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Upon hearing his son's answer, Turin's eyes closed and he sighed softly. It was 'Toli's choice, of course, but he couldn't help but be dismayed. Sadron's report could be interpreted in more than one way. How did he know that his son wasn't being sent into danger? Even without a war, threats could come from any direction without convenient warnings such as open war to signal danger.

At the same time, he'd felt a surge of pride at his son's words. He could tell that the boy wasn't exactly eager to step into this new role...and yet, he did so with noble, selfless reasons, thinking only of his family. And what else was bravery except doing what needed to be done, despite one's own fear or reservations? He felt a passing urge to go clap the boy on the shoulder proudly...but restrained, due to the tension in the Court. Best not to continue throwing his connection to his children in the Queen's face right now, as she seemed to be battling her own personal war in her head. Or perhaps her heart, as the case may be.

Turin knew she felt betrayed; that much was true. Likely only because he hadn't told her the truth, that he had been keeping secrets from her. He couldn't help that he had a secondary reason for doing so that he couldn't speak of. And how could he possibly explain without revealing the secret that he'd hidden for so much longer than that of his new family?

Still, at least the Queen seemed to be cooling down, if only slightly. Her attention had moved on, and she seemed to be calmly dealing with the other subjects in the room, questioning them on their abilities and how they might best be able to aid the kingdom. She was behaving more rationally, making logical decisions as any good leader should...

...until she gave her order to Kelebek.

Fins flaring momentarily, Turin's relaxed grip tightened painfully on his spear. The hell? This was ridiculous! She was going too far! He struggled to keep control of his rising rage, but there was just too much going on in his head and in his heart. His head was pounding furiously and when he opened his eyes, there were touches of red in the edges of his vision.

He met the Queen's eyes as she sent a mischievous smile in his direction and something snapped inside the Captain. Without further hesitation, he darted forward to meet her as she separated from his son. He didn't know what she'd said to him, but given that look, it was likely nothing good. His voice was sharp, but tinged with harshness, much as the Queen's had been earlier. "Queen Tariel!" All casual tone was gone. "A word with you, if you please," the final words were squeezed out through gritted teeth, and the Captain reached out to take the Queen by the arm and pull her aside. He'd never have dared do so until now, but drastic times called for drastic measures and all that.

While his volume was lowered, to keep prying ears from listening in, his tone didn't change. "Tari, you've gone too far," he snapped, maroon eyes set hard and fixated on hers. His grip on her arm was tight, not enough to hurt, but enough that she couldn't easily pull away. Sure, she could shift instead and simply eat him, but he could just as easily shift with her at this point. He'd never been willing to shift when she'd raged before, not unless absolutely necessary...but something had his blood boiling. By the Great Waters, if he had to, he'd pull a Sadron to shake some sense into her.

"I get it, you're pissed at me. That's understandable and I accept that," he growled, unaware of the pain that mirrored in his eyes. "You wanna' be pissed, then fine! Take it out on me." He took a deep breath. "But not your innocent subjects."

He paused, casting a glance over the curious crowd hovering nearby. "You're making decisions based on your emotions. You're hurt and you're lashing out. I'm sorry. But don't do this. You're a good leader, Tari. You are. Don't let one incident ruin that by giving in to a moment of rage and taking it out on innocents. I won't let you ruin your standing by doing so. These people need a strong, capable leader. You are that leader, Tari, but only if you can keep your head. If it helps, you can kick my a** later. Focus on that. But for now, think of your people. No innocents should pay because of my ******** ups," he snarled, language lapsing into vocabulary more often heard out of the commander than himself.

Turin had expected a fight. He'd expected her to lash out at him, either verbally or physically even. He'd expected a back and forth.

He'd not expected...this.

The rage and fury that had been building within the Naiad Captain suddenly dispersed, including the energy he'd begun gathering for a transformation if necessary, leaving him hovering in drained confusion, blinking after the Queen. He was surprised enough that he'd released his hold on her arm and she darted away before he could form a coherent response. "But I...I never chose..." he muttered, closing his eyes and dropping his head in shame.

---

Moana flushed with happiness, hearing her new title. Lady Moana. And the flattery to follow...the Queen depending on her? It was almost too much to bear!

Yet, her glee was tainted with worry about the drama between her father and the Queen. She didn't quite follow everything that was going on, but one would be a fool to be oblivious to the tension and emotion flying wildly about the room. She curtsied one last time to the Queen with a smile, then took her leave, casting a concerned glance towards her father as she floated down from the dais.

---

It took all the focus that Serefina had not to fling up another heat shield in response to the sudden confrontation. Swallowing nervously, she tried not to let her wariness show in her return address to the Queen. "Err...that's....fine, Your Majesty. I suppose I could, though...I'm not sure how skilled I am with drawing such things...I can give it my best, however. With some help, I could certainly describe it instead?" she offered hesitantly. She was willing to help and pull her weight, if these Naiads were willing to accept her.

She just didn't want to end up all alone again.

"Meet me here tomorrow when the sun is highest over the lake. Same goes for Pinkie over there," Sadron replied, gesturing toward Toli with one hand. "Tomorrow things get real, so you should get as much rest as you can."

The naiad motioned as if to give Itsaso an encouraging pat on the shoulder, hesitated, then put his arm down. He could not be sure if that sort of thing was appropriate. He had to treat this female not like a lady he wanted to impress but as an ally. This would be pretty hard. To cover, he gives a sheepish grin, giving his features a boyish charm that he worked hard to hide most of the time. "Tomorrow," he coughed out, recovering.

With a curt nod, Sadron swims over to the Queen to see what official business remained. "Milady?" He asked, placing a hand on her back. "Anything I may do to be of service?"

Tariel smiled, but it was forced, towards Serefina. Not because she wasn't sincere, but because it was just hard to smile in this moment, despite her being happy about the cooperation of the court today. Well, not her court, but those attending court today.

"Thank you, Serefina. I will try and find someone to work with you so we can create a map. I will send word when everything is ready. You are free to leave unless you have further questions."

She was genuinely happy that she managed to please others during this ordeal. It helped lift her spirits a little, keeping her from complete depression. She really could use a level head to talk her back to her normal self, but the level heads that usually do that are either not here, or the one that caused her to feel so irrational in the first place. Although Sadron did manage to pull her from her rage before that got out of hand. So one for three? Those weren't good results.

She had to fix this, but didn't even know where to start. Her head said to talk to Turin first, but her heart didn't want to yet. She aimed to flop on her throne, but there was suddenly a fancy teenager in her way. He'd moved to stand on the dais, in front of her chair behind her? That was ... well, bold. And not the proper respect royalty should receive.

Sadron appeared at her side, and she was tempted to have him handle the interrogation because she wanted to just go cry in a dark room for a while. But she knew she couldn't. "We need to find out what this boy knows. He spoke of wars."

She glanced to Turin who looked defeated. This caused a bit of pain in her heart. What did I do?

"Excuse me a moment," she said to Sadron and Ocie before turning towards Turin.

"Turin," She wanted to talk to him, but she didn't know what to say, and right here, and right now weren't the proper place. She just had to finish this last order of business for the day before any more personal stuff could be dealt with. "... we should wrap up."

Returning her attention back to the remaining naiad, she said, "Ocie, what is your connection to this island?"

The queen moved around Ocie, keeping Turin and Sadron within her peripheral vision. "Who are your parents?" she asked, not satisfied with his first answer. From what's learned over the years from her tutor, only the Aernyn and a few select pae'il are not born and raised on this island.

"Which old fae do you speak of? I need to know exactly what she told you."

Tariel studied the fins on this unique naiad, seriously rather than voraciously. He said he is the only one, but something about that statement didn't ring true to her, and she remained suspicious. She would send Aquatls to her mentor for more information later to compare to this boy's story.

Tariel looked to Turin once more, knowing his ability, and hoping if anything rang untrue or was a set up for danger, he'd speak up.

Hearing the name Leitha again reminded the queen that she had indeed asked him already. He kept to his story. "No need. I can find it if I need to get in contact with your mother." Tariel had Aquatls all over the island in every single waterway feeding information to her about the aquatic life of the island. They remained neutral by nature, so they didn't give her information regarding wars, but they kept her up to date on other matters the queen needed to handle, such as the welfare of the wildlife and state of taint pollution.

"An old faerie pae'il spoke to you of such matters with her dying breath?" The queen seemed incredulous. This seemed worth investigating and she'd have Sadron look in to it, but would wait to give the order when Ocie was not around. "Where did this take place?"