He repeats her comment back to her, and she gives a small sigh. She can't say the truth of why the last few months have been hard - that keeping up her lie is exhausting, that pretending her twins aren't hers is harder than she ever could have thought (although she actually thinks Oizys, at least, is beginning to confuse the lie with the truth - the filly blurted out you're not even my real mother during their last argument), that there's one small wicked part of her that wishes they'd never been born, as much as she loves them. No, she can't say any of this, save perhaps for the part about Oizys' outburst, which is actually true - and incredibly hurtful, as well. For the girl to say that, to even think it...what kind of shitty mother is Nyx if she actually makes her daughter's brain twist up the threads of reality and falsehood?

"A multitude of things, really. Mostly it's the twins...I'm not used to children with such...darkness in them. The other day, Oizys screamed at me that I'm not even her real mother and can't tell her what to do, just because I told her to stop using her new magic to murder random animals. I'm worried they're going to grow up and resent me." This is almost the truth; she is worried that the twins will resent her, but mostly because of the lie she's twisted out of their childhood. "And then there's the fact Libertad and d'Arcy have all but disappeared, and I've not seen Enyo in weeks, either....What kind of mother does that make me?" She sighs, scraping the dirt with a hoof so as to distract herself from her sudden wave of misery. Perhaps that's why she's so broody all of a sudden - because she wants another attempt at keeping a child safe, at raising it properly, to be a balanced, loving citizen of the Edge. Not a borderline psychopath like Oizys - that'll be her father's genetics, no doubt.

Tembovu says the same as her, that life hasn't been easy. She looks at him through kind eyes, tilting her head slightly and pricking her ears forward to show her interest. "Do you want to talk about it? I mean, I just unloaded all my mother-problems onto you, so it's only fair." She manages a weak smile. "And yes, it does. You just seem...more assured now. It's hot." Another grin and a twinkle of the eye, to show she's jesting - although it's half true, and her newfound broodyness certainly isn't helping...

She's distracted from this train of thought by a small glass blade suddenly clattering to the ground at her feet, accompanied by a high-pitched squeal from Tembovu's elephant companion. Dominus gives a half-growl, half-roar, as if to prove that his voice is far more appealing to the ears than Mbwene's elephantine shriek. The blade is beautiful, glimmering and deadly (and evidently sharp enough to prick Mbwene's thick trunk). "Ooh, you're flush with gifts today. Thank you, Tembovu, I love it." She leans down to sniff at the blade, finding it quite appealing - her fights will have a new edge to them with that bad boy.