AARYN

‘The new queen has a fan,’ Aaryn signed as they walked away from Dargyn.

Elreth growled and signed, ‘I said don’t say anything.’

‘Did I speak?’

Elreth rolled her eyes. As they walked, he felt the heaviness return to her, and that edge of a tang in her scent that she got on the rare occasions she felt like she wasn’t going to succeed.

They were just rounding a corner, Aaryn in the lead and looking over his shoulder when he started to say, “Why are you—”

But turned as he was, he didn’t see the man, a Serpent, coming from the opposite direction, and their shoulders bumped.

“Get out of my way, Dog,” the male hissed.

Aaryn whipped his head around, in the same moment the serpent’s eyes went wide, because Elreth stepped around the corner and into sight.

And she was bristling.

Her upper lip rose over her teeth as she stepped forward, towards the man. But Aaryn put a hand to her shoulder. “It’s not—”

“Take your paw off me!” she snapped. Aaryn glared, but removed his hand as she turned on the older male. “And if this morning wasn’t enough of a sign for you, sir, you should understand that in my WildWood, there is no room for your prejudice, or your slurs. So you will step wide around any of the disformed in our people, or I will remove you from the Tree City.”

“Y-yes, Sire,” the man said, dropping his head and rolling his shoulders forward in submission to her. But his expression was hard.

Aaryn sighed. He knew she wanted to help, but drawing this kind of attention to the bigots never did more than push them into deeper hate. He knew. He’d been fighting them his whole life.

“Bow to your Queen!” he snarled at the man, who hurriedly took a knee and gave the salute of loyalty.

“I remember your words, Sire, and I will obey,” he said, seething.

Aaryn pursed his lips, but looked at Elreth.

“What is your name?” she growled at the man.

“Sheern,” he said reluctantly.

“Sheern, if I hear your name associated with any trouble for the disformed it will be your last day in WildWood, are we clear?”

“Yes, Sire.”

“Good.” She nodded, snorting the air from her nose to show her disgust, then walked away.

Aaryn glared at the man a second longer, then turned to follow her.

It wasn’t until they’d left the trails around the City and were headed into the forest, towards the Royal cave, that Aaryn spoke again.

“Thank you for your support. But I don’t need you to fight my battles.”

“I wasn’t, I was fighting mine.”

He supposed that was true.

They walked on for a full minute without speaking. Then Aaryn signed, because she always seemed more likely to talk about hard things that way.

‘Some of the people’s prejudice will never be rooted out. And that’s okay as long as they uphold your rules. Don’t draw a line you aren’t willing to sustain. You cannot banish half the Anima from WildWood.’

‘I won’t need to. Ten percent would be enough to put the fear of the Creator in the others.’

They both chuckled and it broke the tension. But the weight soon settled on Elreth’s shoulders again. Aaryn waited until they were back to the cave before bringing it up.

When they entered the cave and turned the corner to that beautiful door that filled the cave mouth and looked like a massive piece of wood that had grown into the shape of the cave itself, Elreth didn’t seem to register anything. She strode straight past the comfortable furniture and fireplace, past the thick couch where Aaryn had once almost kissed her, and into the kitchen and dining area. “Do you want a cup of tea?” she asked without looking at him.

“No,” he said, but followed her and sat down at the dining table while she puttered around getting water and making the tea.

She was still steeping it when he finally spoke.

“I have to say, I thought you’d be so happy right now. Haven’t you always dreamed of being a dominant Queen?”

“Dreaming of something and the reality when it happens are two different things,” she muttered. “I never thought it would actually happen—and definitely not while Dad was still healthy and… around.” But he could smell that that wasn’t at the core of the problem. Her scent was threaded with the chill she had when she was hiding something.

Neither of them spoke for a moment.

Then Aaryn sighed. “What’s really wrong, Elreth?”

He expected her to try to deflect his attention to something else, but instead she dropped her face into her hands and wailed, “I’m never going to find a mate!”

Aaryn blinked. “Wait… what?”

She dropped her hands. “What decent male—what strong male—is going to want a female that can make him bow?” she said, her eyes pleading.

“Since when do you want to mate?”

“I don’t! I mean, I do. I just… I thought I had time. I figured it would all work itself out.”

“I’m sure it will,” he said, shifting his weight nervously.

She groaned and shook her head. “I’m about to meet with the women’s council and you know they’re going to bring it up. And when I tell them I don’t have anyone, they’re going to start suggesting… and the males that get roped in will either wish they weren’t, or they’ll only be interested because I’m Queen. And I don’t want that! I want what my parents have!”

Aaryn lost his breath for a moment. “That’s the first time I’ve ever heard you say that,” he said quietly.

She gave him a look. “I don’t want to be disgusting in front of other people they way they are. But I mean… they adore each other. They’re true mates—claimed and Paired.”

“You want a male who’ll claim you?” Which would mean it had to be a member of the Leonine pride.

“I mean, not claiming specifically. But, you know… someone who loves you that much,” she said, her voice trailing off in a sheepish murmur by the end.