Dominus' reaction to the monarch's approach is far less subtle. He spies Tembovu's elephant companion, and his eyes light up with liquid fire. Predatory hunger seizes him - he'd missed out on devouring the prey last time, and fully intends on repairing that mistake now. He rises to his feet, a glowering pillar of white power, slavering from dripping fangs...

Except he's forgotten that he's lying down on the thinnest branch possible, a branch already struggling to hold his considerable weight. When he stands in such a hurry, the fragile wood splinters with a gunshot-like crack, and he tumbles in an ungainly heap to the floor with an anguished yowl. Nyx cannot contain the snort of laughter that ripples free from her nostrils, even as her lion's wounded pride throbs inside her mind. That's what happens when you try to eat other people's companions, she points out.

He greets her as his trustworthy general, and guilt knots her stomach. "Tembovu, my favourite king." She flashes a wide grin, which falters only slightly when he reveals he's been looking for her. Shit, does he know, is he coming to rage at me? But no - his companion rolls two glass spears towards her, and she leans down to sniff them with interest. "Ooh, pointy." And they are - deadly shards that would hurt like a bitch should they penetrate flesh. Dominus, having shaken off the indignity of his fall, gathers the spears in his mouth before retreating to glower at the elephant from Nyx's side.

He tasks her with finding a fellow warrior to spar, and she nods her acceptance of the command. "Of course. We also need a rematch at some point, as well. Admittedly, me losing last time ended fabulously for both of us, but I hate being bested." Another flash of that wolfish grin and twinkling eyes - humour, to rid herself of any dark thoughts about her last lost spar and the consequences of it. "Is there anything else I can do to help?"

The tone changes, and the silver enjoys the opportunity for lighthearted conversation. She doesn't get much of it these days. "I'm good - even better now I'm not a walking milk tank for the twins." Perhaps that's the source of her sudden broodyness; they've only recently weaned, and she missed that opportunity for bonding. "I've missed my humour, too. The last few months....haven't been easy. But I'm getting better, and I'll be your favourite innuendo-on-legs again before you know it." Would he expect anything less? "And how are you? You seem accustomed to leadership now." An observation she's picked up on recently - his crown seems to fit him far easier now.