The Luna Trials by Marissa Gilbert

5. Friend of Foe?

I need is an alliance. I never wanted to marry that prick in the first place.”“Sav!” Kyle squeezed her arm as a warning. Words like this could have all kinds of consequences.“Then we have no problem. Right?” Brigit raised her brow and walked past the two of them. “Don’t worry. When I become the Luna of the North, you will have your alliance.”Savvy and Kyle exchanged glances. They were both relatively young but not new to political games. When someone promised something so important so bluntly, it was usually not what they intended to do.“Go home, Savannah,” they heard the werebear’s advice before she disappeared in the darkness of the passage that led to the staircase. They heard her receding footsteps, and Kyle opened his mouth to say something, but Savvy placed her finger to her lips quickly to let him know they weren’t alone.“Oh, excuse me. I did not mean to eavesdrop.” They heard a sweet voice coming from the opposite direction and saw a young woman walking out of one of the rooms. She had light blonde hair braided to one side and was wearing a chiffon midi dress with puffy off-shoulder sleeves, which was simple and elegant, and made her look fragile at the same time.“It can hardly be called eavesdropping, considering how tiny this corridor is and how close our rooms are to each other,” Savvy giggled innocently while trying to remember if she knew this girl. “I am Savannah…”“Stormhold. I know. You are the princess from the western kingdom.” The girl was smiling in a friendly manner, and Savvy felt like she had to respond to all that positivity. “It’s nice to meet you, and it looks like we are going to be neighbours for the Trials. Exciting!”“Yeah… Very,” Savvy stretched a painful smile onto her lips. Exciting wasn’t the word that she wanted to use. “And you are…”“Astrid Erling,” the girl reacted quickly, playing with her braid. “I am one of the daughters of Alpha Eric from Black Mountain pack. We are one of the smallest packs from the South, and as you can imagine…”Savannah could imagine. The South did not have a kingdom. They had a republic with its own Council, members of which were selected and then changed yearly to avoid someone becoming too powerful. They also did not have lycians since the big revolution when they killed the royal family.As a result… there was absolutely no gain to having a wife from the South. She couldn’t bring any influence to her husband, so unless she was the king’s mate, such a match was out of the question.Then again, these were the Luna Trials. And things were different here. The Luna of the North was supposed to be chosen based on merits.“That explains why you got into the neglected corner,” Savvanah chuckled.“Yeah, I figured when I found out that I live right next to a white bear shifter and…”“Me,” Savvy let out a little laugh. “Yes, my brother and the northern king aren’t on best terms with each other.”“I am surprised that he didn’t just marry you,” Astrid said and immediately covered her mouth with her hand. “Oh, sorry… It’s just… Everyone heard that king Kai asked for your hand in marriage before…”“I guess he changed his mind,” Savannah was getting slightly tired from all this. The werewolf girl seemed nice, but she had things to do and decisions to make. “Anyway, I need to go.”“Of course!” Luckily Astrid was understandable. “I will see you at the dinner tonight.”“Probably not,” the princess confessed. “It was a long road and I just want to have some rest.”“Got you. Then tomorrow’s Welcoming Party?”“Yes, I will definitely be going there.”They waved each other goodbye and went in the opposite directions. Astrid seemed nice, but Savvy wasn’t too naïve to make conclusions based on her first impression. She knew better than that. Zara was already sorting her things in her room, and the western princess whistled when she saw how small and modest her room was. Minimalistic wasn’t even the word for it. Just a bed, a desk, a wardrobe and a little bathroom.“I am going to file an official complaint,” her assistant pursed her lips. “This is outrageous! Your room is just like mine and Kyle’s! It’s so disrespectful!”“You will do no such thing!” Savvy carefully sniffed around, ensuring that there were no other surprises in the room. Fortunatley, it seemed clean. Her lycan senses did not find anything suspicious.“But…” Kyle wanted to say something when she motioned for him to stop and switched on the mind link.“From now on, everything we need to say about this place can only be said