ooc: cw for sa mention
"It is a respectable place for men," Rehoboam snarled in response, annoyed that he'd had to make the clarification for Frey. Just because the two of them were not the sort to rape and plunder did not mean that a new arrival wouldn't be. There was no way for any of the Lagoon's men - positions of power or not - to vet and verify that all of the new arrivals were the sort that were safe to have around his baby sister. They could hope, but there was no way to guarantee it, and Rehoboam wasn't willing to risk Bellona's safety in that manner.

"Can you promise me that the next stallion who walks into the Lagoon will not lay a hand on her? And I'm not saying you won't try to protect her," Rehoboam continued, although there was little doubt as to how unwilling he was to trust Frey's ability to protect her at all. "But when you are away or busy or otherwise occupied stirring up trouble for us in the other herds as you have done previously," Reh continued, not missing a chance to point out that Frey was, at least in part, responsible for why the Lagoon's reputation was not improving quickly. None of the Lagoonies had missed his successful attempt to imprison the blue mare, nor his subsequent absence when retribution had predictably followed.

"What then? You know she is deaf. You know she trusts more than she should. You-" Reh's voice cut off abruptly as the very mare they were discussing arrived, already spitting mad in defense of her ill-chosen lover. The grullo tensed but refused to back down, his dark rimmed ears all but disappearing beneath the tangle of his inky mane.

"No." He replied firmly, stalking forward to stand face to face with Bellona, his lips curled into a sneer. He didn't know how he could love someone so incessantly irritating but he knew that he couldn't let her win in this, baby sister or not. "You don't."

He had no idea how she could ignore every single lesson their father had ever taught them about the Lagoon. It was one thing for him to disobey direct orders, given that he risked very little in staying here, and something else entirely for her to do the same. Surely she had to know that their father would die of worry if he knew where she was now and that she planned to stay here in defiance of every loving word he had ever offered her.

Either way, Rehoboam knew that bickering with her wouldn't get him anywhere. If he was to succeed in his goal, he needed to fire hard at Frey. Bell would defy him for the simple pleasure of telling him no, but Frey? Well, Reh had a few more tricks up his sleeve when it came to the red-headed boy.

He turned to face Frey again and found a new timber in his voice that he'd never used before, the sort that had followed any of the hard decisions Reh had ever watched his father make. "Either she goes, or you both go." Given how much pushback Frey had already offered, he clarified his position. "I can't force you to leave Frey, but I can make her go. And I will, even if it makes her hate me."

Or he could, at least, as long as he held rank within the Lagoon. Rehoboam was not oblivious to the elections that would come, nor to the fact that their current Boss had been missing for months. If he wanted to achieve lasting safety for his little sister, then he needed to ensure that Frey could not find a way around his decree.

"We both know your father wants the Boss's spot. I'll back him in exchange for his support in this." Tyr had been working closely with Rade to try and change the Lagoon's reputation, a position that had been complicated by Frey's insistence on causing trouble with the other herds by keeping a prisoner after the men had vowed not to do that very thing. Without the support of others beyond his son, there was no guarantee that Tyr would be able to earn himself a victory.

Turning from him, Rehoboam shifted to more clearly speak on what he said to Bell next, and while he knew that she couldn't hear him, he couldn't help the note of pleading that had crept in. "It doesn't have to be home, Bell. Just not here. Please."