AARYN

It was almost dinner. He'd found a wise-woman to help his mother—a kind, elderly female named Eadhye who had insisted that he leave them alone so she could speak with his mom privately. Aaryn hadn't wanted to admit that he was relieved to leave it to someone else—he felt guilty just thinking that. But as soon as he'd described the situation to Huncer, this female had overheard and approached, reassuring him that she had experience with it and would like to help.

They'd spent an hour talking first, then he'd taken her to the house—nervous because it hadn't been cleaned, and he felt yet another stab of guilt knowing his mother would hate to have a stranger see that. But she was so kind… Aaryn had hope.

His mother was horrified when someone else came into the bedroom where she was resting. But he'd introduced them, and after half an hour his mother had agreed with Eadhye when she'd suggested Aaryn could leave and they could talk alone.

His relief had been overwhelming.

Then he was washed in shame.

And yet, here he was, striding through the forest on his way to Elreth, leaving his mother in the capable, but strange hands of a woman he'd only just met…

He reached the meadow and slowed down. Was it selfish to go see El when his mother was so miserable? But Eadhye had insisted it would be helpful and…

He was just coming to a halt when Reth walked out of the tree and started to cross the grass toward him.

Aaryn was still a little hesitant around Reth, but there was no way to politely avoid him now, and hopefully Reth was past his aggression. They'd called greetings and he was waiting for Reth to reach him when he heard his name called by his mate for the second time that day, and he had to fight a smile.

Elreth and her mother were just leaving the cave—probably on their way to dinner. He was glad he'd caught them. He wouldn't be around after the meal since he'd be meeting with the disformed.

Elreth looked even more beautiful than usual, tiny strands of her hair falling from her braid and wisping around her face. And she started walking faster as he stared at her, which made him want to howl.

When she reached him, Elia right on her heels, Aaryn was about to pull her into a hug, but he wasn't sure how she'd want to be in front of her parents. She was always so critical of them being affectionate in front of others. So he offered a hand and she took it, standing at his toes and smiling up at him. "Hi."

"Hi," he said, smiling back. "I wanted to see you before dinner since I'll be busy after."

Her smile broadened. "We were just heading there. Do you want to walk with us."

"Sure."

Reth cleared his throat from beside them. Aaryn startled, assuming it was for him. But when they turned it was Elreth Reth stared at, one of his eyebrows high.

"Is that how you greet your poor, irrelevant father you haven't seen for two days?" he asked.

Elreth's mouth dropped open. "Sorry, Dad! I was just—"

"El, he's teasing," Elia said, though she looked at Aaryn, not Reth.

"Oh, right."

She looked up at him through her lashes, still beaming, but her cheeks got hotter. Aaryn wanted to kiss them. He wanted to kiss her. He wanted to turn her around and take her back to the cave and—

"Why don't we leave these two alone?" Elia said quietly to Reth.

It was as if the air went cold. Aaryn blinked and turned to look at the former King, surprised.

Reth's face had lost the glint of humor. He stared at Elia, stone-faced, then nodded. "Yes, we should," he said. Aaryn waited for the suggestive wink, or sly comment… the hand that would naturally extend to take hers… anything.

But instead, Reth nodded at Aaryn, bid Elreth farewell, then turned on his heel and headed back to the tree, not even waiting to see if Elia would follow him.

Elreth looked at her mother, her face pained. But Aaryn found his chest prickling with anger. Why was Reth treating Elia like she didn't matter?! He'd never seen the two of them cold before. They'd been angry, even fought. But this… indifference?

It dropped a pit in his stomach. He turned to Elreth, but she was watching her mother start after her father, the older woman's face a grieving mask. He was going to call after her, to encourage her, but they were barely a few steps away when another voice rose and Aaryn saw Gar jogging across the grass towards them.

"Are you guys going to dinner?" he yelled, looking at Aaryn—and ignoring his father who had stopped and was waiting for him to approach.

"Uh, yeah, I think so," Aaryn said.

"You aren't invited, Gar," Elreth snapped. "We won't get a chance to see each other tonight, so—"

"If you want I could wait and join you in the cave after high moon. You guys would be done by then, right?" her brother quipped.

Aaryn muttered, "Oh, no," as Elreth's face twisted in anger.

"What did you say?" she snarled.

Her parents had both turned and were looking back and forth between their offspring as Gar got closer and closer, and Elreth left Aaryn's side to start towards him.

"El," her mother warned.

"I said, if you need some time to complete the mating I can wait until late to come over to the cave, so I don't interrupt anything—"

He ducked as a rock whizzed past his head.

"Elreth!" Elia snapped.

"Gar!" Reth snarled.

But Elreth had leapt into a run and was chasing Gar, who made a face and started running in the other direction, but he was laughing so hard, he couldn't keep up his speed.

As Aaryn sighed and walked to join Elia and Reth to watch, Elreth tackled Gar to the ground and they began to wrestle.

After a few seconds of grunts and curses, Aaryn sighed again. "I think we're going to have to keep the citizens out of the meadow if Gar's going to bait her every time he sees her. She's too on edge not to react," he said.

Reth grunted. "Aren't you going to intervene? He's still stronger than her. He lets her win because he feels like he should. But if he gets mad…"

"She can handle herself," Aaryn said quietly. And he smiled as she landed a nicely timed elbow right in her brother's ribs. "She's got it all under control," he chuckled.

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