"Hello?"
With the sound of so many voices nearby, hearing one more was not too much of a shock. He did not stand there and expect to hear no words, nor expect all of them to be indiscernible in the distance. It was only a matter of time before some should pass by and he should be able to make out the words distinctly. But nonetheless, he did not expect to be directly addressed, and he flinched, muscles tightening almost painfully at being approached.
His head swiveled to look behind him, finding that he had been approached by a woman, a unicorn of some form. He did not recognize her as a member of his Court. Of course, he left his hideout so rarely he doubted he would recognize many in his Court. He only knew a scant few.
Her voice was quiet, and she looked tentative from where she stood, nervous as though she was afraid of his response.
Lies. Tricks. Deceit. She's tricking you into letting your guard down. It's all just a tra-
He dipped his head slightly in greeting, the returned 'hello' he murmured hardly distinguishable from the ambient chatter of others in the distance, even to himself. He cast his gaze to the ground, fighting against the heart that suddenly seemed to have left his ribs to make its home in his throat. Surely, it wasn't too late to move? Or would she follow him?
Did she come here to steal his lantern? Well, he hadn't lit it yet, and if she wanted it he could always get another. Or he could just leave so that way he wouldn't be approached by anyone again, because surely no one would approach when he had nothing for them to take.
He wanted to take his hoof off of the lantern to present it to her, but knew it would blow away in the wind if he did such a thing. He looked down to it, before looking away, keeping his gaze downturned. He simply stood and looked at the ground beneath his hooves, at the ocean spray in the distance. He looked at everything but the unicorn who had approached him.
He hoped she would simply say what she wanted and let him be on his way. He didn't want to cause any trouble.
@Adelheid
