One year after the Trial by Combat, I stood in what had once been the great hall of Blackmoor, watching as representatives from thirty-seven territories participated in the first Territorial Assembly—a gathering that would have been inconceivable under the old system of independent Alphas ruling through inherited or conquered authority.
The hall had been redesigned for this new purpose. Gone were the elevated thrones and hierarchical seating arrangements that had emphasized the distance between rulers and ruled. In their place were concentric circles of seats, with space at the center for speakers to address the entire assembly as equals.
"The question before us today," announced Elder Morrison of Silverpine, serving as the Assembly's elected moderator, "is whether to establish permanent
