She was right and, for that, Tannis was painfully wincing at and for himself. Him and his big, stupid mouth.
"I'm sorry, Your Highness," he rather pitifully voiced, his tongue continually poking out from between his teeth as if that would appease her. But, then came the weight of it all, her words seeming as if they had been powerful enough as to physically attack him, "You shouldn't have followed me."
"But --" he wanted to clarify, stealing a glance up at her bright sun-gold eyes. He averted his gaze and his ears came back along his neck. By the sound of it, she might have found pleasure in stripping him of a bit of fur or an ear tip or a small chunk of his nose. He trembled in her wake, stilling his tongue and pressing it to the roof of his mouth lest he speak further and upset her even more. Tannis believed himself to be her father's ears and eyes, a silent guardian along the heights who feared everything - most especially, the safety of the future Leaders of Silent Moon Plateau. In his mind, he had done her a bit of good by trailing after her down the mountainside, but she was absolutely right in the fact that he shouldn't have followed her.
She sighed then and it was with anticipation that the tawny subordinate grimaced into the ground, wondering if she would continue on. What came instead was a pardoning sentiment followed by the order to return home and the bestowing of confidence that he would know if and when something might have gone wrong in the event of her prolonged absence. His lips sealed into a thin black line but his eye teeth poked out from beneath them as he gave a nasally whine.
A low hum came from him that was more like an agreement on his part than a worried whimper. He took one good look at her, his jaw tensing before he tucked his tail to the underside of his abdomen and backed away. Then, as she had requested him to do, he turned around and began to walk back. Once he had reached the place where he had fallen into a heap at the base of the foothills, he cast her a backward glance, still partially brave enough to stand his ground and watch her. His ears came up once before folding back once more, squinting as he tried to memorize any telltale marks that would help him remember the dark brute in the future.