To my surprise, it was the wolfkin faction leader, Lord Duran, who was riding in the front of their entourage. There were many others alongside him, including the rabbitkin, foxkin, and murinekin. It was pretty easy to guess what happened. As soon as he reached earshot, I spoke up.

“A coup?”

Duran smiled, stroking his smoothly shaved chin. I had only seen glimpses of him before while under King Roth’s care, and he had looked rather haggard and beaten. He had managed to heal himself and clean up pretty nicely.

“You weren’t the only person I sent messengers to when I saw things going south.” Lord Duran explained. “The rabbitkin and murinekin had negotiated a cease-fire, but after I revealed to them the true story of what happened with the experimentation, as well as Lady Death, they were all too willing to move while his back was turned. The other tribes had already taken one of the worst losses of their lives fighting you, and once I leaked King Roth’s true motives, the completely demoralized.”

“Their true motives?” I asked, suddenly feeling a bit anxious.

“That this was all a pissing contest. That he was jealous another man was called a better harem master than him.” He responded, a small twinkle in his eye.

I didn’t know if he knew more than he was letting on, but that didn’t matter. On the surface, pulling his army back and fighting harem to harem truly did make it seem like this was just King Roth’s big ego.

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“I didn’t think we had done much damage…” I responded.

“Unlike the murinekin and the rabbitkin, whose ability to breed is similar to humans, most beastkin have reduced breeding. When it comes to the Bearkin and Beastkin, they can barely breed fast enough to maintain a steady population. They aren’t prepared to throw their lives away needlessly, so every death was a blow to them. Even if those people are resurrected, the damage they sustain can affect future breeding. The tribes are not particularly united by a strong bond, and when a tribe’s livelihood is damaged, it doesn’t take a lot for them to turn.”

“So… Roth had already lost his throne before we even fought,” I responded, feeling a bit bitter over how hard we had to fight.

“Well, it was true that they were demoralized, but it was only when the remains of his harem returned with the announcement that he was dead that the official surrender occurred. A few loyalists tried to cause trouble last night, but they were quickly subdued.”

“And they made you king?”

“No, not at all. I’m only leading because I’m the one who knows you personally.” He let out a laugh and leaned closer. “If I’m being honest the other tribes are kind of frightened of you now. You defeated King Roth one on one. His former gave a free account of everything that happened, and it was enough that they wanted me to sue for peace.”

His words were picked up by some of those behind him, who gave frowns, unhappy with his words, but didn’t choose to argue against them.

“Sue for peace…” I contemplated. “Doesn’t that mean we get to discuss the terms?”

He smirked, showing his canine teeth. “Why, yes… we do.”