Having endured a tumultuous week with Mapplethorpe on her back and at her heels, Taima Lyall had vowed to herself more than ever that she would make her own name within the reaches of Nomads Pass. She didn't and wouldn't need to have the gray-haired leader around once she was Queen; truth be told, the second daughter to be born within the heart of Grizzly Hollow had been raised from birth to follow in her parents' footsteps. She had already taken to heart and mind the lessons both her mother and father had drilled into her head. She knew what she wanted from the start, but now she knew how to get it all... thanks to Naira's beloved Advisor. While she had had the mind to keep the worldly male around as her own personal mentor, after he had practically spent the last few days snapping and growling at her for not behaving as a graceful monarch might, she opted against it. @Datura, alone, would be enough to guide her should she need input on anything; after all, when they had been lost together in the Fen, he had done everything in his power to make sure she cast away all her weakness and challenged her to be the fiery spirit she had been since she had come into this world.
Leaving the communal den behind at such an early hour provided her with enough time to find the steep paths that led up to Midnight Plateau, where she had ultimately decided she would spend her time if she wasn't needed on the borders. After what had happened in the Secluded Spring, she realized that she would only be wasting her time in catering to those who dwelled around the foot of the mountain. Once she was able to place all her feet on level ground - the stony shelf that had supposedly once been the home and hearth of Arlette Dieudonne's family - she peered up into the afternoon sky and the dim white circle that was presently the sun behind the dense, gray cloud cover.
She took a deep breath then released it in an airy sigh before straightening her posture as Mapplethorpe had once instructed her to do so many days ago. Chin up, ears up, muzzle level, tail held confidently out behind her... By now the stance had become familiar to her and as she gazed down at the slowly changing hues of the treetops below, she smiled to herself. It was just as she had remembered it last; and, one day, it would all be hers.