Crack the code

I'll be randomly inventing details of their lives in Seahawk Valley over the course of this thread, I'm sure. You're welcome to do the same!

When Ray said he liked the plateau, a smile blossomed on her face, more broad and genuine than the smiles with which she favored others. "I'm happy to hear you say that," she admitted, tail slicing back and forth through the air, keeping a steady, ceaseless rhythm now that she was in her brother's presence.

"Appropriately soaked in urine," she reported as they fell into step, punching through the tree line and heading into the heart of the woodland. "I smelled a few of your contributions. Thanks for helping us set up shop, Ray," she said, thrusting her snout against his jawline and giving it a lick. "Speaking of which, I've told Ariston I'd ask you something. All of our subordinates will start out as Sigmas until they prove themselves. But we both know you and, well, you're a founding member too. I think you should have a higher rank."

She let that thought linger between them a moment as she leaped up and over a large trunk lying in their path. In that moment when she stood astride it, she felt queenly. It passed, however, and she soon came back down to earth, where she felt most comfortable in her own skin. She waited for Ray to make the same jump, then headed onward with her darker brother flanking her.

She picked up where she'd left off by saying, "I'd like to let you choose your own rank, whichever one you think you deserve." Koontz glanced at him, icy eyes probing his face curiously, wondering what he would make of this open-ended offer to select his own rank. Would he feel put on the spot, or flattered, or both?