Glancing around, the three who had leveled their objections, as well as Oliphinar, the elder I had thrown out of my house, were glaring at me. The rest seemed to be at least listening.

"The answer is simple. And Amura, who was recently added to my household as part of the negotiations with Kathra, can confirm it. Kathra played you all for fools. She sabotaged your relations with the other elves, turned them against you and you against them over nothing." I declared. "It was a deliberate attempt to weaken each of the peoples so that they could swoop in and take advantage."

A murmur of shock ran through the...