Once the guests started arriving, they didn’t stop. Tianna recognized most of them from the profiles that Densooth and the Belleas Company had provided. When Velcorna Alodan entered, they locked eyes for a moment and Tianna felt chills. She didn’t have any time to dwell on it, because the Queen arrived with a loud announcement.

Shirisha looked especially beautiful and regal, but still frail. Whispers flooded the crowd as she entered the hall and took the seat prepared for her on the platform. It was only natural. She had not shown her face in public for about twenty years.

The Queen raised her hand and the whispers quieted. “It has been a long time, Althaedor,” she began. Her soft voice was amplified with magic so everyone could hear her. “I will give no excuses or explanations on this day for my past absence. Today I have gathered all of you here for one purpose.”

Shirisha paused and waved Tianna closer, before holding her hand gently. “This is my heir, the Crown Princess, Tianna Natnomoner. I had heard that there were those who rejected her status because of her lack of fiance so I took the trouble of selecting one for her. Prince Jerath of the Nazine Mountains.”

Jerath stepped forward as she called his name and all of the focus switched to him. He didn’t seem to mind, and the way he handled it so naturally made Tianna realize again that he truly was royalty.

The Queen stood from her chair. “Unfortunately, I lack the strength to enjoy the festivities tonight, so I offer my royal seat to my daughter, Tianna,” she announced, “May the celebration commence!”

The nobles, royals, and other guests cheered at Shirisha’s words and she left the venue. Now all of the attention was on Tianna as she took the Queen’s seat and her position of substitute host.

Guests came up politely to give their greetings to her, but they could not hide the judgment in their eyes. One that stood out in particular was the king of the light fairies, Lucian Lux.

“While I find your sudden appearance hard to believe, I must admit you are certainly better than that Velcorna Alodan,” he announced rather than his greeting, “It has been so long without a proper Queen I had begun to wonder if I would need to take that role upon myself for the sake of the fairy kingdoms.”

Rather than aggressive, he was just pompous and overconfident, as if this were a natural thing to say to the future Queen.

That said, Tianna couldn’t stop herself from asking. “Why would you think that?”

“The light fairies are clearly the purest of the fairy kind, just like the Queen is meant to be the purest of everyone else. It was only natural I would think such things as their king,” he replied.

Tianna noticed some of the other fairy royalty scowling behind him and quickly tried to think of something to change the subject. “You just ascended to the throne a few years ago, yourself,” she recalled, “I am sure we will be able to help each other a great deal in the future.”

King Lucian seemed pleased by the idea of helping Tianna a great deal and finally ended his greetings. Luckily, other than some warnings about the untrustworthiness of light fairies, the greetings with the other fairy royalty went well.

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Then it became his turn to greet Tianna; Crazy King Xandus of the Valen Kingdom. Just as he was described in the notes Tianna had gotten, he was an old man with frizzy silver hair hanging messily from his head down to his shoulders. He walked with a slight hunch, and his wrinkles seemed to have formed from a constant crazed smile. His deep purple eyes examined her head to toe as he approached and he lightly tilted his head.

“Do you like chess?” Xandus asked. Even his voice held hints of insanity, fitting perfectly with his overall image of a crazy old man.

“Chess?” Tianna repeated cautiously. She already knew he was obsessed with chess, but the way the other guests flinched and moved away the moment he mentioned it made her nervous.

“Yes, chess,” Xandus continued, “It is a relaxing game of strategy where every playing piece is a delicately made piece of art.”

That didn’t sound like the chess Tianna was familiar with, and something about Xandus’s smile was very off-putting. That and she had a feeling that if she told him she did like chess he would demand a game right there and now.

“Perhaps we can get together and play in the future,” she offered.

“There is no reason why we can’t play now,” Xandus pressed, his crazed smile growing wider, “Right everyone?”

As he turned back to check with those in line to greet Tianna behind him, the line itself mysteriously disappeared. Just as Tianna was about to bring up the fact that she needed to stay on the platform, Xandus pulled some sort of folding table out of nowhere. Right after the table came a chess board, and then the pieces which he set up with incredible speed.

“Your move,” he told her.

Tianna looked down at the board to find he had placed white in front of her and black in front of himself. She now understood why Soral and Ruena had both insisted she at least knew how to play chess, even if she couldn’t play well.

As she slowly slid one of the white pawns forward, Xandus’s expression became impossible to read. Was he in some sort of serious chess mode or something? Why was she even doing this? Maybe she should just leave.

He carefully picked up a black pawn and placed it in her pawn’s path. “Now that all of your guests are out of earshot, I will speak frankly,” he suddenly spoke. His voice was no longer that of a crazy old man, but had the dignified grace of a proper ruler. “You may have also realized this by now, but the Black Wolf has no intention of letting you leave the palace now that you have returned.”

Tianna froze with her hand on the rightmost white knight. “What do you mean?”

“Don’t worry,” Xandus assured her, “I have heard much about you from Soral, and I have decided to support you. With that in mind, I think you should seek out a private conversation with Velcorna Alodan.”

“Why should I do that?” Tianna asked, unable to keep the suspicion from her tone.

“Because she has information no one else can tell you,” he replied, “The identity of the Black Wolf. I don’t yet know if the Black Wolf forgot to use magic to bind her to secrecy, or let her be on purpose. Either way, she is the only one who can tell you the true identity of your enemy.”

“Does that mean you know but cannot tell me?” Tianna questioned.

“Correct,” Xandus answered immediately, his crazy smile coming back on reflex, “You are a smart child. I look forward to your exploits as Queen. Ah, and checkmate.”

Tianna looked back down at the board in confusion. They had just barely begun. How? But he was right. He had managed to checkmate her.

“Until next time,” Xandus told her, taking advantage of her bewildered state to return the board, table and pieces to wherever he got them. “Good luck.”