Back at the residence, while feeding the new pup some cubes of meat, I thought about the way that Alleria had tensed up when I had agreed with her that it was possible that Anbu finding the puppy was a sign from her goddess Lumeria. Her insecurity in her leadership was severe, as was her fear that she had been forsaken by her goddess. The two made for a dangerous combination; just like Esmeralda, most of Alleria’s decisions were most likely erratic decisions with self preservation being her main consideration. I had little faith in my ability to get Alleria to change the white elves’ treatment of the dark elves by reasoning with her; the only way to stop what was happening here was with force.

  “He’s very cute,” Aniira came over and kneeled down next to me and said.

  “It’s a good thing Anbu found him when he did, otherwise he probably would hve died out there.”

  “The hunting grounds are very dangerous; he definitely would have died if he was all alone.”

  “We didn’t get to see much of the hunting grounds; I’m hoping to get the chance to fly over them with Myra later.”

  “You must be careful in the hunting grounds, people go missing there all the time.”

  “You mean dark elves that try to escape go missing in the hunting grounds all the time?”

  “You mustn’t ask these questions, Queen Alegra, these questions are very dangerous.”

  “Alleria isn’t doing very much to hide what’s going on from me; she all but admitted to me that they’ve got rangers patrolling the hunting grounds for dark elves that try to escape.”

  “Why are you asking all these questions? Why are you so interested in us?”

  “I want to learn as much about this place as I can before we leave.”

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  “Why? It’s not like you can do anything to help us.”

  I didn’t say anything further to Aniira about my reasons for being so interested in the relationship between the white elves and the dark elves. I wasn’t at the point yet where I trusted Aniira enough to share with her the details about my encounters with Saraya. The problem, though, was that I didn’t have time on my side; I couldn’t afford to wait until I was absolutely certain that I could trust her before I told her the truth about why I was here. I decided that I would come clean with Aniira about everything and would ask her to answer all of my questions with complete honesty in exchange. But that would have to wait for later; Uraia and I were expected at Alleria’s palace for the feast that follows the hunt. As it was explained to us, the tradition of going on the hunt and feasting on what you killed was a way for the elves to welcome new arrivals and for the new arrivals to show their respect for the elves’ traditions. The feast was also an opportunity for us to meet the rest of Alleria’s inner circle, which would give us invaluable insights into Alleria the queen.

  We had come back to the residence to wash up after the hunt but also to wait for Brumli to arrive from the ship so that he could join us at the feast. I trusted Brumli’s perspective and I wanted to know his thoughts on Alleria. While we waited for him, I continued to spend time with the puppy. He was quite a bit larger than Anbu had been when I found him, which made sense given how large the animals were in the hunting grounds that would be its prey. Since arriving back at the residence with the pup, Anbu hadn’t left its side once; he was displaying the same protectiveness and parental affection that Lucy had displayed toward Myra’s chicks when we’d first met them. I hadn’t noticed before how much Anbu had matured; seeing him being so paternal with the pup made me realize how much things had changed in the relatively short period of time that I had been queen and the realization caused a mild melancholy to come over me.

  “Have you thought of a name for him yet?” Uraia came over and asked.

  “Not yet, I was thinking about Shiloh.”

  “That’s a nice name.”

  “Maybe I’ll keep it.”

  “Alleria might have been right about this being a sign, you finding another orphaned wolf pup is too much of a coincidence.”

  “Did you see her reaction when I agreed with her that it might be a sign? She tensed up so much I thought we were going to have to carry her back like a plank of wood.”

  “Were you deliberately trying to wind her up?”

  “I was; the key to understanding Alleria and the white elves is the disappearance of Lumeria, their Overseer; the circumstances of her disappearance, I believe, will tell us a lot about why the white elves are such a murderous and oppressive race.”