Takiyok contested all of it. She was there to say everything that he couldn't, since any clout he might have had with his leaders had been flushed away the moment he made eye contact with Wylla. Then, Takiyok continued, and said something that Taikon didn't at all expect.
She lied. She did it expertly, stealing his own story and plastering herself onto its facade. She spoon fed it to Mahler. Taikon glanced briefly toward her, rather shocked. Outwardly, he might have been shocked that she had gone to the Rusalkans, but she knew the real reason why he looked at her that way.
Taikon remained silent while Mahler went on, saying, abruptly, that the war was off. He blinked, looking at the chest of his leader, annoyed that this hadn't been the conversation he'd started with. The hidden meaning of his words about Wylla sailed past his head, and he assumed that Mahler meant only that she had demanded loyalty of the pack shown at the meeting. He went on to cite the reasons for the worry.
Takiyok's boldness planted words into his mouth that he never would have said to Mahler alone. Did you not just demand respect from me thirty seconds ago? His words were cold. He did not appreciate a leader that said one thing and did another. Though he should have been pleased to hear that there would be no war, instead he was even more annoyed that yet again, Mahler had withheld information.