Although Eva might have thought the information she was imparting on the queen was obvious or well-known, it was all a surprise to Kahlua. Of course, she knew that they thought highly enough of her to call her queen but... adore her? She had always felt she needed to do more, needed to try harder. She had done so little for so many of them and yet... Eva said otherwise. And Eva so often knew exactly what the truth was, it seemed. “I just...” she started, after Eva asked if she took their affection so lightly. Except she trailed off, because Eva had forced the addled queen to actually use her brain. What of Mauja? Hadn't he told her of his own tale of murder- killing Torasin out of fright and a need for self-preservation. And hadn't she forgiven him, despite hardly knowing him? Perhaps Eva was right... no, who was Kahlua kidding? Eva was always right.

I also don't think its the herd hating you that you need to worry about, but you hating yourself when there is no need to. It was an interesting statement, one Kahlua had (of course) not considered on her own. She did not have to hate herself for her crime? It had seemed like such an easy choice- after all, when a wrong was committed, didn't somebody have to be at fault? Didn't somebody have to be the one that was... wrong? Surely Aurelia had not been the one in the wrong...

But of course, in much the way that she always knew what to say, Eva also has a grand habit of almost reading Kahlua's mind with her advice. Aurelia instigated it, it was her fault. Kahlua listened, but somewhere in the shadows of her heart, she still felt that she needed to do something. Maybe it was to put herself at peace, but was that so wrong? But the queen's melancholy finally broke, if only for a moment, when Eva's final statement made her smile. Queens do not lie with dogs. A smile turned up the corners of her lips, a familiar light returning to her eyes, and she suddenly remembered something that she and her king had found time to speak of sometime between the herd meeting and now.

“You always know just the right thing to say, Eva.” Her voice was still tired, strained, weary, but was that a hint of a bounce, of the dancing lilt that usually tinted her words? It seemed so. “Let me ask you something... Kaj and I have our council to manage the ranks, but we need someone whom we can come to with advice or confidential matters, who we can trust to give us the truth even when we do not want to hear it...” She paused, blue eyes catching Eva's, curious to see her reaction. “We want you as an adviser, our Emissary... would you accept our offer... Please?” The fact of the matter was that Eva already fulfilled the requirements of the position they were asking her to take, only Eva's acceptance was needed to make it formal.