To Tilney and Alune, Alysanne did not get much chance to rebut their words - Iona and Raeden spoke before she got a chance - before they both turned tail and ran away from the gathering. That they might disagree with her was one thing, but so publicly? In front of visitors from the Falls (as she would discover later)? And in clear disagreement with what Tembovu was doing? That was perhaps the most shocking, as she had come to know both retreating stallions as being ridiculously devoted to their King and friend. Especially Tilney! At least he had not entirely left the area, remembering his duties as a Moon Doctor if not his manners. The whole thing seemed oddly out of character for what she knew of the sweet tempered stallion. She could let it slide that he had forgotten her presence on the night his lantern went missing (to some, she assumed, she would always be second best to the Elephant King) but this was not the manner she expected from the Moon Doctors.

As he moved off, Aly sent Hemlock to go find Evangeline or Lyanna so that they might have another healer present. She wasn’t sure who, if any, of the arriving Falls members might have magic at their disposal to help and wanted to cover her bases in case Tilney further acted strangely and left altogether. And she made a mental note to discuss this entire affair with Tembovu afterwards.

As always, the painted mare was thankful for the presence of her sister - Iona was strong where she wasn’t and her twin always seemed to figure out what to say, even on her behalf, when she did not know herself.

Erthë asked her a question though, and though delayed by the argument she looked to the pale girl with a small frown - not for the filly’s sake, of course, but because of the entire situation. “Because I did not think it right to hand over something that one of our Sleuths had stolen without so much as a please, I thought that a very thankless way to support the work of the members of this herd. Because while I was trying to find a peaceful solution that was fair, she immediately jumped to violence and would not be swayed. And I suppose when threatened, I decided to hold my ground rather than to roll over as she wished. Do you think that wrong?” The question was asked quietly, calmly, and she welcomed the girl’s input - if it was spoken calmly, unlike the others. She did not wish this gathering to further dissolve into squabbles so she would try to contain it any way that she could.

Morally yes, the bag should not have been stolen in the first place. But it was. Alysanne didn’t actually know if what she did (and was doing) was right but she believed that because of their positions - Czarina and Queen - this had more implications than just one single bag and that complicated things.

Another voice joined in and it was then that Alysanne realized that some members of the Falls were present. Although annoyed that Kahlua’s daughter brought an audience that further extended this farce and meant that the ripples would continue to grow, she nodded with Iona’s words to him and her invitation for him to move closer, if he wished. “I understand that she was doing what she thought was right, but so was I. So is Tembovu.” Really, right now all she wanted to do was throw the bag at Isopia’s head and be done with it. But how would that look?

‘Fill with rocks first.’ Hemlock added to that thought, most unhelpfully.

Iona and Raeden addressed the blue-winged boy that had spoken with grace and Alysanne followed their greetings with one of her own, her gaze flickering over those she did not recognize. “My sister speaks true, we will not harm you. I’m Alysanne, and you and yours are welcome here - however unfortunate the circumstances.”

If these were the members of the Falls, she was quietly thankful that she did not recognize a single face. Better not to add unhappy memories of an invasion and the stallions that had caused it.

Alysanne

the devoted