A short. Fucking. Leash.
Valmúa wasn't sure what to do with herself, stuck largely in the Watch's interior under the scrutinous supervision of Stjornuati and Solpallur. Kigipigak as well was carefully kept track of, although because he was not the primary offender had much more free reign than the red girl.
Slowly, her numbness started to fade away into a vague acceptance of what was to come. She would once again need to prove to her brothers that indeed, she was af Stormskýli and had a right to that name. Slowly, she would watch them ascend to power with their ravens to guide, and all of her hopes of becoming the leader that Kigipigak had envisioned would wash away.
The poppy girl took the day to investigate an area that had etched its way into a ridge. With the alpine path above, this protected, cavernous place was coated in trees. Most were pines and spruce, such that it stayed green always. As she entered the forest, she moved toward the western wall of the Watch, until she found something quite unexpected.
A single sequoia tree towered above its spruce companions at the center of the forest. It surely wasn't the largest sequoia in the park, but it was big. Val smiled as she spun around beneath it, a great guardian of the Watch, wise and old. A single raven appeared to be enjoying the upper branches.
There was another surprise. Just beneath the tree, mushrooms grew in the pine litter. Sniffing at them, she realized they were the good kind. Her grin grew wider. Thank Fjörgyn.

Who else to find here there but Rökkvi, a brother she thought she would never see again. As if she needed more judgy men in her life. Indeed, she was extremely pleased to see him, but for a moment she merely lifted a lip in annoyance at his play, snapping her teeth as though she was furious.
But as was her norm, this icy expression melted into something warm and grinning and even sweet, for Rökkvi had indeed been greatly missed. Her smile melted her stiffness, and she took the moment to attack him with fond licks and toothy mouthing around his jaw, the same way she had greeted Solpallur. You little sneak, she said, rolling onto her back to expose her belly. Did you come all this way to laugh at me?

To be honest, Stjornuati and Solpallur had never been heavy handed or all that into shows of submission or dominance. However, she knew that such puppy-like, subservient behaviour was more likely to garner their affections and perhaps even their trust back again. Well, either that or it was just a card that she was particularly good at playing.
Had it been one of the women or Kigipigak who had come to poke at her, it was unlikely her reaction would have been so girlish.
Rolling back onto her feet, the poppy girl shook herself. Rökkvi asked her what happened, and she shrugged, as though it was all just a big misunderstanding and really it had meant nothing. Of course, he would know better. Oh, you know, Stjornuati says I wronged him because I tried to recruit young women to give us good spring numbers. I guess he only likes blonds, she said, looking sidelong toward him with a dull, annoyed expression. The joke was designed so that she wouldn't have to talk about it more than she had to.
She wasn't even sure she would have actually tried to do anything. She still didn't see the real harm in trying to play matchmaker with him and Solpallur. It wasn't as though she had planned to hurt anyone.
Though who really knew what was in her head now.