"Your request for territory has been denied," Surreal read coolly. She scowled and sorted through the copies of territory request forms, noting the word denied stamped in dark red ink through the middle of each one.

"Request for territory in the eastern quadrant of Glacia- denied. Request for territory in the southeastern sector of Glacia- denied. Request for territory in- denied. Request for territory in a city no one's ever heard of- denied. Graykin-" she snarled, tossing the papers onto the low couch table. "They are all denied, every last one! Look at the dates, denied the same day the Queens saw them! Those bitches didn't even take the time to think about it before denying him!"

*It is because he is little more than a pup?* Graykin asked, laying his muzzle on the table and peering at the documents.

"No, it's because those bitches don't want to give him a chance."

*I think it is because he is young. Queens take time to grow. They do not rule territory until they are older. Some do not rule territory at all: I know of many wolf queens that rule courts before they rule territory. When they are older, they rule territories, some small, some larger. Perhaps that is the way of the humans of Glacia.*

Surreal bared her teeth and snarled.

"I doubt it."

*I do not. But you should not worry. He is not our pup any longer and you are not a Queen who can give him territory.*

Surreal pursed her lips. Graykin was right: Surreal could not give Mattiesko territory. But she knew someone who could.

ØØØ

"Lady Surreal? We were not expecting you; I fear the eyrie is unsuitable for visitors-"

Surreal waved off Marian's worried apology. The woman still called her Lady and it annoyed Surreal to death that the Eyrien treated her like an aristo for all that Surreal and Lucivar, Marian's husband, considered each other family. Marian was better than she used to be but her attitude continued to be repulsively self-deprecating.

"Is Lucivar here?" she asked as Graykin found his way into the kitchen. Marian led Surreal to the parlor table and called in a carafe of wine and two glasses.

"Yes and no. He is in the area teaching Gyvar his sticks. I will call him for you," Marian said, her brow creased anxiously as she stood up and went to the eyrie door. Surreal rolled her eyes at the woman's back, annoyed by her constant worrying. Graykin woofed and sniffed at Marian's coldbox.

They waited in somewhat awkward silence as they waited for Lucivar to return. Surreal, already angry by Matti's myriad rejection letters, was hardly interested in maintaining small talk about Marian's latest flower arrangement or her plans for wintering the garden.

When Lucivar arrived, Marian excused herself. Surreal turned to Lucivar and explained the situation to him, producing the letters from her pocket.

"Look at this shit, Lucivar! Hell's fire, he's a Queen and he's of age, and these snot-nosed bitches won't give him a scrap of land!" she snarled, ready to spit on the red ink.

Lucivar sighed and rubbed his forehead.

"Surreal, you're talking to the wrong person. I don't have any control over Glacia and the Territory Queen's little more than a puppet for the Council."

"But you have land here," Surreal said earnestly, leaning on her elbows. "You can give him territory over a city or a landen township, it doesn't matter. He just needs somewhere to rule."

Lucivar leaned back in his chair. He glanced at the ceiling for a moment before looking back at Surreal.

"Look, Surreal, I'd like to help you but understand this: Matti is Glacian. Giving him control of a place in Ebon Rih would hardly help him. He doesn't speak Eyrien and he would be ridiculed for not having wings, not including the troubles he would bring with him anyway. It would be a nightmare for him to rule in a Territory he doesn't know."

Surreal scraped her lip between her teeth angrily.

"He doesn't have to deal with Eyriens. You could give him an out of the way place no one would notice. Matti'd have land, that's all that matters."

"It would be better for him to rule in Glacia," Lucivar said firmly.

"But these Glacian bitches won't give him land!" Surreal snarled.

"Then that is their decision, Surreal. It's not up to you to fight Matti's battles. Did he even ask for your help?"

Surreal scowled.

"Of course not. He never asks for help."

"So let him fight his own battles. A Queen who rules through her own strength is more respected than a Queen who relies on her family to get her where she is. Matti has the beginnings of a court. Leave him to find his own way."

Surreal shoved her chair back and stood up. She vanished the letters angrily and stormed out the door, snapping her fingers to Graykin to follow her.

ØØØ

Matti stirred from where he was wrapped in Rizaro's arms, the Tigrelan's leg flung across his knees. He could feel the beginnings of a speech thread reaching out to find him. It was Sapphire-locked, of that he was sure, with a definite feminine feel. Surreal.

*Matti, are you awake? I'll be past the Landing Web in a few minutes. I'm going to drop in outside of the mansion.*

*I'll send a servant to escort you in.*

*Screw the servant and come see me in yourself. This is important.*

Surreal cut the line and Matti was left in silence save for the sound of Rizaro's purring snore. He pulled his limbs away from his Consort's grip and untangled himself from the mussed bedsheets, heading for the bathroom to take a quick shower.

He met Surreal outside the mansion's ornate front doors and was surprised to see her clothes and hair in an odd state of disrepair, as though she had run her way to the mansion rather than taken the Winds.

"Lady Surreal," he said quietly, waiting for her to extend her wrists in proper deference, forgetting in his sleepiness that she was hardly one for propriety. Matti hugged her awkwardly to ease the tension left by Surreal's lack of movement and knelt before Graykin, ruffling the wolf's fur. Graykin wolfed and prostrated himself belly up before Matti in the wolf's version of deference to a Queen. Matti smiled and pressed his nails Graykin's stomach before standing back up.

He led Surreal inside, the woman unusually quiet. Matti wondered what subject had such import that Surreal would be so cryptic in her message before and untalkative about the same now. He was faring rather well for a young Queen- he had a central home, the beginnings of a Court (if not a coven), and money enough for the time being. Matti had no enemies that he knew of, no one who cared enough to look his way and develop anxiety or jealousy. He was doing well.

They entered a large drawing room adorned with tasteful paintings and sparse decorations. Two sofas sat facing each other around a small coffee table. Matti indicated that Surreal sit with a small turn of his wrist.

"Now, Lady, what did you wish to speak to me about?" he asked calmly as he called in a plate of finger sandwiches and a carafe of sweet juice.

Surreal curled her lip at the offerings and settled back into the sofa, crossing her legs elegantly. She looked around the room in mild disapproval for a second before training her sharp gaze on Matti.

"Are you happy?" she asked. The question sounded odd to Matti's ears. It was loaded with possible double meanings and he pondered meanings as wide ranging as general health and political positioning.

"I am," he said slowly, pouring a cup of juice and placing it before Surreal. She ignored it, tucking a strand of black hair behind a finely-pointed ear.

"How many men are serving you now?" Surreal asked abruptly.

"Five in Court, six as servants."

"Do you have a coven yet?" she grilled, her eyes boring into him with a punishing glare.

"No," Matti admitted as he fiddled with his pants' leg. "But I have little need of one yet. I have no Territory to speak of."

Surreal nodded and leaned forward.

"Are you angry, Mattiesko?" she said softly.

Matti sucked in a breath.

"Why would I be?" he answered. Surreal's lip twitched as though in angered amusement.

"Because you don't have Territory. What use has a Queen without Territory?" she asked, leaning even closer.

"This isn't about me, is it," Matti said, glancing down at the coffee table sadly. Surreal raised an eyebrow. "I've reached my majority but I haven't done what you wanted me to do, have I?" He waved his hand, vanishing the plate and juice. Surreal's cup was all that remained on the suddenly clear table. "You want me to do something or you wouldn't be interfering with my life. It is not hard to guess why a Gray-Jeweled witch of the SaDiablo bloodline would keep relations with a Sapphire-Jeweled Queen from such a backward place as Glacia." Matti gave Surreal an inscrutable look. "What is it you have planned for me, Surreal?"

Surreal smiled.

"I have something to show you," she said.