He nearly killed Fajira. The silver snorts her displeasure, casting a glance down to Dominus. They might argue often, they might not always see eye to eye, and Nyx might want to slap him silly sometimes, but she loved him. Would die for him. If something happened to him, if he was killed...she couldn't imagine the emptiness. "I understand," she murmurs, continuing to look down at the lion. But, says the little voice in her head, crawling like a cockroach through her thoughts; you did the same thing. When she fought Archibald, had she not aimed a double-barrelled kick at his bonded? If she'd hit full-force, could she have not killed the dog and condemned the stallion to emptiness? How could she judge? She'd been afraid, deathly scared of carnivores - ironic, given what she was now bonded to - and had reacted accordingly. What if Archibald had done the same?

But she says nothing, worrying that Lace will judge her if he knows what she almost did.

Her head and ears prick as the grullo explains that Mauja had ruled the Edge before - no, she hadn't known that. Unicorn supremists. She twitches. Oddly enough, she seems to befriend a lot of unicorn supremists, even though she does not share their beliefs. Mauja, d'Artagnan, Déodat, all men who made their racism evident, brazen and unashamed...the mare had never understood it. She'd lain with kings without horns, with wings and not, and borne hybrid children for them. She was good friends with Lace, an equine. Yet she consorted with racists, and turned a blind eye to their behaviour. What did that make her?

"The Edge is mixed-race now, despite being ruled by two unicorns. I think...perhaps racism is something you grow out of. A disease that you eliminate." Nyx's parents had had the right idea. Create an army based on strength, not based on what species you were. How successful they'd been! Admittedly Adalwulf had also managed to create a gigantic army made only of equines, but he'd been the exception, not the rule.

The soldier is distracted by a savage hiss, and watches Dominus' claws glance off the dragon's scales. He retreats, the tail whisking narrowly over his head, death-glaring the flying dragon. In a display of feline pride, he turns his back on Fajira then proceeds to clean his claw-sheaths with a barbed tongue, studiously ignoring her attempts to goad him into jumping for the head. Kings like him do not play with lesser species. Nyx can feel his disgust at the loss of his toy, and snorts her amusement.

At the mention of Torleik, the silver's eyes widen. Oh, Cinnoru - I remember. That's why Black Hottie had looked so familiar. It had happened shortly after she joined the Edge the first time and she'd been there, watching, as Torleik and his young companion came to the great glass wall. There'd been an altercation between him and Lace, and Nyx had watched in horror as everything spiralled into madness. The things Lace had said about unicorns had shaken her to her core, given she was one. "Damn. I'd forgotten about that." Her head swings thoughtfully to the side, resting one front hoof as she muses over the memory.

Given his history with the leaders, she isn't surprised when he hesitates about joining her. Disappointment stabs an arrow through her heart, but she can understand the decision. "The only thing I can hope is that time has mellowed both their stance and yours, Lace. I would love to have you living with me again - I don't have many friends, but you're one of them." She manages to summon up a somewhat weak smile.

A mere soldier, unconcerned with politics. She winces. That's what she is, down to a tee. If Mauja or Torleik commands her to attack something or someone, she will do so, and ask questions later. She has always been a follower, not a leader - a gun for hire, not a queen. Neither Mauja nor Torleik have yet earned her devout loyalty, because neither of them have defeated her in battle and that's her barometer for offering her services without question, but she does respect them and would likely do exactly as they commanded. "I'm prepared for those consequences," she says, looking at him straight. "Maybe....maybe the Edge needs more people like you, who will question the leaders' decisions, rather than people like me, who just go along with them without batting an eyelid."