ELRETH

"I need the whole picture, Dad," she said firmly. "Why did you have patrols set up to go to the Portal at all? The Elders told me that was something we've been doing for years and there hasn't been any issues. Though at this point, I don't know how that can be." She folded her arms and tried very hard not to sound like a petulant child. Something inside her always seemed to regress when she was with her parents.

Then her father sent another of those speaking looks to her mother and Elreth almost stamped her foot. But he turned back to her quickly and his expression was serious.

"We've told you about the days when your mother was pregnant with you and stuck in the human world?"

"Yes," she said through her teeth. "I know it was rough, but—"

Her mother snorted. "Rough? El, I know you're in a difficult spot right now, but I want to tell you that those months were the hardest of my life to that point and since. With the exception of moments—days when you or Gar were in danger… look, just trust me, please. Those days were more than rough. They were traumatic."

Elreth nodded and turned back to her father.

Reth had taken her mother's hand, but he continued talking as if he hadn't been interrupted. "Once you and your mother were here and safe and we understood all the elements in play, we recognized there was a risk. The Guardians were in upheaval. We weren't sure who we could trust. Plus we were still reeling from the War of the Wolves. We didn't know who might try to come through—or who might try to leave and create issues from the other side. So, I placed guards on the portal to be certain. When things settled down and we were more secure, I relented and had daily patrols. Then a few times a week. Now its weekly, and it has been for years."

"Weekly patrols are easy to side-step."

Her father nodded somberly. "It was always a risk. But I had to balance the likelihood of someone getting through with the greater risk of many of the Anima knowing the location of the Portal. I thought I made the right decision. It seems, now, that I didn't."

"What your father isn't telling you, because he's kind," her mother added with a dry but loving glance at her dad, "is that I was extremely broken when I returned from the human world the second time, El. It… it almost killed me. It almost killed you! I was terrified and paranoid and… most of the risks were in my head. In truth, there was little chance someone we weren't already connected with would come through. The Guardians were in upheaval, but they hadn't shirked their duties. But I was… I was struggling to trust anyone. I was having nightmares and… I was in trauma. Your father placed the guards to give me some sense of reassurance. Once I felt better, he had less reason to keep Anima on it."

His father's hand on her thigh tightened, and Elreth looked away as they stared at each other, both obviously reliving something terrible they'd been through.

But when they both turned back to her, Elreth continued. "The problem is, there is more than a risk now. There's an actual breach. And I need to understand where it might have come from. So, Dad, you had patrols once a week for the past few years. Just birds, I assume?"

"We stopped scenting the trails in detail a good ten years ago, Elreth," he said rubbing his face with his free hand. "Up until that point, the birds would walk the area to see if there were any unexpected scent trails. There'd never been anyone."

"And recently?"

"To my knowledge, before you took dominance, there had never been an unrecognizable scent trail around the Portal. I just never felt comfortable to stop the safeguard completely. So I kept it going."

Elreth nodded. She'd had the same reaction when the security council offered to stop the patrols.

Why?

Well, obviously this was why. Elreth sighed and stared at her mother. They both knew that meant that she'd gotten people in and out of the Portal without her father's guards knowing. She supposed she could understand the guards not alerting on the scents of Anima from the Tree City that were no threat. But humans?

She didn't say the words, uncertain whether her father knew that part of this whole picture, but she made sure her mother saw the question in her eyes.

"El, I've told you about the Guardians. They're the human line that protect the Portal from that side?"

"Yes, some," she said quietly.

"Well, understand, they are actually our best safeguard. And we have enough contact with them to know that they remain in place and watching over us. So the risks on this side were always quite low. Historically, the Guardians have kept sole responsibility for hiding us from the humans—and they've done it well. I saw it on my trips over there, there is real risk from the human world if they were to learn of us. But no one has an agenda against something or someone they don't even know exists. The weapons over there were so destructive, so clearly able to annihilate our world, even the wolves didn't bring them back. Anima instinctively protect our world. If we are having trouble, it's coming from the humans themselves, not from the Anima."

Elreth gaped. It seemed like the most naïve thing her father had ever said. "I… don't think—"

"I think what your father means, Elreth, is don't be too distracted by ill-intent from among the Anima. Likely if there is a problem, or if one develops, it will come from humans that have learned about our world, without knowing us."

Elreth stared at her, and her mother held her gaze firmly.

She couldn't believe it. Her mother was hiding more things from her father. Why?

*****

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