Somehow, it pleased him that she wasn't just scorning him, turning her nose up like Kri would've, or looked at him with murder in her pretty blue eyes. It seemed that someone hadn't, for once, put two and two together and found the result to be "racist jerk". The only founding, which he happily accepted, seemed to be that he led an all-unicorn herd, and if he'd been in their shoes, he would've been suspicious too. However, he tried to make a point of being nice to everyone, but some, like Kri, just wouldn't take it. He wondered that he'd done, if it'd been that first trespass - and if so, understood it. He would've been fed up, too, if strangers waltzed into his home all day. He just hoped she'd get over it, because if she went haywire any day soon about him, it'd seriously mess up his plans. Mauja smiled softly to her, before shifting his attention to the old creature, who proceeded to look very unamused with the greeting received. The King's own ears fell back slightly as he wondered what he'd done wrong. Clearly something - perhaps this just wasn't his day. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to cause offense," he said quietly, raven-feathered tail flicking against his hocks, whispering through the air.

It wasn't hard at all for him to slip into a state of glacial stillness; with ease he let the neutral mask slide onto his face, effectively masking his emotions and minimizing his reactions. He wanted to smile wryly at the creature's words, but didn't dare to, lest it was taken the wrong way. He had no desire to further offend the old stallion, because that had never been his goal - it was natural to greet one of the elders as grandfather, was it not? Did it not simply show the proper respect? His mind spun quietly, eyes showing nothing but a blank shield; Onni spoke of healing, and he stored the information away for later use. Either she was their herd healer, like d'Artagnan was Moon Doctor, or she had healing magic of her own. Useful all the same. If he could trust his Doctor to not spout nonsense, perhaps he should send him and Kou Onni's way. That was a scheme for later, though, as a mare he recognized came to join them. She'd seemed slightly suspicious of him when he recruited Aurelius, and apparently hadn't been the happiest to see the Plague Doctor show up in the Foothills. Solstice. No way he'd forget her name, but still, he needed to keep up appearances. "Solstice," he greeted her in a neutral voice, gaze briefly resting on her before flickering back to the center of attention.

Beast, he said, and Mauja allowed a slight frown to crease his features. Then he said it was his name, and the King shrugged it off. Some had curious names, some had not - did it truly matter what you let your face be called? Your actions screamed louder. "An honor, Beast," he echoed Onni, once more allowing a hint of warmth to lace his words, though he kept his face carefully guarded. A sentence delivered in a sharp voice had him inclining his head slightly, ears once more falling back in apology. There was no sense in starting a verbal war by commenting on it, so he kept silence, disliking the old goat more and more by the second. Some young, foolish part of the monarch's heart had hoped that he'd found an elderly stallion, wise and eager to impart his knowledge onto those still young, but instead he'd found the type of grandfather that shook his stick at kids and shouted at them - or, something like that. There was no wisdom in his straying, sharp eyes, nothing of kindness and love. And here he was, demanding knowledge about Helovia. Onni responded to him kindly, but Mauja kept his silence, staring with impassive eyes at Beast. What did his eyes hide? They seemed sad, so at odds with his manners, that Mauja felt himself just wanting to tear his skull apart and spill as his secrets.