The storage room was not particularly large, nor was there any source of light apart from the magelight spell that Sabine had helpfully provided. However, it was far enough from any important place in the castle that they would not be disturbed. Although the meeting started out with an awkward silence before Lorag remembered that he would actually need to be the one to start things off. His mind was quite obviously scattered between his thoughts. 

Being the blunt individual that he was, Lorag started off by getting straight to the point, abruptly enough to almost be startling. "So, um...yeah, I've decided I can't be the Alpha's second anymore." 

After what she had witnessed earlier in the day, Ahnasha was one of the first to let out a sigh. "Lorag, that's...ridiculous. Yes, you're not in your prime anymore. No one is going to lie and try to convince you that you are, but giving up your position? That's...Lorag, I know you're smarter than that. Just because Fendros beat you in a duel doesn't mean you're not still the best at what you do. You have more experience than half of us combined."

Predictably, Lorag was not even close to being convinced. "Yeah, I know that. If I dueled a child a thousand times, he'd win at least one on blind luck. It's not about some duel, and this isn't some spur-of-the-moment choice I'm talkin' about here. It's just, I've been thinking about this for a while. I've had a lot of time to think about it, so I know I don't got a choice. You know what it means to be Alpha's second? It means I become Champion if anything ever happens to her. That's not somethin' I can do. Maybe ten years ago, but not now. Bein' Champion used to be just about being the strongest, but now there's all this...politics and stuff that I can't do. Didn't used to think that was a problem. Thought that I could just listen you all your advice for the political stuff while I beat the war drums and inspire all the soldiers. All I'd have to do would be to defend my title. And sure, if I became Champion today, I could defend my title. For a little while. But what about a year or two from now? Five years? I'm too old for this. Meesei's second needs to be someone who can be a leader, and keep a hold of the title long enough to keep things stable. It needs to be one of you."

---

Meanwhile, Julan was in the pack's room in the barracks alone, apart from Rhazii. They had been given a room separate from the guards so they would not be disturbed, so now that Lorag had taken most of the pack to a meeting, and Meesei had gone to speak with Areldril, it was just him and his brother. Julan could not be more excited; he had expected that this would be much more difficult. 

What would likely clue in Rhazii first to the fact that Julan was up to something would be the fact that he was still in his city clothes, despite the fact that they were supposed to be going to bed for the night. He opened the door to the room and peered into the hallway for a few seconds before retreating back into their room and approaching Rhazii in his bed. "So Rhazii, I've...been thinking about something. So you know how you were able to meet your grandparents a long time ago? Well...I don't think it's fair that I can't. It's not like it would be hard or anything; we're right here in the same city! I really want to meet them, so I think we should go do that. Sneak out into the city, I mean. The house he showed us isn't far from here, so it shouldn't take long. We might even have time to go explore some of the other parts of the city. He wouldn't hardly let us see anything earlier."