To be sure, she had his full attention.
He made a practice to look at someone when being spoken to. A trait some found endearing, while others thought it outright irritating.
So it had been fire, but not just fire. A volcano, something he had heard of before but had never himself witnessed, nor its destruction. The Kingdom had continued to survive without magic, his Queen told him. Impressive, he thought watching her still as she finally gives cause of this catastrophe. A magician. He snorted, he hadn't much cared to linger in the presence of those who practiced magic. This only legitimized his decisions, obviously they could be temperamental, the trees could attest to this as well. It was all right here in front of his face, he observed it with his own two eyes. As she finished, he approached the nearest pine, the outside like charcoal. Pressing his maw to the brittle bark, he expressed his care to the Chamber, gently blowing out streams of air though his nostrils. Flakes falling like coal black snow, from his homage as he lifted his kisser away.
Another black form moved, but this was no tree. Another male, young, and obviously a resident from the way he snaked through the growth. Honestly, he doubted there would be much of anyone entering these lands that were not kinsmen or the like. Killdare was perplexed when the colt spoke, his words were not that of a child. He spoke as well, no, better than Killdare himself he would say. Ah, and there it was, the offspring of his ruler. The product of the Lead, a fine specimen, and no at that he was not surprised in the least. Erebor the name felt strange on his tongue as he mentally practiced it. He was equally good with names, as he was faces, but it was scent that he excelled at. Mannerisms, actions, they all made the trails he could follow to the ends of the earth. Each unique, but the same in ways that perhaps only made sense in his own mind.
He gave a side tilted nod to the boy, "Killdare." Thel ad was due his respect of course as was befitting his stature in the pecking order of this land. A young prince he stood almost rigid, his head high, this itself command acknowledgement. The awkwardness of youth was simply not present in this one. Killdare found this interesting, unsettling a bit, but interesting. "I'll say, the pleasure is mine. A unique presence you carry, how many turns have you lived?" His dial was cockeyed as he looked the youngling over, trying to understand.