[Ayliyra]

Things had been rather shaken up after the earthquake. The land she had been trying to familiarize herself with was now different and new all over again. It was hard to decide how she felt about that. She was used to change, accepted it as something constant but..while she did like learning new things, which she usually did whenever change occurred, she still wasn't sure if she actually liked change itself or not given that not all her experiences with change had been pleasant ones and really it was probably at least half of them, if not more, that fell into the category of unpleasant. Although she supposed as this change meant that the land would be different from what her packmates knew or had known it could be considered good as it lessened their advantage if anyone decided they wanted her gone permanently. Of course they could could still try and use the aftermath to their advantage but it would be harder even if more than one were involved as she was probably far more experienced in traversing strange and difficult terrain than they were aware of or were even capable of dealing with themselves. Of course that didn't mean she wanted to exactly put that to the test.

So she'd been working quietly and avoiding others as much as circumstances allowed, especially since there were quite a few individuals that weren't her favorites and some were rather incredibly far from being anyone she wanted to deal with and didn't think she'd ever really didn't ever want to deal with again but then there were others that she was more neural towards and those who she did care about with the chiefest of them being Mercury. So she tried to be diplomatic with likely rather varying results of success depending on who she came across as even those she wasn't fond of weren't all on the same level of how not-fond of them she was.

And so of course what happened? What had to happen of course because it just wouldn't be normal if cruel irony didn't once again intervene as it had before on more than one occasion and present her with one of the very individuals she would have rather avoided. Julek. The king that had told her if she'd been in Bachhus she would be dead many times over, and the brother of Saelac who had expressed similar sentiments before her sentence of exile had been carried out. Well that was just perfect wasn't it..someone who, given that statement, clearly wanted her dead, along with his relatives and who was big enough and powerful enough to possibly do so. Why did they always have to be so huge? Not that being surrounded by angry, violent giants was anything new, since it really wasn't, but still..he was huge and while she could manage things of his size, she'd managed Carissi after all, she didn't really feel like playing keep away to keep herself away from an angry, snapping giant. If it came to that though she supposed she'd have to do exactly that. She gave a mental huff at the thought of it before putting even more effort into trying to be diplomatic but how on earth did one greet someone who wanted them dead? Go hey sorry to disappoint you but I'm still alive and kinda intend to stay that way but maybe you'll get your wish one day! Yeah not likely and that would also hardly be diplomatic so that left..she couldn't think of anything but formalities. Yes formalities would be good for this. That rather simplified things..sort of.

She adopted the same neutrally respectful expression she had with Alana while remaining at the ready, also just as she had with Alana and in carefully respectful neutral tone spoke. "King Julek" being very careful for it to not sound like either a statement or a question since he had seemed to really hate both of those things during the brief interactions they'd had. Once that was done all that was left was to wait and see if he would come charging at her growling, snapping and snarling and accusing her of committing some other crime..which would probably be the crime of breathing with the way her luck went..especially when it came to Bacchus dires.

[Julek]

The last they'd met, he'd spoken the will of the pack and of the alphahead. He'd issued a damning order, one that had caused a rift in the girl's life and shaken it up for a number of years. It had been earned, that punishment, but her sentence had become lengthened by the fall of her prison and her subsequent disappearance into the wilds. She'd managed to find her way back shortly after his return, along with the fallen queen who had suckled the same teats as his mate. He wasn't sure what he thought of that, though he stood behind and beside Alana in all things and all decisions she made regarding... all of it.

So when the voice called his name and broke him from his thoughts, it was an understatement to say he was surprised.

    "King Julek"

His blue eye swiveled and focused on her, scanning her face for hint of reason. Honestly, he hadn't even seen her there, her muddy colours fading into the dirt and dying grass. Her eyes, a pretty lighter version of his own, stared at him and he wasn't sure what to make of it. Aylie, he began awkwardly, turning towards her and walking her way before seating himself before her. How may I help you? He would wait, feeling incredibly awkward though he wouldn't let that be known.

I'm..glad you returned safely. Trust me in that we had no idea that Alchemilla would fall, if she trusted him in nothing else, he hoped she would believe that. How could they? After all, the pack had seemed lively and active before simply vanishing off the map. How often did that happen, he wondered - where wolves would just fall disinterested in a pack and wander away, leaving an empty land and a broken throne.

♕

[Ayliyra]

He turned and she wondered if maybe she should have tried to avoid him sight unseen but quickly dismissed the idea and notion as her scent would have lingered so he would have known of her presence anyway and might have been upset about her slipping away which would have been well..not good. When he said her name, or rather her usual nickname, it was strange to her in a way after having spent so long using neither her full name nor her more common nickname but rather a nickname that, prior to her using it while she was on her own, had only ever been used by one individual. That was how things would be though she supposed and it was probably for the better anyway. His turning around fully and walking towards her she wasn't so sure about it. After all was it really necessary for him to move closer? She could see him just fine where he was despite his dark coloration as his size made him rather hard to miss and big things tended to make big sounds so she would have been able to hear him just fine as well she was sure. But still there he was massive hugeness moving towards her, not fast enough to be considered a charge granted, but still she preferred space between herself and large things, even if she was willing to take on things larger than herself if need be, just in case.

Then came..was that a question? An actual for real question? From the king who hated such silly things like that..no..it had to be a rhetorical question because even if he didn't dislike questions he certainly wouldn't have been asking her how he could help her. No he was more likely to ask her how did she wish to die than anything else and she could hardly do anything about that. Then came yet another interesting bit of rhetoric but of course she was going to be expected to reply to something she supposed and since telling him that moving back to where he was, or further, would be helpful wasn't likely to get a good response as it was hardly diplomatic she would reply to the other with as much diplomacy as she could manage. "I was rather pleasantly surprised myself to have been able to return safely". And okay so maybe not as diplomatic as she should be but he had wanted her dead which was rather difficult to forget or ignore and didn't exactly cause her to feel any warm fuzzy feelings towards him but rather the opposite plus she hadn't exactly been expecting a conversation with him so much as having a very good view of his teeth and back of the throat. Maybe she could do better.."Yes I'm sure the diplomats would have had a rather difficult time coming to check on me with the terrible blizzard that occurred and it would have been rather a shame if any of them had been injured attempting to do so". Or maybe not..oops. Being formal when not expecting to need to be was not her best skill..but then she had only needed to be diplomatic enough to pass as a wandering healer before her return and full court formalities were seldom used anyway so it was rather hard to be well practiced in using them..especially on the spur of the moment.

But hopefully she was being formal and diplomatic enough if not..yeah..she'd really rather not.