ROYAL BLOOD
Della told me the night before the convergence.
She came to my room just after ten, carrying the deep archive document and a second file I hadn’t seen before. Her expression was tight, like someone who had delayed something too long.
“Sit down,” she said.
I did.
She opened the second file.
The document was older than my mother’s, written in the drifting script I was still learning. At the top was a name I half recognized.
“Elara of the First Territory,” Della said. “Your great-great-grandmother.”
“I know the name,” I said. “She’s listed as an anchoring heir.”
“That’s not all she was.”
She pointed to a symbol beside the name, a mark I had seen in old treaty records.
“Elara was the last recognized Alpha Queen of the eastern territories.”
The words took a moment to se
