Keen eyes glittered in lavender hues as sunlight found its way in beneath a coarse forelock, playing across the moist surface. The mare remained quiet as the gaze moved from person to person, following the trail of words with guarded interest. The discussion was growing steadily more heated, but the raven chose to stay out of it despite a desire to raise her voice, call for them all to just shut up and accept the facts laid out to them.

It was true that she doubted Gaucho's ability to lead. She had been surprised but also slightly impressed as the creamy wingless raised her voice in open questioning of Midas's decision, half amused and half astounded over the brash words. The protests from Onni aside, the newly appointed sleuth had watched the response of the tall savage with interest; he had surprised her. In a positive way, to that, one that just showed how little she knew about her fellow herd mates. While broken and struggling for words his speech had been easy to understand, the words spoken wise and patient. The shade had nodded in silent approval, forced to admit to herself that he had more depth than she had been led to believe.

Was it that strange that she had been mislead into thinking there was nothing but air between his ears? The few times she had stood in company with the painted warrior his participation in conversation had been limited to reports, one-track minded attitude revealed as orders were received without question or hesitation. To her he had seemed slightly daft, a little slow on the uptake - but now Shadow admitted that she had been too quick to judge. Perhaps he could function as a lead after all - by the side of Midas, of course. Her accepting the new lead was not going to be the same as offering her loyalties, it took more than a title and a pretty speech to gain the trust of the strong-willed blackbird.

So, sufficiently humbled by her own ignorance the dark mare found herself able to stand by and simply watch as the seemingly so tight-knit group began to unravel, one hard word at a time. Almost through afterthought she listened as Levi, Rasta, Onni and now Cera spoke their minds, but the attention of the mare was turning more and more towards Midas, earnestly interested in seeing how he would react to all of this - insubordination, unrest, heating emotions...

"So this is what happens as soon as Kri leaves" she murmured, mostly to herself but with direct address to the painted sultan. A few casual steps brought her closer to his elevated position, sly eyes peering up at him from beneath the cover of long dark lashes. "The herd is uneasy, Sultan. What will you do?"

Maybe it was good that it all came spilling out now, when there was sufficient amount of time to remedy the situation. Better to have all of them spill their guts now, than later when all of their lives depended on whether they could trust and cooperate or not.