The Czarina remained calm but Alysanne felt herself prickle at every word and question. And there were a lot of words. While the Czarina had kept things short and to the point while they were starting the conversation, she certainly found a lot to say now. It was incredible, really, and Alysanne forced herself not to let anger cloud her judgement. She really didn’t know what she believed was right or wrong when it came to stealths - they were a part of the Helovian world, something she refused to take a part in but her sister seemed to enjoy that line of work.

The Czarina spoke philosophically, seemingly without anger, and Alysanne swallowed her own - willing her voice to not be snappy when she responded. She somewhat succeeded, though there was a slight edge to her soft voice. Her sentimental fondness for Kahlua’s daughter was outweighed by her devotion to her herd - sneaks and all. “Have you disbanded the sneaks in the Falls? If it is not fair to steal, Czarina, I would expect none from your herd at all - it sounds as though you are quite morally opposed to their work. I was not queen at the time of this stealth but we do encourage our sneaks to collect items that benefit the herd - items we cannot craft for ourselves.” She nodded in a gesture to the leather bag, the only item she owned not made of glass or crystal. “Bags for which to collect herbs while I’m travelling, for example, are not as easy to manage when they are made of glass. And Falls only steals to prevent starvation, nothing else?” Alysanne refused to let herself or the Edge be judged for something she believed every single herd performed. If the Czarina would judge the Edge so harshly for stealing from Outcasts, she rather hoped she wasn’t attempting to build a high ground based on hypocrisy.

And she did not say it out loud - but she rather doubted the leather bag she had slung across her back prevented starvation during the bountiful season of Birdsong when she had been gifted it. Nor would Cowboy have been able to make a complaint to his Czarina if he had truly been in the throws of starving to death when Raeden had stolen the bag two seasons ago.

The offer of a trade, which Aly had thought was fair, was swept aside because they had not offered compensation to Cowboy? She was further insulted by the Czarina’s choice of pronouns - ‘you’ successful stole, ‘you’ never offered any consideration - as if it was Aly herself that had made the stealth. It wasn’t her but, she supposed, as Queen she was now responsible for the actions of her herd. Even the actions that happened in the past, it would seem.

She took a calming breath before speaking, keeping her voice level except for the curiosity that peaked it now. “Would you return something your sneaks stole successfully if someone came to ask for it back?” Alysanne asked, truly curious where the Czarina drew the line. “I believe the Edge would require compensation, yes. I am sorry that this Cowboy takes objection but my specter did her job well and she deserves more than her hard work just to be handed back as though she did something wrong.”

Her offer of a trade was shut down but somehow the Czarina thought that fighting was a better option? How did that make sense? Aly’s green eyes widened at the suggestion and she quickly shook her head. While the Czarina could not understand the validity of a trade, Aly did not see the validity of a fight between them. “No. I would not prefer to fight - I do not see how that is an appropriate way to settle this... nor would it be a fair fight.” It didn’t take a lot of observation to see the advantages that the Czarina had over Aly, after all.

If you could only understand—through my heart and through my veins

I gave it all,

I'll give again.