Sybil and Vefir began walking away but I reached out to her. “I know what you did. I recognize it was helpful.” I stood tall and loomed over her. “It was risky to work your magic so blatantly on me.”

Sybil didn’t avoid eye contact or my deliberately intimidating stance while Vefir continued on his path out. Once he was truly out of my quarters, she finally spoke, “What were you going to do to Vefir?”

“What?” My response was waspish as I couldn’t understand what she was getting at.

“What were you going to do to Vefir? He asked you questions, and that just because you didn’t seem to understand the mercy that was extended to you. You entered the den of the most powerful, dangerous creature we know, and challenged him to a fight. In return, you got a light beating and then returned to where you could fully recover.” I could feel the rage beginning to bubble within me as Sybil continued, “Also, you were given an invitation to continue to learn from him, the guidance you had just asked for. Then, when Vefir asked what your issue with this sequence of events was, you began to threaten him. What were you going to do to him?”

With two heavy breaths and my heart beginning to thunder in my ears once again, I was able to calm myself enough to listen to what she said. I had threatened Vefir. For effectively no reason at all. One of my strongest supporters, who had never wanted anything more than to be helpful. The shame began to wash over me.

“I… don’t know what I was going to do. There was no reason for me to be so angry at him. Or you. I’m so–I recognize my failing. I’ll be better.”

Sybil nodded at my catching myself. “You must be the best of all of us. The strongest, most passionate, the angriest, the happiest. The best.”

“Thank you for your help. I’ll trust in receiving it again.”

Sybil took my dismissal for what it was, and left without complaint. I let myself fall to my side in the sand bath as I thought over my very near brush with losing Vefir’s trust. The more I thought about it, the more grateful I was for Sybil’s tempering presence and presence of mind to calm me. With a sigh, I began to bathe myself. The cleansing of my own blood from my scales wasn’t so relieving as usual, instead being a chore before I returned to my sonilphon. Once I’d finished bathing, I began my experiments with my magic, hoping to discover further options for me to explore.

[Sybil POV]

She held back the sigh of relief, stilled her tail, and held her back straight as she retreated, no, exited the Alpha’s den. The mind was where all change began, and if she allowed herself to think of the Alpha as one who meant her harm or was a danger, she would begin to act in a way that communicated as such. Sybil held herself as confidently as ever as she approached Vefir, who crouched in a corner, shaking in terror.

“Vefir, you are alright?”

He looked up at her, still shaken but beginning to master himself. “Ye… yeah. It was… that was… um…” Vefir stumbled over his words, and Sybil subconsciously sent a slight wave of calm and subservience to him. He straightened up and began to rise to his feet as he continued, “He was… pretty intense there. I’ve felt the ‘Alpha’ feeling around him before, but never so… against me, you know?” Vefir couldn’t hold back the shudder that ran down his spine upon remembering.

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Sybil weaved a braid of sorts in her mind, of calm, understanding, obedience, forgiveness and happiness, and laced her words with the product as she responded, “His feelings of frustration are more than understandable though, right?”

“Oh, of course!” Vefir’s response came easily, and Sybil used the last of her prepared magic to continue soothing the troubled healer. That he had done nothing wrong, that the Alpha valued Vefir’s presence and power, that Vefir was needed, and that once the Alpha had rested, he would be back to normal. It wasn’t long before Vefir had effectively forgotten his mistreatment and resumed his usual wandering about looking for someone to help.

Her immediate goal complete, Sybil began on her second–following up with Shemira, then verification through Etra and Cree on the veracity of all information previously received.

The change in Shemira had been immense, and far beyond what Sybil had ever calculated possible. After all, Sybil had effectively surmised that Shemira was a neutralized threat, but still a latent one. No reason to provide any further opportunity to damage the Alpha’s goals. However, Sybil had been completely incorrect, and whatever it was that the Alpha had said or done, he had completely changed Shemira and she now was, if not eagerly at least willingly awaiting Sybil’s next order.

“Shemira, you should ingratiate yourself with those of the weakest packs. Show them your potential, draw them in, and have them begin to learn of the Alpha’s path to power. Let them see that he can become an even better leader than Redael, and that they will benefit from following him sooner rather than later.”

After a moment of thought, Shemira flared her frills and asked, “Do you want me to treat them as I did the original ten? Or should I not try to subjugate them so much as introduce them to our pack?”

Sybil noted Shemira’s statement of “our” pack, not “your” as it had always been until now. Without expressing any emotion beyond idle curiosity, she spoke, “Which do you think will better establish a more solid and long lasting control over them?”

Shemira’s tail flicked in what Sybil thought could be curiosity. “If I were to subjugate them, it would bring immediate benefits, but I doubt that their loyalty would be to Ashlani. From there, we could try to convert them to true members of the pack, but I don’t think it would work as well as just directly bringing them to believe in Ashlani.”

Sybil flared her frills in approval and Shemira flounced away to begin her efforts in spreading the Alpha’s control. Sybil could not approve of Shemira’s casual treatment of the Alpha, but she was being forced to understand his evaluation of her potential value. Once Shemira was gone, Sybil turned to the next thing on her list and began to issue orders to Etra and Cree.

As always, the day passed quickly while hours felt slow, but as always, with the scouts returning and reporting, Sybil’s day was filled. There was never enough time and always too many things to do, but finally, as her eyes began to droop unwillingly, she retreated to her small alcove near the Alpha’s quarters. She had set herself up there from the time of the den’s establishment to keep herself close to the Alpha.

With an internal but restrained sigh, Sybil settled against the wall. As the exhaustion settled into her bones, she hoped that Ashlani would sleep longer this time. If he did, maybe she could get a bath in before he rose. It was exhausting to always keep ahead of him, since she couldn’t simply retire whenever she wanted, like Ashlani did, but it was necessary to stay useful and valuable, not to be cast aside again. The lethargy spreading through her mind, she caught herself thinking of the Alpha by name. The mind is where all change began, and she couldn’t allow herself to think of him as anything more or less than the Alpha…

He who would be king, and she, his kingmaker.