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"You don't belong here," echoed the words of the elder elk. I could hear the words in the darkness as if they were being whispered to me over and over again.

Sitting alone in Midnight's room, I was on the floor in the corner of the room with furniture enclosing around me. For the past few days since I had arrived, a thought had been creeping up on me until earlier today when I had understood the elk's true intention. That realization had become overwhelming and I could not get it around of my mind: I did not like it here.

To start was the fact that the weather was broken here. When the sun went down the nights did not cool. It was hotter than it had ever been in Simriq, and for whatever reason night did not bring any relief.

I had noticed that on Lutra Dusk, but I had not thought it would persist on land. Clothes had become unbearable in this demonic heat, and I had already relieved myself of what I had worn. It helped a bit, but even my panting was not as effective as it once was. I could not cool down, and I was quickly longing for the cold frozen waters of the river in Sirmiq.

The air had a thickness to it too that I could not explain. Each breath felt like I was drowning a little. This climate was intolerable.

Midnight did not seemed to be affected by it; he had a noticeable short coat. I knew I had not seen him with his summer coat before but the coat was thinner that what I would have thought.

"He should not be here," the elk's words echoed once more.

"He's my brother," Midnight had attempted to defend me. I still did not feel comfortable speaking for myself. Midnight had a better understanding of this life in the castle. Any attempts to learn this new lifestyle were met with disdain.

"We cannot risk provoking the Enes," Sophoron explained. It had a serious look to him, staring directly at both Midnight and me. "If they hear that the last male descendant of Leakhos is friendly with another male, then they might attack."

I did not understand what the old elk was saying, and from Midnight's expression he looked about as confused as I was. It did not matter what he meant because Midnight gave up on defending for me, and I was quickly sent away from the training ground.

I had thought that Midnight and I could live like we had before he was taken away, before the volcano, before the assassin. Those few short months were all I wanted back, and it seemed that there would be no way in this world that I would have that back.

The disdain from the adults back then was easier to ignore because they typically ignored us. Two orphans were nothing but a nuisance. Guards and adults did not pay attention to us if we did not bother them. Except for the assassin.

Here, it felt like that same disdain the assassin expressed for Midnight and me, was expressed for me. I was the orphan with the great Lord Leakhos; a disturbance, a distraction, a cause for worry. The adults looked to separate me from Midnight at any possible chance. Midnight was protective over me but the insistence of the adults wore away on his resolve.

Panting in the heat of the night, I rubbed back on my eyes. I could feel the large amount of white fur that had been rubbed off as well. My coat was thinning fast, and I was already almost in my dark ash colored fur.

Pushing myself up on my hindpaws, I grabbed my pants and pulled them over my legs. Like the last several times, my pants seemed to be covered in a thin slick wetness. Pulling them over my legs, I could feel them pulling on my fur, pulling out more of my winter coat in the most uncomfortable manner. I didn't bother putting on anything else; the heat was insufferable enough.

I had a vague familiarity with the layout of the room that made maneuvering in the darkness a bit easier. I was able to quickly exit the room, and into the even darker hallways. With a paw on the stone wall, I guided myself toward where I had learned the kitchens to be.

The stones were cold but they had a strange warm slime on them that made it so that I didn't even want to put my paw on them. Lightly touching them occasionally, I managed to come across the stairway that led down into the kitchen. Taking one step carefully at a time, light soon came into view and allowed me to see my path better.

It was the warm glow of the kitchen that welcomed me, along with a higher temperature. Entering the kitchen, there was more food in it than I ever thought to be possible to be in a single kitchen. Meat was hanging up on the walls, several plant-based herbs were drying near the dying fires, and barrels full of vegetables and fruits were stacked on top of each other. Knives and many other kitchen cookware were scattered across the tables that were soaked with juice and blood.

Arming myself with one of the knives, I stepped toward the warm glow of the fire. There was a large leg of some sort of animal hanging up near it. I figured there was so much that it wouldn't hurt that I took a little bit of the meat. Even on Lutra Dusk I was able to do that in the small kitchen that was on that ship.

I was used to fileting fish so cutting off a small slab of the leg was easy for me to do. With the raw meat in my paws, I was satisfied. Turning back to the table, I set the knife down and went back to Midnight's room.

It was a little more difficult going up the stairs in the dark, but I had no trouble. When I was heading down the correct corridor, I noticed a dull glow coming from Midnight's room. Midnight must have finally came back.

Entering the room I had noticed that the glow was growing stronger. Knelt near the fireplace, and the growing fire within, was not Midnight as I expected. The vixen was stoking the fire, but her ears were as large as mine so she easily could hear me approaching; especially since I was still panting lightly in this heat.

"Where'd you get that?" Candika asked, noticing the meat in my paws. She stood up and quickly approached me, ripping the meat out of my paws. "That's not yours!"

"Hey!" I exclaimed. Would she really not let me eat? Was I that big of a burden on everyone here?

"You can't just take things," Candika informed me, walking back toward the fire. "Where'd you get this?"

I didn't feel like answering her, and I just stared at the vixen who invaded Midnight's room. Not even in this big castle did I have somewhere to hide. The streets were much more suitable in Sirmiq to live in.

She ignored my lack of answer. On the table, she placed the meat on a plate where food already prepared had been brought in. It was similar to the previous nights; Candika prepared the room for Midnight.

"Conri asked me to pick you up from the docks, so I did," Candika went on to explain while she continued stoking the fire. "Sophoron and the other adults do not like that you are here, little snowflake.

"I don't like it here anyway," I grumbled, folding my arms across my chest. "Midnight and I should just go away so you don't have to worry about us."

Candika turned to stare at me for a moment, her expression seemed to have softened but I could still sense that she was irritated in some way.

"Lord Leakhos is not an orphan on the street anymore," she said firmly. We stared at each other for a moment. She emphasized what the others called Midnight as if she was correcting me, but I didn't care. Midnight is Midnight, and nothing will change that. "Maybe if you weren't a useless orphan, then the adults might like you more."

"I can cook!" I shouted, defending myself. My lips started to curl back, and I could feel growls trying to escape from inside my chest.

"Conri does not need anymore cooks," the vixen replied. I could see her lips curling too, which surprised me and I quickly backed off.

"I don't need more cooks," I heard Midnight's voice from behind me. Turning toward the door, I could hardly see Midnight with his black fur blending into the darkness, but his orange eyes were brightly lit with the reflections of the fire. "I need my brother, Candi."

Behind Midnight stood the elder elk who had escorted him back to his room like always.

"You need to treat my brother better," Midnight said firmly, glaring at Candi. I have seen Midnight when he was serious before but this time was different. I could not even recognize the black wolf pup giving orders. "You too, Sophoron. And if anyone is not being nice to him, then they can leave the castle. I don't want them here anymore."

"Yes, my lord," Canika quickly replied, and returned to her duties.

"Of course, young Leakhos," Sophoron also said. "But, it is not respectable for your friend to stay here without doing anything."

"Are all adults so stupid?" Midnight practically shouted, turning his attention on Sophoron. "You won't let him come with me to things so how can he do something?"

"That is not what I meant," Sophoron explained. "An orphan should not be in a castle and sharing a bed with the Lord of Kietan."

I idly stood by and watched Midnight. He was getting frustrated, and now his lips were curling back exposing his little fangs.

"I _am_an orphan," Midnight said, staring up defiantly at the large elk with large antlers. "You told me that an orphan is a pup with no parents, and my parents are dead. You said they were killed in a shipwreck when I was just a pup."

Midnight's attitude seemed to come from more than just Candika and the adults giving me a hard time. He seemed frustrated by a lot more, and I wasn't sure what it was.

"If you want Snowy to be helpful then tomorrow he is coming with me to learn what you've been teaching me," Midnight said. I felt embarrassed; I wasn't sure what I had done to earn such resolve from Midnight. "And Snowy will start training with me. If I need to learn to defend myself, then he does too. The Enes tried to kill both of us!"

"I must obj--" Sophoron started to say, obviously displeased with how someone as young as Midnight was talking to him.

"I don't care," Midnight screamed back at him. "Get out of my room. I am the Lord, and what I say goes. You get out too Candi."

With no more words to say, Sophoron turned to leave and the vixen followed him out. Midnight slammed the door behind them and he turned to me still with his flustered expression. Clearly, something was bothering him.

"Sophoron is stupid," Midnight said. He was having trouble softening his expression.

I could not help but to giggle at the blatant way the wolf described the elder elk. Was he not the one teaching Midnight all about his family, the great lineage of the Leakhkos? And yet Midnight thought he was stupid.

"What?" the wolf asked, his expression finally lighting up when I giggled. "What's so funny?"

I smiled warmly at the Midnight, feeling grateful that he had protected me. "Thank you, Midnight."

He stared at me with a smile slowly crossing his muzzle. Midnight didn't say anything and just stared at me for a moment but the smile started to fade.

"I wish we could go back to Sirmiq," he finally said. I was surprised to hear that. Here we had everything we had everything wanted. Granted I did not like it here because everyone treated me like a pest, but Midnight was treated so much better than me so why would he want to go back to Sirmiq?

"I don't understand all of this," Midnight explained. He walked over to where Candika had set the food and sat down in the chair. "Sophoron tells me that I have the responsibility to protect Kietan, and everyone in it. He then tells me that the Enes, like that assassin in Sirmiq, are attacking our ships. I say we should send soldiers, like those in the battles he taught me about, on the ships to protect them. But then he tells me that would upset the Enes! I don't get it."

Midnight continued to rant about what he has been taught. A lot of it had to do with the reptilian faction called Enes, and how they have been causing trouble for Kietan for a long time now. Apparently Kietan was once a great city but constant raids had reduced it to a struggling city that could not thrive.

Admittedly, I had no idea what Midnight was talking about throughout most of his rant. A ship being attacked out at sea seemed to have a lot more consequences that I could have ever known. Midnight's actions seemed to be watched and known by everyone at every time. I could not understand how that worked either. The whole life that Midnight seemed to be involved in was so complicated that I doubt I would ever understand it in a million years.

No wonder why Midnight was getting frustrated.

Lying in the bed now with the wolf, I continued to listen to Midnight's stories as he vented his frustration.

"I was shown on the map where the Enes attacked this farmer and it seemed really close to where we were," Midnight explained while he stared at the fire burning across the room. "I don't see why Sophoron doesn't want to have soldiers go defend these areas. It's always 'it'll provoke the Enes', or 'how are you going to pay for that'? He offers me nothing but obstacles, and no solutions. The farmer left without anything. I don't know how to pay for things. The only time I had money was when we did that job for Sage Velox in Sirmiq."

Midnight went quiet for a moment. I rolled over in the bed and stared the other way where the candle stand was. It was made of gold, and certainly that could pay for a lot of whatever money Midnight needs. How much did it cost to move soldiers? I did not know, and I did not want to think about it. All the logistics of everything Midnight was talking about was too much and I did not care to waste my time thinking on it.

In the darkness, I saw the reflection of the fire shimmer off of an arm ring on a nightstand not far from the bed. The same ring that Midnight had found in the ruins, and given to me when he was taken from me.

It might have been that I was tired but I saw the shimmer move until two familiar starlight eyes were hiding in the darkness. The shadow creature moved in silence, but it moved away from me this time and toward one of the windows. I had not seen it so passive before, since it usually was growling at me.

It was difficult to see without the eyes reflecting at me when it turned away but I could sense its movements. It was surprising that it wasn't showing any aggression because that's all it had done before. It only appeared if it was aggressive, attacking those reptilians or threatening me in some way or another.

Instead it looked to be uncomfortable and was idly pacing back and forth from the window. It looked impatient as if it was waiting for something but I had no idea what it would be expecting.

"What is that?" Midnight's voice softly said near my ear. I looked up and saw the black wolf looking over me at the shadow wolf creature.

"I don't know," I admitted, staring back at the creature, which turned to look at both of us. "It's not like the other animals but it saved me from the reptilians."

"Alec saved us," Midnight muttered. He was surprised but was not alarmed by the presence of the creature. Maybe if he knew that it tore out the throat of a reptilian, and ripped another to pieces, then he might be a little more alarmed.

"That was the first time," I explained. Ignoring the creature as it idly paced the room, I began to tell Midnight my memories of what happened the night where the assassin's brother had attempted to kill me. It still made me a little sick to my stomach remembering what had happened.

The shadow creature in the room eventually vanished like a thin veil of smoke, and Midnight and I were too tired to stay up much longer so we drifted off to sleep.

Night never brought any colder temperatures with it and the only discomfort I felt was the overwhelming heat. I slept through the night peacefully enough but if Midnight and I ever got too close, it was too warm and we'd have to roll over to keep our body heat away from one another.

Morning soon arrived and Candika had woken us both up with a plate of fresh food. Struggling to get up since I wasn't accustomed to be wakened according to a schedule, I took my time to get out of bed. From the window I noticed that outside was glowing a bright red. I glanced out the window and saw the sun was causing the clouds to glow a bright shade of red with the edges fading to pink or deepening into orange. It was a sunrise that I had not seen more than a few times before.

"Come eat Snowy," Midnight said to me after I had been distracted by the sunrise. I glanced over at him, and noticed that he was already chowing down on breakfast that had been brought in for him. I had eaten some of the food last night so I wasn't particularly hungry. "Sophoron says that I need to eat a lot of meat so I grow strong. I don't know how that will help but I don't mind eating more meat."

It was a rare occasion that Midnight and I could eat so well before. Even on the ship most of my food was fish and vegetables.

I obliged and ate with Midnight but he seemed to be really hungry because he ate most of it. It was far more than I thought he could eat given his size.

"You're staying with me today," Midnight said after he had eaten twice the amount of what I've seen him eat before.

"Okay," I muttered, a little hesitant to express gratitude. I didn't know what Midnight did most of the day so I wasn't sure what I was getting myself into.

"I don't care what Sohporon says," Midnight continued while he relaxed in his chair. "You and I can survive on the streets by ourselves, and I doubt Sohporon would be able to do so. You are smarter than he is and I trust you a lot more than I do him."

"Why does he tell you what to do if you're Lord?" I asked what had been bothering me for a while.

"He's an advisor," Midnight explained. "He says he knew my family and has been advising and teaching them for a really long time. It's his duty to teach me now, or something, but I don't think he knows anything about what's not in his books or outside the castle walls."

I wanted to agree but I thought it best to not voice my opinion on that matter.

"Anyway," Midnight continued, hopping down from his seat. "Follow me. We're going down to the courtyard. They're training me to defend myself with wooden swords."

Following Midnight, he led me through the castle corridors and out into one of the courtyards away from the entrances. Inside the courtyard wasn't as busy as the others that I had passed through before but it was easily the loudest.

Midnight led me toward the center, but I was quickly distracted.

Metal clashed against metal as two heavily armored adults fought with blunted swords. They were in the corner of the yard, and the stone walls that they were fighting near did nothing but to echo the clashing of their duel. I could not tell what species they were but they were really going at it with sword and shield while they fought.

Cheers and the sound of a bow firing came from the opposite end of the courtyard. A range with straw practice targets were set up where I saw a red fox, that had a resemblance to Candika, and a deer with a less glamorous set of antlers, were shooting down the range with great accuracy.

Near me there was the sound of a scuffle and soft grunts where I noticed two felines fighting with nothing but wooden daggers. Both felines were of golden fur and were covered in black spots; they even looked very alike and were obvious brothers. They didn't look all that old and I figured they were still young kittens, but almost adults. They even had a little scruff on the nape of their necks that suggested fur of a kitten. I imagined that they'd soon lose that scruff as they grew older.

I was impressed with their fight as they relied more on agility and speed to overcome the other rather than trading blow for blow like the armored adults. The way they fought, I could have sworn that they were in the air more than they were on the ground.

All around the courtyard were others practicing fighting, with wooden swords and other weapons. Midnight led me to the middle of the courtyard to an adult that I recognized as a pine marten. I was surprised to see Candika standing next to him, and she seemed to be padded up with training gear as well.

"Conri," the pine marten said referring to the black wolf. "About time. Candika has been here for a while so I expected you sooner."

"The snowflake is here too," Candika said, referring to me.

"A new trainee then," the marten said, surprisingly without any disdain. "Good. Candika, go get him some protective gear."

The vixen went off toward near a shack that was nearby but I stayed standing next to Midnight.

"It's about time you joined us, Snowflake," the pine marten said. "I hope you won't be afraid to really train with Midnight. Candi holds back too much because she doesn't want to hit the little lord. That has not been doing him any favors."

"She can't hit me if she wanted to," Midnight said defiantly but the trainer ignored him.

"I'm Sava," the trainer continued to introduce himself to me. "Have you ever used a sword before?"

I shook my head in response.

"From what Conri tells me is that you had used a dagger at least," Sava mentioned. Midnight seemed to have told him about the time the assassin tried to drown him and me both. I sliced the assassin's leg and that was the only thing that saved us. "You got the general concept to use the sharp end on your enemy at least."

Candika soon returned and dumped a pile of the training gear on the ground. Sava instructed Midnight to show me how to put it on, and with some difficult I did manage to put all the gear on but it did not fit the most comfortable as it was too loose, or I was too small.

"Now try to hit Conri," Sava said arming me with a wooden sword. "Conri, defend yourself like you have been taught."

The weight of the sword was a little on the heavy side but I held it firmly in my paws. I turned toward Midnight, and was a little hesitant to swing the heavy sword at him. I didn't want to hurt my only friend.

Midnight changed his stance, and waited for me to make the first move. I could see in his expression that he was expecting for me to swing at him. With some hesitation, I swung the sword at Midnight's right flank but he swung his sword at my own.

I lost my grip and the sword fell out of my paws. I could hear the trainer give an annoyed grunt.

"Don't ever drop the sword," he said firmly, picking it up and placing it in my paws once again. "If you drop your sword in a real fight then you are defenseless in battle."

I held the sword loosely in my paws, and I guess I didn't look convincingly enough because the trainer thought to better explain.

"Has Conri ever made you mad when you both were in Sirmiq?" asked the marten. "Think on what he did that made you mad, and focus on that when you're trying to hit him."

"Don't worry Snowy," Midnight said encouraging me to attack him. "I learned a lot how to use swords so you won't hurt me."

Midnight did once tear my pants, the only thing I had ever owned before. That really made me upset, but I didn't actually mean to hurt Midnight. I was just upset in the moment. Still, I focused on that feeling and tried to remember how I acted.

With another attempt, I took a swing at Midnight but the black wolf blocked it easily. Instead of giving up, I attacked again like how I did when I was mad.

I was clumsy with the sword and Midnight knocked it out of my paws, but it took more than just one clash this time. Sava seemed satisfied at least.

"Good," he complimented Midnight and me. "You remembered well, Conri. Go again."

"Remember the assassin, Snowy," Midnight said. "We are learning to defend ourselves from them. Now, Snowflake, I want you to practice swinging at the straw dummy near the shed. Swing as hard as you can, even if your paws hurt. You need to get used to holding the sword like that so that when you hold a real sword, it won't hurt your paws."

"Snowy," Midnight said just as I turned toward the dummy Sava mentioned. He had a light expression but he spoke seriously. "Remember in the woods when the assassin cut us both? Remember that, because we are defending ourselves from that."

"Okay," I muttered, a little unsure if I wanted to remember that fateful day.

"Conri and Candika, go ahead and get your practice in," Sava continued to relay instructions.

Following the marten's orders, I took my wooden sword to a straw dummy that was on a stick. It looked a little funny but I swung at it. The impact was felt reverberating through the sword and thus my paws, which made them a little sore. I continued to attack the dummy, trying different angles and different approaches.

Breathing heavily, my mind was not focused on the task of beating the poor straw dummy to smatterings but on what had all gone wrong in my life.

The assassin could have easily killed Midnight and me if it wasn't for Alec. Alec knew how to handle sword and that is why he was able to defend us. If beating this straw dummy until my paws bleed taught me how to defend myself then I would do it.

"Maybe if you weren't a useless orphan," Candika's voice echoed in my ears. I was useless. Sure I could cook but when an assassin already tried to kill Midnight and me, and then more tried to kill me later, how was cooking going to be of any value.

No, I had to learn how to fight. I had to learn how defend myself, and I would prove my value to Candika by defending Midnight too. Sophoron won't be able to tell Midnight what to do if I can protect him; I won't be useless anymore.

I didn't know if I was losing my mind or something because even though swinging the sword against the dummy made my paws hurt. The more I swung only made it worse but I continued doing so. It was madness to hurt myself, and yet I continued to do it.

After what felt like an hour, I swung once more and the force of the blow against impacted on my paws. A loud yelp escaped me and echoed off the walls; the last blow was more painful than the ones before and I instantly dropped the wooden sword.

"Snowy, are you okay?" I heard Midnight ask, halting his own practice.

I held my paw open, and realized that I had split it open. Blood was leaking down the ashy grey fur on my paws and dripping onto the dirt below.

"That's enough for today, Snowflake," Sava said. He knelt down in front of me, and took my paw to examine it.

Tears were in my eyes and I was reluctant to let the pine marten look at my paw. He took out a white cloth and placed it over my cut. With a yelp, I instinctively tried to draw back my paw, but Sava had a firm grip. He painfully and tightly wrapped the bandage around my paw.

After it was all wrapped up, Sava relayed his next orders. "Now I want you to watch Conri and Candika fight. Watch how they move their hindpaws mostly, but also watch how they swing the sword."

Looking at my bandaged paw, I realized that my life couldn't go back to what it was. This life may be worse but at least I will be able to defend myself if I learn enough. Turning my gaze toward Midnight and the vixen, I did as instructed and watched them fight. They weren't going at it nearly as fiercely as the armored adults that were fighting in the corner of the courtyard, but they still seemed to be pretty eager to beat the other.

Candika did not manage to land a hit, but neither did Midnight. It almost seemed as if Candika was holding back from hitting Midnight like Sava suggested earlier. For an hour I watched the two spar, and it was the first real time that I could watch others actually train. It was a lot different than the villagers I've seen pretend to fight before; especially with Sava's input on the skirmish wherever he thought appropriate.

After a while, the courtyard soon became flustered though. There was some sort of uproar and it quickly spread until it distracted Sava and the two sparring pups.

Another black spotted feline approached Sava, this one female compared to the other two brothers that were sparring before.

"Sava," she said, seeming to be panting only slightly. "A Mika soldier has arrived with a prisoner. It's an Enes. They're in the hall and need Lord Leakhos right away."

"Come on, Conri," Sava said right away. "Take off the gear and let's go."

Midnight started to remove the protective gear but he quickly turned toward me. "Come on, Snowy. You're staying with me from now on."

Understanding what he meant, I started to remove the protective gear I wore too. Thank goodness too because with the sun rising higher the heat was only getting worse. Sava soon led both Midnight and me back into the castle keep, but we were going closer toward the entrance of the castle than I have been since I arrived.

We entered a large room that was already crowded. The elk, Sophoron, was sitting at a large table that was on a raised platform that overlooked the room. In the middle of the room was a fire pit, but it was not lit now. Sava led both Midnight and me to the table and Midnight sat next to the elk. I sat on the other side of the black wolf.

I couldn't see very well over the table but there was something that I recognized on the other side of it. A reptilian. It wore nothing but chains around its wrists, and it was kneeling down in front of the table looking like it had been through a rough fight. Standing beside it was an otter, but I did not recognize who it was from the Lutra Dusk.

"Great Lord Leakhos," the otter said, his voice echoing throughout the hall that made everyone quiet down. "I am Captain Nyaay of the warship Otur Klo. We were patrolling your waters when we came across an act of piracy on one of your vessels. Unfortunately the majority of your crew was lost but we subdued the pirates, and I captured this pretender. The ambassador to the northeast Vaiko of the Enes faction."

The reptilian reacted only with snarl but the otter did not pay him any attention.

"This attack happened in your waters, against your subjects," Nyaay continued. "His fate, and the fate of his surviving crew, rests in your paws."

"And what was a Mika warship doing in our waters?" Sophoron dared to question. "Great Lord Mika has stirred up the Enes enough and now he is bringing more destruction our shores."

I did not understand what Sophoron was going at, since that was not the subject that was brought up. We were discussing how the reptilian had attacked one of Midnight's ships.

Nyaay did not respond to that but remained his gaze fixed on Midnight. He did not seem to care to answer the elk's question.

"What ship was it that was lost?" Midnight asked, staring back down at the otter. I stared at the black wolf, and I could see he had wide eyes. He was scared. I did not know if it was because of the reptilian, or if because he had such responsibility placed on him.

"The ship was too damaged for us to board," Nyaay answered. "The name had been damaged when my troops entered the water to search for it."

"Vaiko of the Enes," Midnight said, seemingly to repeat a script by repeating the reptilian's name. "What say you?"

I watched the reptilian raised its beaten and bruised head to stare directly at Midnight. It had a sinister smile. "I am the ambassador to the cities of Kietan, Arktiline, Sirmiq and Mersauh. If you do not release me immediately then you risk war, little devil pup!"

"Do you admit to attacking my subjects?" Midnight asked directly. I could still sense that he was very uncomfortable, as if he was working with something that he did not understand.

"Lord Leakhos," Sophoron interrupted. "Calm your tone, you can't risk upsetting the Enes. They are a dangerous enemy to have."

"I act under the will of Abishag, I cannot commit a crime," Vaiko said with his sinister smile. "The deaths of your comrades are the will of Abishag!"

Midnight did not respond, no one responded to that. This creature thought he had done nothing wrong by killing everyone on a ship. I thought of the Lutra Dusk, of Nirvelli. They would kill everyone on that ship all for nothing and think that there was nothing wrong with it.

"Put him in the dungeon!" Midnight shouted.

"Conri Leakhos!" Sophoron also got involved. "If you imprison the ambassador, then troops will come to our gates. Do not provoke the Enes. You cannot make them mad."

Make them mad? I thought, confused by Sohporons objections. We never made anyone mad when the assassin tried to drown us. We never made the reptilians mad when his brother came and tried to accuse us of killing him. He attacked us! We defended ourselves. The Enes would have us all roll over and die otherwise they'll get mad, and attack us anyway!

The cut on my lower back started to burn. I remembered the assassin, how much fear he caused me. I had thought being in a castle, I wouldn't have to be afraid but here this elk seemed to want to make sure that we stayed afraid.

A new feeling overcame me, rising in my chest, chilling my spine and making my fur stand on end. I could not listen to such idiocy from this elk anymore.

"Make them mad!?" I yelled at him across Midnight. "We did nothing and that assassin attacked us! He tried to kill us because we were alive! What are we supposed to do then?"

"Know your place, orphan!" Sophoron yelled back at me, standing from the table. "You do not understand the delicacy of this world."

"You do not understand!" I yelled. I pulled on Midnights arm and brushed his fur back to reveal the scar that he had on his arm. "They already attacked Midnight. When that didn't work, they came again and found me. They tried to kill me because we defended ourselves against the assassin. The Enes will attack Midnight and me and if we defend ourselves, they will say it's our fault. We cannot let them attack us!"

"You!" Sophoron started.

"Sophoron, be quiet!" Midnight said, growling as he stood in his own seat. He turned his full attention on the elk. "Will you not let me defend myself because you're too afraid of upsetting these reptilians? They're already our enemy, they already tried to kill me. You are a coward to let my subjects, that you told me I have to defend, to die because we can't risk upsetting our enemy. Snowy is right, we cannot let them attack anyone anymore. Snowy is a better advisor than you!"

That took Sophoron back a bit and he literally was left speechless. The elk quietly and shamefully sat back down in his seat.

Stupid elk will let us all die, I venomously thought, still staring at the elder elk.

"Captain Nyaay," Midnight turned his attention back toward the otter. "What would your Lord Mika do?"

"I cannot speak for my lord, Great Lord Leakhos," the otter replied but he had a satisfied smile. "You are a true Alpha of the Leakhos. We are glad to have you back."

"Snowy, what should I do?" Midnight said turning toward me. His eyes weren't wide anymore, but focused. It seemed that he no longer was depending on Sophoron, and he was no longer alone in the matter either.

"The assassin was only stopped when Alec killed him," I mentioned, staring back at Midnight. I wasn't sure what he was doing, but I could only replay the events in my head.

"You would all burn in this city!" the reptilian threatened. For some reason, his snarls did not cause me fear anymore. "You dare assault an ambassador. You are all already doomed. Abishag's will cannot be denied."

Midnight stared at the reptilian struggle in his chains for a bit before he finally muttered, "Put him in the lowest dungeon we have. Let him stay there forever."

Two wolf guards came up to the otter, and roughly grabbed the reptilian and dragged him out. The reptilian kicked and snarled but the guards were not putting up with it and quickly subdued him before they pulled him out of the hall.

"Captain Nyaay," Midnight said addressing the wolf. "I want to see Great Lord Mika. I have been taught that the Enes do not threaten his subjects because he is a powerful lord. I want to learn what he has done."

"I will deliver the message personally," Captain Nyaay said. "First, I suggest that you train an army and prepare yourself for the Enes retaliation."

"How will we pay for that?" Sophoron again objected.

"Midnight has a lot of gold furniture that is useless," I said, irritated with the adult elk. "That can pay for a lot!"

"Snowy is right," Midnight again agreed with me. "You don't need so much gold either, Sophoron. Raise an army, that is an order."

"Lord Leakhos," Sava spoke up. "I can do it for you. I'll raise a thousand sword strong if you give me permission."

"Yes, thank you Sava," Midnight said, looking at the pine marten. "If you need money then take whatever you need. Is there anything else Captain Nyaay?"

"No, Great Lord," he said taking a bow to Midnight. "I will inform my Great Lord Mika that a true alpha sits in Kietan again. He will be glad to hear of it." The otter turned and left the hall as well.

"Snowy you are my advisor now and you are to stay with me wherever I go," Midnight said to me but he seemed to be speaking directly to Sophoron. "I trust you a lot more than anyone else here."

"I don't want us to get hurt again," I admitted to the black wolf.

I started to realize that confidence had started to grow inside me. Midnight supported me and the adults could not object to anything that he said, so what did I have to be afraid of. Certainly not the adults like Sophoron.

While we would grow up, I would continue to support Midnight. I would continue training and learn to protect him. No longer was I an orphan of Sirmiq, but the trusted advisor to Midnight, to Great Lord Conri Leakhos. I may not be able to go back and live the life I had known wit Midnight, but here we can live and stay together without the scrutiny of the adults, and without fearing the reptilians.

I was not afraid anymore.