i lit a flame in my heart to guide you home

Hemlock, who had forgotten that Isopia had a dragon, was dismayed upon spying the bronze beast and hearing the trill of a greeting offered. Why did she have to have a dragon - those fowl, aggravating creatures that had been the bane of his existence ever since he was small(er) and been terrorized by Kahlua’s Khan. He hooted politely back but was quick to head back to where Alysanne was waiting without pausing to see whether Isopia and her dragon were following.

If they weren’t, Alysanne could go find them her damn self.

But he needn’t have worried - as quick as the flammulated owl could fly, it wouldn’t have been hard for Isopia to keep him in her sights or to catch up.

Though at once concerned and amused by Hemlock’s distress and he hurried to bury himself in her wings, Alysanne’s attention was commanded a moment later by the arrival of the one she came to see. A ghost of a smile appeared in her green eyes, as though she momentarily forgot their discord and was remembering how happy she had been to see her friend’s daughter before it had all fallen apart. Alysanne nodded back and returned the simple greeting she had been offered without hesitation. “Czarina.” It felt strange to Alysanne to not use a proper name, but as she had not been directly told by the demigoddess herself what she preferred to be called this seemed a safe route.

She was thrilled to not be greeted with hostility - but then, hadn’t she been the one to get bothered during their last conversation? Infuriated by the Czarina’s condescending but calm words. Now, Isopia got right down to the point and Alysanne wasn’t going to drag it out either. “I wanted to apologize for what happened in the Edge.” The words come easily, easier than Alysanne had feared, and she relaxed as they came to her - green eyes calm as she watched closely for a reaction from the larger mare as she spoke. There were, of course, reasons for coming that were harder to explain - a maternal desire to check up on Isopia after the battle, to see if she was okay that had flared up when her anger had finally released its hold - but she didn’t bring that up just yet.

Alysanne’s voice was coloured by her regret and shame, her green eyes sad as she continued. “I did not handle our conversation, nor anything that happened afterwards, in a way I can look back with pride and I regret what your visit became.” She kept her answer to Isopia’s simple question as short as she could - afraid that if she started to ramble she would once again make herself look foolish before the younger mare.

But there was no harm in getting the other part of her visit out of the way while she was at it. “And... I came to deliver this to you.” Reaching back to the folds of her white wings, Alysanne pulled out the small leather bag that had started this whole trouble. She took a few steps forward, laying it carefully on the dew-covered grass, before stepping back again to her original spot - her eyes still trained on the other mare and waited with no shortage of concern for what, if any, reaction she would receive.