[[OOC: Apologies upfront if I miss something or something doesn't make sense. Been sick for a few days and I'm kind of out of it. ty]]

Would that he was privy to the thoughts in the Frostheart's head they might have come to blows right then. Torleik felt no guilt for telling Ophelia's self-centered, bitchy little offspring like it was. A child was a child - not some fragile object to be coddled and shielded from the world forever; and being a demi-god didn't somehow make Roskuld immensely special as to how she could act.

She was a loud-mouthed, explosive, short-sighted, ignorant, self-absorbed little shit, rather like another electricity-laden mare he knew. That one had wings all the time, however, and had even less of an excuse to act like a brat. It was, perhaps, a divine moment that they were busy then and could not fully voice the things snarling in their respectively thick skulls - but almost a shame. For Mauja, in all his self-presumed wisdom, would have learned that the black bastard he so very much loathed currently was acutely aware of what it meant to be directly involved in the violating of another.

That was why it made him so furiously angry that Roskuld treated her mother like shit when the dumb child hadn't even the wherewithal to discover the painful way in which she'd come about - and then realize that despite such trauma, Ophelia still loved her. But Mauja really had no reason to be so uptight about that. He was in no position to be some sort of father figure to anyone.

But none of these verbal exchanges came to pass; no knowledge was shared, no enlightenment garnered. One day this would all come to a head, most likely, but it would not be this day.

Such were the beauty of private thoughts.

Torleik cared not for Mauja's judgement on how he announced himself as king. If the overly sensitive queen took his statement as immensely prideful, let him. It was not. It was irritation mixed with fact: he was the king here and the king was damn annoyed that the queen was calling a meeting without warning. Not because of lack of trust, or because Torleik assumed Mauja would undermine him but because it fucking looked bad if anyone really picked up on the fact that they weren't at least a mostly cohesive unit.

You goddamn moron.

Naerys, the child he'd chanced upon before, said it was a pleasure to meet them and his irritation slowly began to leak away. Demeanor softening, the rabicano smiled and dipped his head. "Hello again, little one," he hummed.

As hot as his temper could run, it burned out quickly though, and Torleik counseled himself that remaining angry was pointless. He hadn't expected this to be smooth, or to even really work, and all things considered they had yet to fall apart and that was a positive. It honestly surprised him Mauja claimed himself the queen and the Bloodskald gazed at his partner in ruling curiously, wondering why the spotted white seemed to cling to that title so fiercely. He would have to ask - but later.

So he set himself to be objective, and found that Mauja competently, succinctly, explained the ranks as they stood for those not in the military. Nice. Effective. It seemed that it was his turn, then, and the Bloodskald found that making an announcement was different than speaking more intimately with a small group. He didn't much like this and would not talk long.

An offered congratulations came through the crowd, from where he could not quite place, and he nodded.

"We are grateful for your support. As Mauja has implied, I will be handling the military aspects of our herd. Elsa will be one of our generals, a forungi in our similar tongue," he said, nodding towards Mauja to indicate, as the Frostheart had, that they did have at least one thing mildly in common. "Nyx is to be an Einheri, a captain. Mauja and I have discussed that we would like multiple forungar - a total of three if we can manage. That leaves two other positions open, one of which is meant specifically for a pegasus, that we might have a military presence in the air. If any of you here are interested in any form of soldier's work, please, let me know. Keeping this herd safe is my priority but I need your help and cooperation to succeed."

The Bloodskald bowed his head briefly and turned back to Mauja. Perhaps Spots would understand that Torleik didn't need to lead as long as they were working together. He had pride, but he wasn't all that pridefull in many ways.

He hoped.