Having been publicly and angrily castigated by his queen, Boronir’s tenseness was felt palpably by the rest of us. My impression of Boronir was that he was the type that was eager to please and being shown up twice in quick succession by Uraia, who they would consider to be a member of an inferior race, had wounded him deeply and set him on edge. I didn’t blame Alleria for her admonishment of him; he hadn’t even gotten off his dahu, but I did wonder if his position in Alleria’s inner circle had more to do with his obsequiousness rather than his ability.

  “What was that thing?” I asked Alleria.

  “It’s a buro, they live in the woodlands and root around for food in the dirt, they get aggressive like that during mating season, others they’re normally quite docile.”

  “Are we going to take this one back with us as well?”

  “Yes, I think we will.”

  So we set off on our return to the city with two carcasses. On the way back I answered more of Alleria’s questions about our realm. Alleria was so impressed by Uraia that she wanted me to tell her all about the Okwari and their history. I was fine with indulging her curiosity about the Okwari; it was only when it came to the particulars of our realm’s strengths and weaknesses that I became circumspect.

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  I thought when the entrance gate came into view that we were going to leave the hunting grounds without any further incidents, that is until Anbu suddenly dashed into a small woodland that we were passing by.

  “Anbu!” I called out after him.

  “I thought you said he was trained,” Alleria said.

  I got off my dahu and went after Anbu, but by the time I got to the edge of the woodland he was already out of sight.

  “Don’t go in there, you’ve already seen what dangers lurk in these woods,” Alleria said to me.

  I heeded Alleria’s warning and didn’t go into the woodland after Anbu.

  “I’ll go in after him,” Uraia came to my side and said to me.

  “No, he went in there for a reason; let’s trust that he knows what he’s doing.”

  We waited for an agonizing amount of time, fearing that Anbu had encountered a deadly animal like the buro and wouldn’t be coming back to us. Our minds were put at ease when once again Anbu validated my faith in him by returning to us unharmed, and he didn’t just return to us, he brought something with him.

  “Another wolf pup,” Uraia said when Anbu dropped the white ball of fur that he’d carried over in his mouth.

  “What was it doing in the woods?” I asked, picking up the pup.

  “It must have gotten separated from its pack and gone into the woods for safety,” Alleria said.

  “I met Anbu the same way; when Uraia’s father, Chief Kendor, learned that I had come across a wolf pup that was in need of rescuing he said that it was a sign that I was special.”

  “This was after you had become queen?” Alleria asked.

  “No, when I was still a child growing up in the Northlands.”

  “Would that make this a sign as well?”

  “Perhaps.”

  “Since you are here and not in your homeland, this would be a sign from Lumeria.”

  “I suppose it would be.”