This could be a moment of great importance, and I was sure to choose my words carefully as I offered Spirane's assistance to Arturio. To truly align with him in whatever was to come could result in great implications being made about Spirane. Though Iromar and its latest leader had not yet cast itself as an enemy to the mountains, ours was a pack that had always valued those who would do good in the world. If the rumors, and what Arturio had told me, were true, the wolf who reigned over the moors was anything but good. The white wolf stood in opposition of what had transpired in the swamplands. If there was a wolf to offer aid to in the future, in my perspicacious judgment, it was certainly Arturio. He seemed upstanding and respectable, which was more than could be said for a wolf who would hold children as hostages.

I felt confident in making the offer that I had, knowing that I would have Kalseru's support. She would no sooner turn away a wolf in need than I. It would fall to us to speak with the pack, if the time came, about whether we would offer aid on the front lines, or if we would stay in the metaphorical trenches - the safety of our home. Once more I could feel the heat of potential battle rise in my chest, and I knew that if there were those willing to lend themselves to the fight I would be at their sides.

Nodding my head affirmatively, I knew that this was only the beginning of whatever might come. Arturio asked if there was anything I wanted to know about him, and a dozen questions flashed through my mind. How he knew this so called 'swamp demon,' why he was so vehemently intent on removing him from power, who else had agreed to aid if it came to war, what his next steps would be. But I was no more his war chief than he was my advisor, and there were matters other than the goings on in Iromar that I knew he would be able to offer insight on. "What can you tell me about the wolf who took your ear?" Ah, perhaps not the most eloquent way to go about asking, but it wasn't going to be a gentle topic no matter which way I approached it. I wanted to know about her, to find out if she truly was the foul creature who I had fought and defeated in my youth. Maybe there was a new war brewing between Arturio and Iromar, but perhaps there was also reason to worry about the queen in the north.