Her outward displeasure is subtle but not invisible, read from the snap of her tail and the way her nostrils flare with an intake of breath. It is more of a reaction than he had expected, if he were honest. He thought she had already divined the truth of what had transpired between himself and the Peak's Prime Minister but perhaps she had only been assuming.

A blunder on his part, and one he ought to be better at managing.

He could not lie. There is some satisfaction in seeing Nyimara wounded by his so-called treachery. It reminded him of how it felt to realize her condition when she'd finally returned to the Desert. Her absence had been one thing, given that it was as advantageous for him as it was irritating, but her abandonment of Cahyr had been near unforgivable, especially when the truth of her distraction had been revealed. There was still the possibility she was telling him the truth of Swyk's origins, but he had his own personal doubts.

She steps away from him, testing the depth of his desire to touch her and he hesitates only a moment, recognizing the game for what it is. Asmodeus is a proud creature, but not so proud as to not grant Nyimara the attention she so craves. His lips curled into a smirk and he took the obedient step forward, letting her have this moment as a placating gesture after fumbling his admission with Marceline.

He almost regretted it as the double meaning in her admission fills the air between them, but he stifled his annoyance by reaching for her velvety skin, busying his lips with trying to rub circles onto her coat. It was unsurprising that she had tied his crown up with hers, but in hindsight, that was probably necessary anyway. Helios had been apathetic to his previous approaches so throwing a woman at him - especially one as talented as Nyimara - was a test to see if he was more amenable to mare leaders.

The silver witch turns her laser focus on him again and he offers her a guileless smile, pulling away from her so that he could respond, his tone even. "Why would there be a problem on that front, Nyimara? That has been the plan from the beginning." Which wasn't a lie. The addendum of dual queens was just a complication that he hadn't bothered to reveal to everyone, in part because it was a fresh idea, spawned from Marceline's last visit, and because it made him draw uncomfortable parallels with his own father. Solomon had been uncommon in his appointment of two queens, which meant that Asmodeus doing so would only solidify a connection he did not want to be emphasized.

Where Solomon did it in part to prevent having to raise a non-related stallion to a position of power in the Cove in addition to splitting the care of his herd with it's unruly size, Asmodeus' motivations were purely selfish. He did not possess a herd large enough to need multiple heads of oversight, he just rather liked the idea of having two powerful women at his side. If any one of them was notorious, all three together would become infamous.

"Do you truly doubt me?" He prompted, eyes flashing as he tried to catch her gaze, testing the turbulent waters between them.

Adult Stallion 16.0HClassic Champagne ChimeraSolomon x Xiomara