They rode out at dawn, a small column, deliberately modest, deliberately unafraid, and reached the disputed ridge by midmorning to find Alpha Renner's two hundred warriors arrayed along the false boundary line, banners snapping in the wind.
Renner himself stood at the front, a broad, heavyset man with calculating eyes, and Aria watched those eyes widen slightly as she dismounted, taking in the queen who had ridden out with only a handful of escort to face two hundred armed wolves.
"Queen Aria," Renner said, his voice carrying false warmth. "I did not expect you to come yourself."
"You moved stones onto my land," Aria said, "and brought two hundred wolves to discuss a fence. I thought the matter important enough to warrant my personal attention."
"A simple boundary dispute hardly requir
