ELRETH

She didn't like the look that had been on Aaryn's face when she left the cave, but she also didn't see how she could change it. He was still holding back something. And even if it wasn't his own work, or his own story, how could he choose someone else's comfort over hers? How could he put her rule at risk holding back anything that might help her?

She'd finally decided this was important enough to wake her parents, if necessary. But when she stalked out of the cave with half-hearted promises to Aaryn to come back feeling better, the lights were still on in their tree, though dim, as if they only had one lantern lit in the living room. Maybe only one of them was up, but she decided the time was past to try and dance around whatever had happened between her parents.

She was Queen.

There were humans in Anima.

And the disformed knew something about it.

Short of pulling people in for petition, all she could do was go and demand they speak. So, whether they were her parents, her Mate, her brother, or a citizen, that's what she was going to do.

She stalked up to the door and banged on it. Inside there was a grunt and the sound of feet hitting the floor quickly, a hissed warning, then, "Just a minute!" from her father.

Suddenly very, very aware of what she likely had just interrupted, for a moment all of Elreth's courage fled.

But even as she covered her face with her hands, she realized… this was life. This was love—her own life, her own love. The time had come to… how had Gar put it? Put her big-girl pants on?

Yeesh.

Then the door swung open and behind the deep, tall shadow of her father, she saw the warm light of a lantern, and her mother seated on the couch looking only slightly mussed.

"I'm sorry to interrupt you," she said dryly, before her father could make a quip. "But this is important. As important as it gets. And I need to talk to you."

Her father opened the door wide, his face surprised, but not shocked, and nodded, opening his arm to let her through.

"What's going on, El?" her mother asked, combing her hair back with her fingers, looking back and forth between her and her father. Elreth didn't take a seat, but stood on the other side of the low table, while her father went and took the seat next to her mother, throwing his arm over the back of the couch and leaning into her so her shoulder was against his side.

Elreth sighed and silently prayed that she and Aaryn would still be so close twenty years from now.

"I'm sorry, because I know I'm about to raise something that's hard for you guys too. But I've already talked to Gar and to Aaryn, and they're both saying the same thing: The one with the answers I need is you, Mom. And I know you said you couldn't talk about it. But I need you to search for… anything. Because I'm dealing with a complete shit-show here, and I need to understand how it happened. Why it happened. I need to know why the disformed started training this way. I need to know why there's a… a split between the Alpha and you guys—and why they listen to you anyway. And I need to know who knows about us. Everyone on the other side who knows about us—and why they might want to come here. And Dad," she said, turning to him. "I need to know why you put patrols on the portal, and why you always warned me against going through. I need to know what you know about what risk the humans pose. And… I just need to know more than I do," she said, throwing her hands up in the air. "Everyone else seems to understand so much more about this than I do. And I'm sick of it. Please! Start talking!"

Her parents looked at each other, and there was an entire lifetime of understanding, love, and conflict in that look. They had a conversation in the blink of an eye. She saw it happen—saw her father pulling away, still tender. Saw her mother yearning and reaching out. And saw them both understanding things she'd asked. Knowing things. And asking themselves whether to tell her.

"Oh, for fuck's sake!" she snarled. "Can you stop being mysterious and in love and just tell me what the hell is going on, please? What does Gahrye have to do with all this? Why do we only see him every couple years? It's got do with this, doesn't it?!"

Both her parents looked a little shocked at that, but finally, after one more speaking glance towards her mother, he sighed a heavy sigh, his massive shoulders rising and falling once, then he nodded. "Well, I think you're right, El. That you do need to know all this. And… I'll tell you what I know. Then I'll go to bed and I'll let your mother share with you what she can." He raised a hand when Elreth opened her mouth, and gave her a warning look. "You aren't the only member of this family who's in the dark about what's been going on for the past twenty years, Elreth, so you can put that flaming tongue away—or at least, point it in a different direction. I'll tell you what I know and what I decided, and then I'll let you talk to her. But… just understand that I never was hiding anything from you. This side of things just didn't seem as important for your training as the rest, so I never gave it a lot of focus. But now… you're right. Now we need to talk about it."

Elreth shot her mother a look, but she was too busy staring at her father, so Elreth turned back. "Okay, fine, then. Start talking."

Her father sighed again.

*****

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