Tribal Reality
Being weaker than the leaders of a continent was not the same as being weaker in an enemy's territory. Lower-level powers would naturally align themselves with stronger powers that could protect them from threats they could not handle.
This was easily seen in human states, where ordinary people would subordinate themselves to wealthy families or organizations, while these did something similar to noble houses being vassals of royal or imperial houses.
The weakest would always have to ally or relate in some way to someone stronger than themselves, or sooner or later, they would face the risk of destruction by getting involved with someone stronger than they could handle.
The whole world worked this way, and Emlyn's tribe basically depended on the Phoenix tribe to survive on this powerful and dangerous continent.