Sonia is so caught in whiplash between the two of them that she stalls a moment, glaring at Byerly in a surprised kneejerk reaction, but mostly she just resents not having thought of it first. But hell, she's impressed.

But she doesn't resent it much at all in the grand scheme of things, because it does cut her a break, and she gives Gavalas an expectant, slightly exasperated look as she drops to a low crouch next to Byerly. Too much snow for her to kneel, of course.

"There you are," she says, chastising, as though she's not the one who went off...cavorting, or whatever. She lifts Byerly's head slightly with one hand cradled at the back of his head and glares at Gavalas. "Stop shouting and stomping around. Can't you see this man is ill?"

Gavalas does come to a halt a few paces away, looking torn. Years of acting as Princess Sonia's bodyguard has taught him well how finicky and manipulative she can be when she wants to be, but he knows well she's not a bad person, and...she is an Imperial Princess. Calling her out on a lie without the Countess around might...yield less a less than ideal scene.

"Princess," he says again in exasperation, finally, although he can't decide in which direction, and finally he lets out a sigh. Sonia conceals a grin. Point to her. "What's wrong with him?"