They arrived one by one, each gaining a personal audience with her for a moment as they took their places around her. It was with a nonchalant surprise that she watched Rapha arrive; the surprise waned as Sno came close behind him. She should have known that her daughter would not allow her slave to wander far from her side. She may not think of herself as her mother's daughter, but by all accounts the apple did not fall far from the tree. Sno's slight nod of greeting was recieved without comment.

d'Artagnan was the next to appear. She had not been close with the stallion - that was Mauja - but she did know a great deal of him and his skills. And he was high ranking within their little organization. So he merited a nod. Elizabeth followed after a short time; she was the first of the gathering to speak, the slur on the slave being the first words out of her mouth. Everything about the way she spoke, as though she had earned the right to, rubbed the wrong way. But still, Psyche smiled sweetly, eyes glinting.

Before she could reply, Kou joined them, speaking soft words to the Doctor before responding to Elizabeth's arrogance. The jackal's smile rang slightly more true as she turned it to the Nurse. "As it is you," she told Kou. She nodded towards the youngling. "She's lovely." Perhaps such words would be held back in the open, around others. Too easy to be seen as weakness. But these were her followers, and here, she could afford the kind words. The last two arrived in silence: Descaro, and then Xanthos. She eyed Xanthos suspiciously. Elizabeth had recruited him, but they both sensed weakness in him.

A wave of disappointment washed over her as she counted. Less than half of those she counted among their ranks had appeared for this little meeting. She had expected more, and she had expected Mauja - or she would have, before their meeting the other day... she shook the thought from her head. Now was no time to think back on the odd end to their conversation, to worry about his whereabouts. No, for now, she had to lead. A dark hoof stepped forward, placing her in the center of everyone's attention; it was odd, but they had managed to form a kind of circle around her. "Greetings, my dears."

"I shall jump straight to the point. The hornless and the skyrats have grown in number, as I'm sure you are all aware. This is unacceptable. And so the question becomes, what will we do about it?" She paused, letting her amber gaze rove over those gathered. For just a moment, a seed of doubt sprouted in her mind; but then she shoved it aside. She had made her decisions, and she would stick by them. "I suggest," she continued, "that we expand from our original operations. Of course, our dear Doctor and Nurse will still be of utmost importance to us. But it is no longer enough."

"We need to strike back - become more... militaristic. We need to strike fear into their hearts." A cruel smile had crept onto her maw. "d'Artagnan the Nightshade, as our Doctor, will thus take charge of those wishing to learn our rather interesting form of 'healing.' Those lacking in that sort of skill will train, for now, under myself, until a time that I choose a worthy sergeant. Any questions?"

[W/C | 582]