The ways things happened around here seemed to not sit too well with the leatherworker. Mauja was a keen observer, but if one was good at masking emotions, he could not see through it. This stallion, however, was not hiding what he felt. Ears fell back, a grimace on his face, a murmur echoing Mauja's words. Part of him was slightly annoyed at this blatant dislike of how things were around here, but a larger part was curious as to why it left such a foul look on Coris' face. Still, something in his gaze hardened as he watched the other stallion, something unyielding and guarded.. potentially, blasphemy could fall from his dark lips, and if so, Mauja wasn't sure what he'd do. So silent he remained, watching intently, vigilant - the grumble continued, but shifting subject from the glass makers and onto Ulrik and his ilk. A maker. As if this foreigner knew of such things, but curious as he was, he listened and tried to not judge, but the irritation he had displayed at the Moon's gift had Mauja wary. ".. and glass sits on the bottom ..." The King couldn't help a flash of something dangerous sweep through his eyes, thinking about moonlight glinting off the broken edge of d'Artagnan's horn - how sharp it must have been, before the weather wore it smooth.. how painful it must be to step on such things, like rolling on edges of ice.

As if trying to sell his trade, talk turned back to leather and its properties. Mauja's gaze drifted off his face to the dead doe, her eyes open and unseeing. Horses were not natural predators, but the sight of something dead filled him with more curiosity than apprehension. "Glass," he said, voice just a murmur in the swirl of time. "It's sharp, is it not? Would you like to break it, and roll upon it? Would you enjoy placing your hooves on it?" The Frostheart's cold gaze swept back to his, something dark there. "Leather cannot cut open bodies." He let it hang between them for a moment, like an unspoken threat. Leather was soft, it would not be able to pierce skin the way d'Artagnan's horn could. And this stallion, he even sheathed his own horn, blunting his weapon. "It's all about the intent," he said firmly, ice in his voice, ice in his eyes. Behind him, his wet tail flicked against his hocks, darkness drawing in around him with still-warm breezes breathing against his damp skin. Mauja had no intention of padding himself, of carrying things about, of versatility and durability. Mauja intended to go to war sooner or later, and then he would need weapons... but he was no fool, either. Leather was not a weapon; leather was protection. Perhaps the stranger would be offended by his defense of glass, for he did seem a prickly sort... Cold blue eyes roved his body, hungrily, once, then returned to his face.

"So as far as protection goes... glass is not much to have, I'll give you that." Nonchalance, a flick of his tail; steps drew him closer, dancing upon the cool sand, frost freezing upon his hooves again. Coris' lower leathers were dripping with salt water. Idly he wondered what the leathermaker would do to remedy it, but perhaps it was a trade secret. Some small part of Mauja hated trade secrets, yet he found it interesting - Ulrik worked with the magic which flower naturally through Helovia, bending things with his mind and his will, but this stranger seemed to use a more manual means of going about his business. "What can your armor do? How much can it withstand?" When fighting unicorns, the biggest danger was their horn, or horns. Cutting, piercing, they easily laid skin and flesh open and slid between ribs to puncture lungs and hearts. With enough strength and the right angle, they could rip bodies open and spill their warm intestines on the ground - but Mauja had little desire to go to war against unicorns. Pegasi and equine, their attacks were blunt, bludgeoning, creating bruises rather than open wounds. Still.. should this stallion fall into the hooves of someone else, it would seriously hinder Mauja's warriors when the war came. He nearly regretted the ire with which he had pointed out the leather's lack of offensive qualities. If he tried to go elsewhere, sell his trade to someone else... Well, Mauja would just have to step in.

( Krazie is intending to post Huyana again after me ^^ )