The Great Hall of Frostfall Citadel had been designed to make individuals feel small.
Elowen had understood this from the first time she had stood in it as a girl being prepared for her future role. The ceilings vaulted into cold stone distances. The walls held the crests of every Alpha bloodline that had ever stood in this territory. The floor was pale marble that caught every footstep and returned it amplified, so that each person who crossed it could hear, in some faint and persistent way, how alone they were.
She walked across it now with her footsteps clear and unhurried.
The assembly was formally convened. The council representatives occupied three sides of the long central table, twelve in total, the voting body whose collective decision would shape the Alpha King election. On th
