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Oberon blinked, simply staring at Cadence's bizarre behavior for several seconds. Then, he began to grow irritated. Little brat thought he was so clever, didn't he? The stag knew it was a taunt - that much was obvious - but he figured if he was ready for it, then it would not matter. So, he charged...straight into a face-full of straw. He may have considered a trap, but he had failed to account for creative use of their surroundings. The tactic added insult to injury because Oberon had, in fact, used their location to his advantage the first time he had been pitted against Cadence. He snorted, flinging his head in a wild arc to ward off the younger Guardian while he cleared his eyes. Once done, he snorted and stamped his hoof, narrowing his eyes at his opponent. It was on.

"What she means is that she's insane, and has it in her head that she wants to be a general and fight in a bloody war that has nothing to do with her," Rajani clarified. "I figure it's her life, so if she wants to join a suicide mission we might as well make use of her." She did not bother to comment on the wolves. Both she and Macaire already knew that they would be back.

Soibhan puffed her chest in indignation at Rajani, knowing she would get flak from the woman about her choice probably until her death. Then her indignation turned to Macaire and his apparent mistrust of her abilities.

"I lead, not follow. Me father is clan chief, and has been trainin' me since birth to be his second. Me brother was trained ta replace him, and trusts no one but me at his side. We've led our clan to many victories together." She looked at the two stags, a fierce light coming into her eye. Could she tell them that she wanted to help because she wanted to be important to someone? Her brother may have enjoyed her battle-oriented mind and tenacity, but she would never be clan chief. Her brother would rule without her some day.

But, admitting to that felt like a smear on the love she felt for her family, and it was only a small part of the why. She truly wanted to help, even though there was nothing in it for her. Were they so jaded that an offer of honest help was looked upon with a suspicious eye?

She turned back to him. "I may no' 'ave a Guardian, but I understand how ta lead men. And having a trained Chosen can only benefit the Guardian."

At least Macaire does not look to Rajani for help when Siobhan makes her answer; he does not even glance at the gypsy, save when she speaks. A good sign. He nods when she explains her 'credentials,' not as if he disbelieves but as if this response is something of a relief. "Peace, lass," he tells her, by way of apology, and toasts his mug in her direction. "Weren't meant tae slight ye, 'tis ainly what was expected. Oi willnae be the last tae ask after ye in sich a way, so 'tis best tae get used tae it." He says this as kindly as he can, and he means this; to be half-leader of a clan is credentials enough for him. Even if she is just a Scot, a lesser sort of Airelander, clans are terrible hard to balance, even when there's something to bring them all together, like a nice war.

"Always thought meself lasses were a mite better at leading," he tells the two women conversationally, after knocking back another swallow. "They leads brothers about, and fathers, and when 'tis time, husbands and wee ones. Nae trouble, after that, tae lead armies."

On the field of battle, Cadence is certain of some kind of victory. He dances aside and then comes after Oberon immediately, ready to lock horns with the other buck right away, confident that he still has the advantage and unaware that he has just been maneuvered in the same way that seconds ago he maneuvered Oberon.

"Some have more sense than others," Rajani told Soibhan.

The gypsy tried very hard not to think of a certain Grimm brother who had promised to follow her wherever she may go, up to and including battling overgrown wolves. She still had no idea what to make of that. Instead, she considered Macaire's sentiments. Honestly, such a way of looking at it had never occurred to her before. When he laid it out like that, however, it made sense. Besides, the Queen ruled her people, did she not? Wolves aside, she had not done half bad.

"If you plan to lead them or even train them, then you'd best have more confidence," she added. "They'll have more than enough doubt for everyone."

Oberon dug his hooves in so he would not slip and threw himself at the larger guardian. He put all his weight behind his thrust, hoping to drive Cadence back as they locked antlers. Perhaps he would slip. Perhaps he would stumble. Either way, Oberon was looking for results.

Soibhan glared at Rajani before looking at him, her eyes slightly narrowed, as if assessing him. His words meant a lot to her, this man that she had only met. If she could impress him so quickly, why not an army of untrained Chosen and their Guardians?

"Thank ye, Macaire. And, I be thinkin' yer right. If we fail, it won't be our faults." Though she knew little of the ways of Sunderland, she knew how people in power worked. Many of them did not use that power for good, and usually caused suffering amongst those beneath them.

It would be no different here than back home.

A shadow passed over them, drawing her attention, and her eyes widened in surprise. The sky was full of rooks! Of all colors and sizes, each one carry rolled parchments in their beaks or claws, sometimes even both. They flew from house to shop to cobbled way, making a great deal of raucous, as only rooks could.

"What's goin' on?"

Macaire does not -- quite -- sigh with relief when Siobhan accepts his words as an accolade of her leadership abilities and not of his dubious hopes for the future. At least with the glance he shares with the gyspy, he knows that she understands, that he is not alone in his lack of hope. It is strange to think that he would share such understanding with someone so wholly different from himself -- but here in Sunderland, so far away from his home, the differences between himself and Rajani seem far less, while the differences between them and the natives seem far more.

.. and then the sky seems to fall apart, with bits of speckled, spotted, or striped shadows dropping out of the heavens, and by the time Rajani looks up from her letter Macaire is still regarding the bird with an expression of such deep suspicion that it seems he is expecting the letter, or perhaps the entire bird, to explode at any moment. When he realizes that Rajani is watching him he flushes -- which is a sight to see on the big man -- and gingerly reaches out, taking the piece of paper by the littlest corner.

Macaire, in other words, is not faring well.

" .. yon bloody Queen?" He asks, his voice cracking on the last word. "Th'devil do she want with sich as us?"

He glances over to the court where their Guardians have been duking it out, and flushes even darker as the answer becomes apparent. The Guardians, of course .. and he is just as uncertain as Rajani. This could either be very, very good, or very, very bad.

Out in the yard, Cadence has found the straw very slippery going; he is just starting to skid, his head lowering to get a better purchase on Oberon, when the rooks start to flutter down. Like any four-footed beast, he does not appreciate the abrupt movements nearby, just out of his field of vision; he jerks backwards, ready to ward off this new and unknown threat, and possibly exposing himself to further attack from the other Guardian.

"I prefer to think that the Queen has more sense than that," she said drily. Even nobles couldn't ignore reality forever. Particularly the Queen. It was her job to keep the country intact, after all. Staging a party just to kill off the Guardians would be very foolish. "Though that would not stop others from plotting something, if they're bold enough."

She would not ignore the possibility, but she would rather focus on the positives just then. Perhaps their task would not be so impossible after all. Then again, just because they were getting royal recognition did not mean that they were capable of defeating the wolves.

"Do quit gaping, Macaire, and read the letter," she snapped, annoyed with befuddled and hopeless men in general. Of course she would be going. Her glare turned to Soibhan. "And you quit pouting, or I won't take you with me."

Quite accustomed to rooks coming and going, Oberon was not phased my the flocking birds above. Instead, he used the opportunity to put his antlers to the other stag's neck, not piercing, but gently resting there for a moment so as to make it clear that the lapse in attention could have cost Cadence dearly. Then, self-satisfied, he trotted over to Rajani to see what all the fuss was about.