Once Tianna had left the room, a scowl formed on Ruena’s face. Everything was continuing to go exactly as the Black Wolf said it would. Soral seemed to have some sort of plan, but that didn’t put Ruena at ease. She decided to take things up with the source. Her communication device activated as soon as she touched it, It was the one she used only to contact the Black Wolf.

“This is a bit sooner than expected,” his voice answered. He seemed calm, and if anything, pleased. “Was there a problem? You know I am always willing to help.”

“For a price,” Ruena spat, “Do you have less control in the palace than you thought? Why would you send her to me?”

“You have access to something I do not. Remember, the prophecy states that what I desire can only be done by the True Queen. I need her to become the Queen no matter what. I sacrificed much to have her created as the prophecies dictated.”

“Do you care how I make her the Queen or what she does after?” Ruena demanded.

“No. Do as you please. She will make the choice on her own. I cannot force her,” The Black Wolf replied, as calm as ever, “but timing is everything. The prophecies state that on the day she becomes Queen my identity will be revealed to the universe. Time for that is running out. Your second in command especially wishes to expose me.”

“How are you so certain she is the right one?” Ruena asked.

“Because I made her the right one. I followed the prophecies perfectly, guiding us to this moment,” he explained, “That, and you appear in the prophecies side by side with her. Your destinies are intertwined.”

Ruena’s scowl grew deeper. Destiny. She hated that word, more so because of how the Black Wolf used it. “Is that so. I hope for your inevitable disappointment,” Ruena told him before cutting off communication.

“I will make sure she is better than the Queen in that silly prophecy,” Ruena muttered to herself, “And, most importantly, I will teach her how to defend herself from you.”

_______________________________________________________

After the deal was formed Soral guided Tianna back to her room for the time being. It didn’t take too long before Ruena came to meet her. She seemed far more determined than Tianna expected and observed Tianna as if she were weighing her strengths and weaknesses on the spot.

“First things first, we are going to forget for a moment about all that magic nonsense. I have no magic so it isn’t as if I could teach you, anyway,” Ruena announced, “That being said, my teacher always told me that before controlling magic, one must first learn to control their own bodies.”

“What does that mean?” Tianna asked. She felt a nervous heat rush through her body and her palms began to sweat.

“It means I am going to teach you how to defend yourself without magic. This whole problem started when you got kidnapped. You can’t use magic yet and your self defense skills are abysmal, if not nonexistent.” Ruena continued to tear at all of the issues that Tianna needed to fix.

Tianna felt more and more intimidated. “Can I really learn all of that?” she asked.

“I don’t expect you to become a warrior,” Ruena assured her, “but basic skills and control in physical combat will help you control your magic as well.”

“Alright. So when do I begin?” Tianna questioned.

“Now,” Ruena replied, “I also will arrange tutors for some necessary subjects you seem oblivious to. There are things you must understand if you don’t want the Black Wolf to eat you alive.”

“Why are you helping me so much?” Tianna asked before she could stop herself.

Ruena smiled. “We made a deal, did we not? I don’t make deals half-heartedly.”

That answer didn’t seem quite right, but Tianna did not press it. Training began right after Ruena led her to the training hall. The first thing Tianna learned was that she was more out of shape than she thought. She was amazed at the speed, power, and flexibility of the warriors. On the other hand, they seemed jealous that Tianna was being trained personally by Ruena herself.

After that, the tutors arrived for Ruena’s pre-arranged classes. One of them was a scholar who specifically studied the Black Wolf. The rest seemed to be priming her for fighting Velcorna on equal grounds. Etiquette, politics, basics of the noble society, and history of the capital of Althaedor.

Tianna managed to grind her way through most of the classes, but the studies of the Black Wolf surprised her. The scholar in question knew so much, but he could not tell her his name. He did seem to know it, though, and was apologetic that he could not impart that piece of knowledge to her.

First of all, the Black Wolf was a believer of prophecies. He collected and studied all of the prophecies Althaedor had to offer. Using these prophecies he used whatever means necessary to guide Althaedor along a path of his choice.

Second, one must never ask a favor from the Black Wolf. He was someone who traded favors more than money, and it was due to owing him favors that he could control Ruena now. That being said, the Black Wolf was fair. He would never ask for something more than he had given. The problem was that very few came to ask a favor from the Black Wolf unless it was something impossible to achieve by any other means.

Lastly, it was doubtful that the Black Wolf was human. History showed signs of him for hundreds, no, thousands of years. Naturally the first assumption would be that he was one of the wolf species, but werewolves or magic wolves tended to have shorter or the same lifespans as humans.

Many suspected him of being a creature of shadow since their lifespan was never able to be measured and his wolf form was black, but his human form was complete and perfect. That led to theories of the wolf part of the Black Wolf being a shadow partner that shared its lifespan.

When Tianna asked about more information about shadows the scholar seemed hesitant to answer, then hurriedly spun an excuse before leaving. He did not return, leaving Tianna in a state of confusion.