After Xandus left Tianna stood there stunned, and the line of greetings almost immediately began to form again. For the first bit, Jerath came over and helped remind Tianna of who people were, and they managed to finish off the winding line together.

Once Tianna had a moment to think again, and reached out to Jerath. “Do you know anything about Xandus?” she asked.

“Just that he is a crazy old man obsessed with chess and he is known to occasionally give great advice,” Jerath answered, “Why?”

“He told me something I am not sure about,” Tianna admitted.

Jerath frowned and scanned the room, but couldn’t spot him from there. “What did he tell you?”

“He told me that Velcorna Alodan is the only one who can tell me the identity of the Black Wolf.”

Jerath winced. “That… He is probably right, but it’s too risky,” Jerath objected.

“Maybe it is, but I will always be fighting a losing battle if I don’t even know who my enemy is,” Tianna pointed out.

“Alright, fine,” Jerath gave in, “How do you plan to convince her to tell you?”

“I was going to ask her to speak with me alone,” Tianna answered.

“Absolutely not!” Jerath rejected, “Even if you do have to speak with her alone, going up to her yourself is just inviting trouble, not to mention rumors galore.”

“Then what do you suggest?” Tianna demanded.

Jerath hesitated. “Normally it is best to send a trusted servant to arrange a secret meeting, but you haven’t gotten close to any of the servants here yet.”

Before either of them could say anything else, a servant approached Tianna and handed her a letter before disappearing into the crowd. Tianna opened it and smiled.

“It seems like I won’t have to worry about setting up the meeting. Velcorna did it for me,” she said, and handed the letter to Jerath.

“I don’t like this,” Jerath muttered.

The letter, if it could be called that, had very few words written on it. The outside was addressed to Tianna, it gave the location of a room off the banquet hall, and it was signed ‘V’.

“It doesn’t say I have to go alone, but she probably knows I will,” Tianna muttered, “Jerath, you can stay nearby, but I need to know who the Black Wolf is. Who knows when I will get another chance.”

Jerath looked over the letter again and sighed. “Fine, but I am going to stay right outside the room, and if I think anything suspicious is happening I will not hesitate to barge in.”

“Thank you,” Tianna told him and gave him a quick hug before immediately heading for the room in question. Jerath, who had been a second late to start moving, had to quickly catch up.

While the room Velcorna chose was off of the banquet hall, it was hidden by the various decorations and almost seemed as if it was made for secret meetings. Then again, thinking of what Tianna had learned of this history of royalty, nobility, and the Queens, it likely was.

Tianna motioned Jerath to move over to the side before knocking gently on the door. “I am here.”

“Come in,” Velcorna’s voice sounded from inside, “Your overprotective lover can come in too. I don’t intend to say anything that he doesn’t already know.”

When Jerath flinched slightly, Tianna realized something. He found out the identity of the Black Wolf. He must have kept it from her because, just like everyone else, he was bound to secrecy by magic.

They both entered the room after a moment’s hesitation. The room was actually quite cozy. There was a couch with two armchairs across from it. In the middle was a small round table that barely reached the height of the furniture seats. Velcorna sat directly in the middle of the couch alone.

“I called you here to make my intentions clear,” Velcorna began, “Right now you see the Black Wolf as an enemy, so you are not yet his puppet. From what I have seen you may actually have a fighting chance which is why I will give you the information you need. The information only I can give you.”

“The identity of the Black Wolf?” Tianna guessed.

“That’s right,” Velcorna confirmed, “You already know him well. Tell me, haven’t you noticed something odd about the Queen’s advisor in the history you studied? While often the advisor was not in the public eye, and even history did not record his name, he always bears the same description.”

“What are you trying to say?” Tianna asked, though she felt she already knew.

“The Black Wolf, no, Densooth, has always been the Queen’s advisor,” Velcorna revealed, “That is how he has controlled the previous Queens. However, due to Shirisha’s seclusion in the palace he was forced to step out of the shadows and his identity that he has kept hidden for so long is being revealed to anyone who tries to find it.”

Densooth was the Black Wolf? He had always been the Queen’s advisor? Tianna resisted the urge to immediately deny it. If she did that, she knew that Velcorna would refuse to reveal any more information. The more Tianna thought about it, the more it made sense. Her first meeting with Densooth had been after she had been kidnapped for the Black Wolf. At the time, had he not spoken as if he knew exactly what the Black Wolf would think about the situation?

After that, he had continued to throw the Black Wolf’s name around. In Jerath’s trial, for instance. But why would he go out of his way to take the blame? Not only that but he always offered to help Tianna in any way he could. Was he just trying to guide her into his trap or was he after something more?

“Why would he let you reveal his identity to me?” Tianna asked.

“He wants something from you,” Velcorna answered immediately, “Something he couldn’t get from the other Queens. Something he has been waiting for for a long time. I don’t know what it is, but I do know that he would go to any lengths to get it.”

“What happens when I give whatever it is to him?” Tianna questioned.

Velcorna scoffed, breaking her elegant image. “Who knows. That is what you need to find out. I am sure he will tell you if you ask him directly,” she decided, “That is why I am backing off, for now. Instead, take him down for me. You may be the only one who can remove his twisted reigns from the palace.”

“Asking him directly is too dangerous,” Jerath broke in, “And even if he does want something from Tianna, that doesn’t mean he will just obediently leave the palace at her command.”

“Perhaps. If you do come up with a plan, contact me and I will gladly offer my assistance. Until then, we should not speak. Get back to the party before you are missed,” Velcorna shooed them off.

The two of them left the room and headed back to the party venue. Despite what Velcorna had said, no one seemed to have noticed they were missing and the ball was drawing to a natural close. The following banquet was mostly filled with various royalty as most of the nobles had left. The banquet also went rather well, though the light fairy king had rather vocal complaints about the distance of his seat from Tianna’s and left before the entree was served.