Acere paced the borders, waiting in anticipation for Drifa's arrival. He had just finished piecing some things together using some pelts he had collected, and they lay scattered on the ground beneath the trees. He had grown restless, however, and had taken to pacing the border. His foxes had gone scouting the surrounding lands, making sure none of the Hjarrandi wolves nor other potentially hostile creatures lurked nearby. He was eager to learn what Abavens answer to his proposal was, and the usually patient king found himself becoming impatient. These were serious matters, after all, and he had given Abaven a chance before they simply showed up at their borders armed to the teeth. He considered his pack and theirs allies, but things might change depending on how the young alphess took it. He had thought about going himself and explaining things, but he didn't dare leave the pack lands at this point in time. For all he knew, Hjarrandi could raid his pack while it was left undefended, but he decided that if she chose to do that, their deal would be nullified and voided.

He wouldn't be the one seen as the fool here, after all. He would keep his end of the bargain. Honorable though he was, he had no qualms with deceiving a rogue band if it meant keeping his allies. And if it didn't work? Well, he supposed he'd deal with it if it came down to that.

Build me up from bones, Wrap me up in skin, Hold me close enough to breathe me in

Drífa soldiered on, panting by the time she got back to Winterfell's borders. She'd need a nice soak and some hot tea when she finally got back to the ship. Though as she arrived at the border of the pines she caught Acere's scent. Had he been waiting for her? Ah, well, this would make it easier to deliver her report. Though she had no idea what he would think. She followed the scent until she caught sight of him.

"King Acere! I have news from Abaven. The Wisteria has accepted our offer. However, I think it is important to communicate that she still feels deeply betrayed. If this is an alliance Winterfell wishes to keep I think it would be a good idea for you to speak with her more on this matter when the training session is over. My hope is that this will serve as a first step toward rebuilding trust." It was the best scenario but it certainly wasn't the worst. She gazed up at Acere, awaiting his thoughts.

Paws paced one after the other as he waited for Drifa to arrive. He wondered how things were going. Was she still there? Did Theory ultimately decide to take Drifa as their prisoner for his decision? Did they see it as a betrayal? He supposed if he was on the other end of the stick he might see it that way, too, though he was wiser than the younger alphess and he could put things into perspective. The approaching footsteps he heard drew his attention up and he stopped pacing when he spotted Drifa at last. Immediately the alabaster king stopped pacing and he hurried towards her to hear her report. As expected, the Archmaester wasted no time in filling him in with what happened. He thought over what she said, nodding and huffing softly. "I expected she might see it as a sort of betrayal...I thought about going myself but...I suppose I'm a little paranoid they might try to attack while I'm gone." And the last thing he wanted was for his children and those who were unprepared to have to face them alone.

"Do you think this an act of betrayal?" He asked her softly, curious yet doubtful if they should even continue the deal. The pack knew the deal at this point, why Kai was here and why they were raiding for someone else and not themselves. He kind of wanted this to just be over and done with, and the only two courses he could think of was either giving Kai back to Hjarrandi, or raiding their targets. Giving Kai back didn't particularly sit well with him, however. Though potentially losing Abaven as an ally well...that didn't sit well with him either, but the latter could potentially be mended afterwards.

Build me up from bones, Wrap me up in skin, Hold me close enough to breathe me in

Drífa settled onto her haunches, taking a moment to catch her breath after the long journey. She wasn't used to travelling so much, so swiftly. Halla settled in next to her, her agile hands gently massaging some of the knots forming in between the older wolf's shoulder blades.

"I expected she might see it as a sort of betrayal...I thought about going myself but...I suppose I'm a little paranoid they might try to attack while I'm gone."

Drífa's ears perked. "Who might attack? Hjarrandi?" She had been wondering herself if there might be any Hjarrandi wolves lurking about and keeping an eye on Winterfell. If she had thought otherwise she wouldn't have taken to moving in such secrecy when she went to Abaven. Though she joined after this whole debacle her pelt would still smell of the pack and a skilled tracker might put two and two together.

"Do you think this an act of betrayal?"

Drífa closed her eyes and thought for a moment. "Having not been there myself when this deal was made I have to go on a lot of assumptions. I think it was foolish to agree to raid before a target was selected." Did Hjarrandi know that Winterfell and Abaven were allies? If so, she wondered how they'd known that and what their real aim was. "I also think we waited far to long to tell Abaven. Theory should've been told immediately after we learned who we were raiding. All that said, no I don't think this is an act of betrayal. If it were we would have attacked with no warning nor attempted to come up with a mutually beneficial solution. That said Abaven feels wounded all the same and Theory stated it was a knife in the back so she may see it as betrayal regardless."