest, most efficient course of action that sees the perlino’s wounds clear and the herd not needlessly burdened. If not, and he sides with the injured mare then he should be prepared for a fight and the loss of his lead mare’s respect.