Arialla isn't sure how she expected Wessex to reply -- indeed, what does someone say to a single pronoun shouted like an accusation? But Wessex's response certainly doesn't satisfy Arialla. For a moment Arialla wavers, teetering on the brink of her old hatred. The Arialla who first arrived in Caido would have been civil, if somewhat awkward; she would have let Wessex strike first, verbally or physically, if the encounter was to go poorly at all. But Arialla isn't that woman anymore. Since then, she's made herself into a weapon, and Wessex is her target.
That grandiose idea aside, though, Arialla knows her chances of surviving a fight with Wessex are not good. There's no one here to intervene, no one to save her; even Safrin's stars have not come out yet. Shouting at Wessex in the marketplace, surrounded by witnesses, is one thing; antagonizing her alone is another. Arialla's willing to die, but not without a purpose. If the Ascended kill her, let it be in public, a testament to their depravity, not a quiet erasure on an isolated beach.
Perhaps Arialla should simply leave. But no, there is something she wants from Wessex: information. It is too great a coincidence that Arialla should spot some weird metal thing in the sky and then encounter the Wraith, servant of the goddess of weird metal things. "Did you see that thing in the sky? What was it?" Arialla's tone is not quite accusatory, but certainly demanding.
please don't take my sunshine away
