Hearing from Alastor what he had gone after Deimos for had made her blood boil, but she knew that Alastor had already done enough to show her brother the error of his ways. She would undoubtedly talk to him about it as well, but for now it sounded like her husband had done quite a number on the brute in revenge of what Deimos had done to Ikigai. She knew that in a way she should have held Merrick to the same standard with his treatment of Keelin when they were here, but it was different when the other half of this situation was their dear Ikigai and the important alliance that her being here had forged. In all honesty, she could care less about the alliance when it was compared to Ikigai's wellbeing. She had simply been excited to have Ikigai be part of her family because of how much she cared about the beautiful young woman—the alliance had been a pleasant surprise to come out of that.

The day after Alastor had come back scratched up from his fight with Deimos, she sought out Ikigai, looking around the island for her Emissary. She eventually found the delicate woman and walked over to her with an apologetic look on her features. "Ikigai," she greeted simply, seeking out her features to see for herself what Deimos had done, a frown pulling across her features. "Are you alright?" she asked as her large paw came to gently cup Ikigai's cheek, lifting her chin up to see what her brother had done while she pondered going to punish Deimos herself.

Manea | Temno | Ciemny

Iki was nervous, and rightly so. She didn't know what would happen between Deimos and herself. She didn't know what sort of repercussions Alastors actions would have in her relationship. The pale princess had healed her mate, but she was giving him space today and so was out and about. That's when she ran into Manea. Or, Manea ran into her. Dark ears pricked as the massive woman spoke, voicing her concern. Ikigai felt embarrassed. She felt shame. Those same ears slicked back against her skull for a moment and marbled eyes cast to the side, only returning to Manea's blue depths when her chin was gently grasped in a large, feline-like paw.

"Are you alright," was the question asked. Iki gave a small smile, trying to shield her true emotions. "I'm okay," she reassured the purple fae. "He was drinking and he was upset..." Was she trying to make excuses for him? Iki gave her head a shake, gently pulling away from Manea's grasp on her chin. "He apologized." There wasn't much else that she could say.

"Iki"

Manea could see the way that Ikigai was attempting to hide behind the slight smile that touched her lips, but she hadn't really expected anything else from the poised diplomat. She examined the torn lip and the bruising that peeked through the short, pale fur of her chin, her brows pulling together and expression darkening a touch as Ikigai tried to explain away his actions with the fact that Deimos had been drunk and upset at the time. If she hadn't already been sure that Alastor had done a number on her brother already she would have turned to do the same herself. She would still have a word with him, of course, but perhaps her husband had already taken the physical punishment side of things far enough. She'd have to see for herself she supposed.

When Ikigai pulled away Manea released her chin without issue, lowering her large paw once more. Before she could say anything, Ikgai added that Deimos had apologized and she paused for a moment, raising a brow with a hint of surprise. She knew her brothers and neither of them were what she would consider apologetic or kind. On more than one occasion she had known of or witnessed how they behaved with other females that they had been with and certainly experienced the way that they viewed others that weren't of their family or blood. Yes, Ikigai was someone of note and technically, for all intents and purposes, his mate so he should be treating her far better than any of the common whores he had kept around previously, but somehow it still surprised her a bit that he had apologized at least well enough for Ikigai to mention it.

"Well, that's a pleasant surprise at least," she replied after a beat with a sigh, a frown still tugging at her lips. She gave a small shake of her head and added, "There is no excusing what he did. I'm glad he at least understands that he has done you wrong—at least enough to apologize—but that doesn't mean he has an excuse worthy of hurting you." She glanced away for a moment, her ears flicking as she momentarily tried to find the right words before she told her, "I also wanted to apologize to you personally. I feel responsible for putting you in this situation to begin with and I should have refused any match for you that I couldn't with confidence know that you would be treated as you deserve. Clearly my warnings to Deimos did not fully sink in. Hopefully now he has learned his lesson."

Manea | Temno | Ciemny