Erthë had been far off along the cliffs when the call came. Not so much risen early as she was late to sleep, the filly had played a quiet game of stones as the darkness of the night faded towards morning, tired yet unwilling to give in to sleep. The interruption of the small griffin was a welcome one, but though she did her best to hurry, she still arrived late to the gathering. Unwilling to interrupt as Arah had already began to speak, the pale dove slipped in amidst the others on quiet feet, foregoing greetings save for a few nods and smiles of recognition. Little Enyo was there next to a foal that was so similar to her that Erthë for a moment wondered if she was seeing double - oh, so they were twins? Poor kids, but at least they have each other - and a few paces over she spotted Tembovu. There was a pretty unicorn mare there that was unfamiliar to the girl, and a curious little foal with butterfly wings - a newborn? Wonder who the parents are to make wings like that - and next to the King stood...

Erthë blinked and had to look again. She had never learned the name of the stocky black and white unicorn, but for one who had participated so faithfully in the Rift wars, she was a familiar sight. Favored by the Time God, a god-slayer worthy of awe... but what in the gods names was she doing here, of all places? Did she live here? Erthë did not think so, she had never seen the mare at gatherings before, but... the king didn't seem to mind her presence.

Puzzled and itching with curiosity Erthë stared at the demi-god for a while, but her attention was stolen away as Arah's words began to weave a tale of distant past. Thirst for knowledge was equal to, if not greater than her curiosity over the Sparklight's presence, and with a mental note to herself to try and catch the visitor for a chat she turned away, eyes coming to rest upon the fair features of the tutor.

It was a thrilling tale, indeed. Erthë listened with rapt attention, eyes glistening with interest as the ice-crowned lady spoke. There were gaping holes in the story, of course, and the history was only briefly outlined, but Erthë chose not to interrupt to ask questions. Not yet at least. Instead she tried to piece in the information she had gleaned from others before this moment, and found that a few it into the general picture of the puzzle. From the moment she had encountered the Goddess she had heard whispers and accusations towards the Dark Lady, muttered words of doubt, dislike, fickleness and murder. Arah did not say anything about why  Queen Kahlua and King Kaj felt uncomfortable in the Edge, but if the accusations of murder had any truth to them then Erthë thought she could understand their reluctance.

Still, she snorted at the thought. To abandon their Mistress over such a thing... trivial or not, was their love, their loyalty that feeble? Erthë disliked war as much as the next but she was certain that even if the Moon decided to take dominion over all the other herds and commanded the Edge to battle, she would continue to fight until the Lady was content - or die in the attempt to please Her.

But, she felt more questions rising as Arah went on. Impatiently the pale dove shrugged off the tutors wish to prevent war - Erthë had already fought and her fair skin was no stranger to the crimson stain of blood - and bit back an urge to inquire about the traitor, about the fate of Midas and whether the Lady Ghost was the same Ghost she had encountered on a windswept beach this summer past. What of Mauja's part in all this, and the self-exiled King Torleik's, and how did the fist mentioned rulers ascend their thrones?

There was so much Erthë did not know, so many gaps in her understanding of the proceedings of the past, and this so called lesson seemed to raise more questions than it answered.

Awaiting the continuation of the tale, the young girl leaned forward where she stood with ears trained on the soft-spoken unicorn, unwilling to miss a single word that fell from her pale lips.

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Waiting for the rain I'm bracing for the thunder
A twig that wouldn't sway in the wind