Her hug for Naerys had been misunderstood, black ears flattening as Archibald assumed it had been to protect the girl rather than because Alysanne was weak and needed the strength from her daughter to continue standing here. But she would not run, not this time, and her eyes were cold as they met his. “No, I would not think you that vile, Archibald, but I’ve seen enough of what you’ve done to be wary.” All she thought of when she saw him was that invasion, seeing him pick a fight with a mare much smaller than him. She had thought - and still did - the Falls had been innocent victims in that invasion. How much of a step would it really be for him, who had been known to be nothing but a tyrant in her eyes, to harm a foal? Or a mother as she stood near one?

Alysanne did not know Archibald well, but her small experiences with him had in fact painted the picture of someone who would harm her or her foal. However close he stood and how kind he was to Resplendence now, it did not change her prejudice that had been fuelled by the time apart.

His next taunting words did not inspire any more warmth in her gaze than the previous, though she softened and shook her head in sadness. “It was never about her, not for me. The Edge is my home, I didn’t want one that had been stolen from others and won by blood. She’s not bothered us yet... though the new members don’t fear her as much as they should and I fear the consequences of that.” They hadn’t listened, or hadn’t cared, about the deeds of the past. She was worshiped in that herd now by the multitudes of new faces and Alysanne knew she was in the minority. Still she could not inspire herself to leave that place, she had not come from a land where gods and goddesses ruled and she still found it difficult to give they such power over her life and choices. “No, it’s not for the Goddess that I stay, but for my family. My son last knew me to live there and I hope that is where he will find me when he returns; my sister has found me there and it was my daughter's first home. I don't serve her with delight. Do you think me so vile as that, Archibald? But I will not be scared out of my home.” She should watch her words, lest the Goddess hear and know her traitorous heart, but it was true. The deity was kin to the mountain lions and the bears - certainly to be avoided at all costs but manageable at a distance.

Moving on from defending herself about her decision to leave in the company of Evangeline and Thor on the day of the invasion, Alysanne looked finally to Resplendence to share other news - though it made her no less sad. “Still holding up. It's only me and Evangeline that are left from before now... Thor and Kahlua are missing, I don’t know if you knew. She was going to stay…” She knew the pink mare before her and the once-queen to be close and she hated having this news to share, but Resplendence should at least know. Or perhaps she had known, and had more information. Alysanne hoped that she had it wrong - hoped that somehow, Kahlua had been in the Falls all this time and they had simply just not crossed paths.

“And I’ve done a terrible job at keeping your… well, the garden in good shape.” Finally, a small smile then - rueful but a smile nonetheless - as she thought of how much her friend had loved that patch of earth and how she had failed utterly at touching it for a year.