They begin to walk, and the beast's legs seem to just remember how to alter his stride to fit her own. The ear nearest to Isopia remains pivoted towards her to catch her words, whilst the opposite one alternates between pointing forwards and to the side, a habit he's recently picked up on whilst patrolling the Throat's borders to give him advanced warning of any potential threats. Whilst living as an outcast he'd been guilty of tunnel vision, of blundering blindly forwards safe in the knowledge that no predator could get the better of him if he didn't want it to. Now he's Sultan, though, he needs to remain focused at all times, because whilst predators may give him a wide berth, they do not afford the same luxury to the herd's foals or weaker members. The dragons normally do their part, but right now Vadir is too busy pretending to ignore what's going on beneath her, and Vérzés is too busy grinning like a Cheshire cat to be a great deal of help.

The Mountain explains that she doesn't think the mortals are being offered the full story, and Volterra's frown deepens. "It is a mystery, indeed. To me, it seems that either the Goddess must have known Kisamoa's intentions and joined him regardless, or she too was duped by him. Both options are equally alarming." What's worse - genuine or chosen ignorance?

Isopia's conviction that we all lie earns a brief, absentminded shake of the head from Volterra. "Not all of us...at least not intentionally." The words slip free without his bidding, barely louder than a whisper. The Indomitable has always abhorred lying, and, indeed, is quite terrible at it, yet hadn't he lied by omission by not telling the Mountain about his other lovers and children? Of course, he'd only found out about the existence of the children shortly before they slept together and it hadn't seemed like the ideal time to broach the topic, but that's little excuse.

His head snaps around to stare at her as she considers the fact that their hatred towards Kaos may be unfounded. Volterra's about to disagree strongly - he's guilty of seeing the world in black and white, either you're evil or you're not, ignoring the shades of grey despite the fact he lives in those hues. He is the perfect example of a man capable of great deeds but also cruel ones, a man versed in the art of war but who can also hold a woman close to his massive chest and make the world around them vanish until they're the only two left. The same hooves that can cleave skulls in half have been lifted gently so his children can poke around underneath them and tug playfully on the thick feathers; dismissing the shades of grey, then, dismisses the very notion of Volterra himself. Yet giving Kaos the benefit of the doubt....after what he'd done, it seems rather unfair.

But, he reminds himself, isn't Kaos the result of the slayed Rift Gods? "Every part of me wants to hate him. He earned our trust then threw it back in our faces; I'd have almost preferred it if he'd have simply marched in and rained fire upon us, rather than masquerading as our friend before revealing himself as our enemy. But I can't help thinking that Kaos only exists because we slaughtered the Rift Gods - he is the physical manifestation of our sins come back to haunt us." He shakes his great head and sighs. "It will become clearer once Kaos makes his next move, I'm sure. At least, I hope so....I prefer my opponents to be obvious." A small, humourless snort is given.