Truth be told, the fairytale stallion could likely have stepped on every branch on the way (while a marching band trailed behind him) and the queen would not have heard him approach. Her mind was lost to the winds, to the trees, to the forest... to the freedom. She had yet to figure out how she could be both queen and the flippant roamer that she wanted to be. She loved her heart, loved them to her very heart and soul, would do things for them that she could never imagine doing for anybody else and yet... Her heart still craved the ability to wander, her hooves still begged to run in lands unknown so that her voice could call to horses unknown. Perhaps someday she would be able to find a balance, to know that being queen did not have to mean wearing chains. Or perhaps she would not. Right now, the monarchy only felt like a prison.

As his words fell from his lips, the ever-jumpy Kahlua laid her ears back upon her head and whirled to face him, hooves clacking violently against the stone floor. “Not another one,” she sighed softly as he stressed the word equine so heavily. Hadn't she just finished with Lady Illynx? However, the queen's soul was gentle and even though she was frightened, her ears soon enough rose off her head at the notion of meeting someone new. Still, the queen was no master of disguises. She wore her emotions plainly on her face, or as plainly as she could when she was feeling so many. Confusion, anxiety, annoyance... But there was also happiness at the prospect of meeting someone new and curiosity as to why the stallion was quite wet. Ah, perhaps the stallion would find some of those things etched upon the black and white of her face, but the queen was not concerned. Being herself had never really gotten her into much trouble anyways.

“And what is it that you have against equines?” she responded, her annoyance eventually winning out over the other emotions that vied for supremacy in her brain. “Did Illynx send you to follow me?” She was not naturally suspicious, but it seemed only reasonable (even to in her foolish mind) that this stallion had shown up just after her conversation with the Basin leader due to some sort of orders to follow her. Hadn't the GildedBlade been trying to draw a pact between the Edge? This was certainly not a good way to go about it.

With an indignant snort and a stomp of her hoof, the queen awaited an answer. Still, for all the fact that she could have bolted and run right back to the safety of her glass prison, the queen did not want to leave. Even if this meeting was dangerous and frightening, it was better than being bound by iron chain to the throne of glass she did not want to stand upon.