Whatever thoughts had driven her into such an animalistic fervor earlier seemed to swirl around in her mind, making it hard for her to stay on whatever topic it was that she so badly wanted to discuss. I would find it entertaining if the strange seriousness of the whole situation hadn't put me so far on edge that my skin was prickling the way it did when an electrical storm was incoming. She references Snapdragon and it takes me a moment to place which mare she means. I'd recognize her easily enough by sight - the little painted mare that had believed herself a hero in defending Khar'pern - but we hadn't exactly paused to exchange names.

And I hadn't exactly taken the same sort of thing from her, I grumbled in my own head, opting to let Khar'pern control the topic rather than refuting the base inaccuracies of her claim. She hadn't held a rank in the Peak at the time. Used to, for sure. But hadn't when I'd brought her to come see me and still didn't now, although the knowledge that she might soon be elected had not not crossed my mind. Khar'pern was formidable. Surely the sisters would see that. The valkyries didn't always make sense to me, but surely even they could recognize strength in their own ranks.

What that meant for the likelihood of me getting her back beneath my control, however, was not something I wanted to consider at the moment.

Her next words were so unexpected that my forward momentum pauses for a moment and I fix her with a startled look. The fact that it was a boy was hardly surprising, given the fifty-fifty nature of such things, but to hear her say that he would be coming with me? Khar'pern. The one who had guarded the identity of our firstborn so tightly that I still did not know if it was a girl or boy, now wanted me to take sole custody of our second?

Well. A low snort echoed from my nares as I turned this knowledge over, using it to spiderweb other clues into place about our firstborn. A girl, then. And one she intended to keep for herself.

I caught up abruptly to the rest of what she was saying with a narrowing of my eyes. If no stallion belonged here, what was I doing here first of all? And second, I knew the Peak kept trinkets of their own. They always had, which was why I'd always found it rather hilarious that they kept up this charade of moral superiority when they were really just as bad as we were. A snarky comment exists here, I know it, but there's something about her countenance that keeps my tongue caged in a way that feels unnatural to me.

I am not quiet. Not watchful. Not comforting. I certainly don't offer to reassure the mares that I've claimed or bedded in the past, and yet my neck grows taut and defined as half of me fights to touch her and the other half fights to hold back.

Thankfully, this strange compulsion disappears as she continues speaking, attempting to fashion me into a mouthpiece for the Peak's desires. My teeth grind together but I let her finish, my eyes growing dark and stormy. "Let me make sure I understand," I say slowly, fixing her with a sharp look. "I'm supposed to trot back to my boss and tell him that oh, the Peak didn't really mean to murder our General. They're really, really sorry. That the girlie who did it was sufficiently punished and cast out, according to the other Peakies. Oh, and that, in exchange for the freedom that I will undoubtedly win back anyway, we also have to give up any captives they claim as their own kind… which let me guess, you'd consider each trinket a Peak mare in disguise?"

A bitter laugh escapes my muzzle and I shake my head. Her idea probably has some merit, all things considered, but I had grown up watching the Peak go tit for tat with the Lagoon while exploiting a sterling silver reputation among the herds that they had most certainly not earned. "Blood for blood, Khar'pern. If you want a ceasefire, you'd better make it worth it for both parties or we're just going to keep going round in circles." I attempted to fix her with the same sharp gaze from earlier. "Vane died so you could have your freedom. You wanna count for me how many Peak mares have died at the Lagoon's hands since Garmr came into power? Because even I can do that math, Khar."

Stallion - Young Adult - 15.2 - Brown Overo