ELRETH

She could feel Aaryn's tension as he stepped up behind her on the trail, but she didn't have the mental space to address her. Her head was spinning.

Not only was her brother a part of this, apparently her mother was, as well?

Was this what her father had gotten so angry about? Was this what she'd been hiding from him?

"Is this what Dad was angry at Mom about?" she asked Aaryn quietly as they got off the mountainside trail and into the trees below.

"I don't know all the details, but I'm guessing this is part of it," he said quietly.

Elreth shook her head.

They both turned north. They had left their bags on the Southwest side of the City, in the forest. They'd need to approach from that side to appear they were coming back from their trip.

Elreth ground her teeth. Deception. Everything was deception.

Why did everyone lie?

Was she lying now? By hiding this while she figured it out, by making it look like nothing had happened today, that they were just coming back from their honeymoon late… was she lying too?

She supposed she was. And it felt like the right thing to do.

Was it possible all these lies—Aaryn's, Gar's, her mother's, the disformed's… did they all think they were right to do it?

And did that mean that they were?

No! She growled in her throat and Aaryn rubbed her back. She wanted to shove his hand off, but she didn't. She was tense and angry about a lot of things, not just him. And she knew he'd been blindsided by all of that as well. He did the see the risks. He had tried to guard against them.

They walked silently for forty minutes, circling wide around the City to come down on the southwest side, then cutting through to the main trail from the portal region to the intersection near the royal meadow.

Just as they were about to step onto the trail, Aaryn caught her hand and turned her around to face him.

Elreth's stomach churned. There was a lot of love and concern on his face. He stepped up to her and pulled her hair back from her face to tuck it behind her ear.

"I know this has been a rough morning—after a rough night. And I know… I know we've still got some stuff to sort out. But I want you to know, no matter what, I've got your back in this, El. I agree with you. They've been doing the wrong thing, and they've put us all at risk, and you're right to protect against that."

She took a deep breath. "Thank you," she said, her eyes flicking up to meet his, but she struggled to hold his gaze.

The truth was, having him as Alpha of the disformed right now was a good thing in these circumstances. She couldn't deny it. He was going to be able to manage a lot of this process for her—probably get information they wouldn't share with her.

Unless they turned on him, of course.

"El?" Aaryn said quietly.

She looked up to meet his startlingly light eyes and he held her face.

"We're in this together, remember?" he murmured.

She nodded and pulled him into a hug.

They stood there for a minute, their arms wrapped around each other, and El breathed a little easier.

He was right. And she needed to hold onto that. Even if they disagreed. Even if there were problems. They were True Mates. That was never going to change.

They were in everything together. Whether they wanted to be or not.

Elreth sighed. "I need to talk to my mother," she said.

Aaryn squeezed her, then let her go, picked up his bag and slung it on his shoulder. "Let's go."

Twenty minutes later they stepped out of the trees into the royal meadow.

Elreth half-expected Gar to have taken the more direct route and to intercept her again. But instead, it was her parents who were sitting in the meadow and who called out when they emerged. Actually, Elreth noticed, it was her father who was sitting. Her mother lay on the grass with her head on her father's thigh. But she sprang up as they stepped into the sunlight, and both of them got to their feet and rushed towards them, beaming.

"Hello you two! Did you have a good time! What was… what's wrong?"

Her mother's face fell as they hurried to meet Elreth and Aaryn on the trail. Both her parents looked back and forth between them.

Elreth didn't even bother to try and hide her discomfort—she guessed Aaryn wasn't either.

Her father's face went dark and tense.

"Mom," Elreth said, her voice a touch too high. "I really need to talk to you."

Her mother blinked, but then nodded. "Of course, El. Do you want to come to our Tree, or…?"

Elreth shook her head. "You come to the cave, please." Then her father opened his mouth and Elreth looked at him. "Alone."

Her father's brows pinched together, then his eyes cut to Aaryn. "Why don't you two just go. Aaryn and I can have a little talk here," he rumbled, his voice heavy with promise.

Elreth was too tense to care about the grilling she knew her dad was about to give her mate, but she also knew Aaryn was strong enough to handle it, so she just started for the cave and let her mother follow her through the meadow, then into the darkness of home.

She pushed through the door, frustrated that she felt near tears, but she swallowed them back and whirled to face her mother who was closing the door carefully then turning to face her, concern written all over her kind face.

"What happened, El?" she said quietly, coming to stand in front of her daughter. "Did… did something go wrong between you two?"

"You could say that," she said. "Can you tell me, Mom… is it true that you've been hiding a plan from Dad all these years to get the disformed human mates and let them go live somewhere else in Anima? And you've been lying to me—and even Aaryn, apparently—this whole time? Is this what Dad was mad about?"

Her mother's mouth dropped open and her eyes went wide.

*****

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