Solzeren perceived a shift in her conversation with Mazikeen as soon as the other mare said I do. She felt like she had taken some sort of bait, and Mazikeen was on the other end of the fishing line, shifting gears from tempting to gently reeling.
Sol digested silently, and though she wanted to withhold her reaction, she couldn't mask it entirely. The mention of Kohelet made her eyes brighten hopefully, and she leaned forward almost imperceptibly, as though the spotted mare might step aside to reveal her mother right there in the Common, like a magic trick.
Mazikeen was luring her toward something, and Solzeren felt she was either too stupid to see the destination, or too blinded by hunger to see anything but the bread crumbs laid out before her.
She felt stuck. Maybe if she hadn't noticed the scrutiny, the black mare could have simply played whatever part Mazikeen was trying to orchestrate, without having to think about it. If she was smarter, maybe she could figure out what the other mare was leading her toward and just get there on her own, intentionally. As it was, Solzeren was able to feel the hook in her mouth, but couldn't see where the fishing line lead, and therefore couldn't decide which direction to swim.
She was almost too rattled to be intrigued that Mazikeen had been more or less raised by her own mother, but once she actually registered the other mare's words, Sol cocked her head curiously. "I wonder if she mentioned you, and that's why your name at least is familiar. I have a better memory for names than faces, and I... I was pretty young when I left the Bay. I've been gone a long time." Her ears twisted out to the sides with shame, and she cast her eyes downward. "Kohelet's my mother."
She felt the weight of Mazikeen's gaze intensifying, and Solzeren looked up again, wondering if she had said something wrong. The black mare's dark eyes flicked uncertainly between Mazikeen's. "Is Kohelet really okay?" she asked. "I never told her when I went to look for my father. I didn't think I would be away so long, I feel really bad.”