It is only after Kaos sends them away that she finally recalls what had happened as she’d been cleaning those damned bones in the first place. At the time, she’d let it be, knowing it would be better to talk to her King and Queen rather than making a decision on her own. So she’d played along with Toulouse, or should be she Barnabas’s, little charade. Truthfully, she mostly just ignored him. It was easier that way and she figured she’d be less likely to let her polite little mask slip and give it all away.

As far as she can tell, Maren still doesn’t know who Toulouse really is. Which in truth, Lyanna hates. It puts so much at jeopardy potentially should the Throat find out. It would be easy enough to pretend that she actually didn’t know who he really was, or what had really happened. But that wasn’t the plan Lyanna wanted to take.

No, she wanted to tell Aly or Tembovu. So today she sets out to find them, recalling how Hemlock or Mbwene had often found her. It makes her wish she had a companion to help her find her targets. Because really, tracking down the King and Queen can be pretty hit or miss. But she knows where they sometimes are, so she heads to the garden first, hoping maybe Alysanne still liked to linger there in her free time. She may not be a healer in title, but she certainly was in heart. If Aly’s not there, maybe she can find Tembovu on the cliffs.

If not....well. Well, she’ll just keep wandering. This is one of those moments she actually hates that so much of the Edge is a forest. It would be endlessly easier to spot them from the sky, but not with trees blocking her view. So she keeps walking, hoping to find one of them quickly.

She is glad to find Alysanne first, because in truth, she misses her friend. It’s been quite some time since they’ve been each other outside of herd business. Though this meeting would be herd business, at least it was only the two of them. At least there could be a moment of something other than the Edge. Don’t get her wrong, she is happy to work for her herd, but everyone needs a break now and again.

Admittedly, she wishes they could just spend the day planning the greenhouse together. Lyanna has spent some time tilling the earth, and had begun to bring some new herbs into the greenhouse to plant. But with spring, she’d also been tending to the garden and somehow felt like she hadn’t done enough of either.

“Aly,” she says, her face breaking into a smile. She is glad to see her friend, though she brings no good news with her. “I’m well. How are you? How are you settling in as Queen, for that matter?” Because she has not actually had the chance to ask this question since that change. Quite some time has passed, but perhaps it’s the right amount of time for anyone to begin to settle in to such a position.

She waits for the other mare to finish speaking before she continues. “I admit though, I was looking for you and sadly not just to chat in the greenhouse. I know it’s rather common knowledge that Toulouse invaded the Throat, but I’m not sure what else you know already. I found out a bit more while cleaning for Kis- Kaos, I suppose.”

Lyanna pauses for a moment, thinking back to cleaning with Glasgow, making sure she has the story right before continuing on. “Maren, the Diviner for the Throat as I’m sure you know, was there. Toulouse joined shortly after Maren, whispering to both Glasgow and I not to say a word, and then introduced himself as Barnabas. Apparently Maren had to save,” she says the word with a slight emphasis and roll of her eyes, “Barnabas from the sea. If Maren has any idea who Barnabas really is, she didn’t indicate it.”

She pauses again, feeling so much like a Princess right now, remembering so many similar conversations between herself and her parents. She’d been a glorified spy then, and apparently, not much has changed. “I kept my mouth shut, because I wanted to tell you and Tembovu and let you handle it as you thought best. But if you would like, I will accompany you to the Throat and apologize for not telling them sooner.” Though she thinks she’s done the right thing, she isn’t sure. She doesn’t know all the politics of Helovia. She’d followed the same instructions she’d had in Morham, but it’s possible they don’t hold true here.

She would have loved to spend more time talking to Aly about her adjustment to being Queen. She had never been Queen, of course, but it wasn’t something she was unfamiliar with. Not that she’d spent loads of time with her mother, but she’d spent enough to know something. Had heard plenty from Corbin of what their parents taught him about becoming King. She might not be able to help Aly much, but she would be an understand ear, certainly. Instead, she gives her friend only a sympathetic nod, and adding briefly, “If you ever want to talk…” and leaving it at that, the implication in her meaning clear enough. Lyanna was here should her friend ever need someone to simply rant at.

Tembovu joins them at the opportune time, and it all goes to hell quickly. Apparently Alysanne does not know what Toulouse has been up to, and Lyanna’s first choice of words were poor at best. Careless. She’d been afraid to insult them as if they didn’t know, thinking first of the challenge and then of the meeting. Iona knew, certainly, and she thought Tembovu, though maybe she’d been entirely wrong. Maybe Iona had meant someone else entirely, which would be a whole new level of trouble. Though she didn’t think it was someone other than Toulouse.

She doesn’t reply to this one, figuring it best for this particular question, she keep her mouth shut. To be fair, she would simply leave if she could, because suddenly she feels far too much like she’s back in Morham, standing in a room as her parents argued over what to do about a bit of information Lyanna had just told them. It was such an uncomfortable position, standing there not really belonging in the conversation, and yet not dismissed either. She feels like a child again, standing there waiting for Mom and Dad to let her go play in the woods again.

But Alysanne’s eye flicker to her, which is new. Her parents never looked at her when they bickered, but simply ignored her until they were done and she was dismissed by the sheer fact they forgot all about her. “He did not hide the fact he knew Glasgow and myself, so if they did not know he was from the Edge before, they likely could have figured it out. I gather he pretended to be drowning and innocent, but I’m not sure Maren is stupid enough to fall for it. Not completely, anyway.”

She pauses, thinking about what they knew, and what might have happened that day in the Throat. “If I may?” she asks, though her mind is already wheeling and the words tumble out now. “Let’s assume they know he’s from the Edge. Whether they suspect he was lying about drowning or not, a member of the Edge clearly broached their border. You don’t start drowning in the sea on the way to the Throat if you are not trying to get to the Throat. Which means what they know is a member of the Edge was trying to get into the Throat, even if they don’t know why. That is the situation to deal with, and I would argue caution in ignoring it. There is no good way to handle the situation, but if you are at least mostly honest and let them know he’s being dealt with accordingly, they are less likely to blame the Edge as a whole. If they do find out, and it seems unlikely Toulouse will be able to keep his secret forever, and find out you covered it, then they have every right to break whatever alliance stands now.”

And then she falls silent, realizing perhaps her opinion was unwanted too late. Old habits die hard. Though her parents rarely asked her opinion, her brother often did, and she’d grown used to thinking through issues. Though she’d never had enough time with him to feel confident in her diplomatic abilities, it is at least not entirely foreign.