ELRETH

Running through the trees in beast form was thrilling and a good way to burn off nervous energy, but the world had already spun so far out of control, that Elreth soon found she didn’t want to continue fighting, and came back to herself. She hadn’t really paid attention to where she was running, but her beast had instinctively headed towards the weeping tree. It was her favorite spot, and the only place she was almost guaranteed privacy.

While all the other great trees in the forest were of the usual variety—trunks wide enough to build a house inside, branches that spread low and parallel to the ground, all the leaves pointing up towards the sky—the Weeping Tree was different.

Her mother had named it. Said it reminded her of a type she’d known in the human world called a weeping willow. Like her mother’s willow, the Weeping Tree’s branches were high on the trunk and angled down, while all the thin growth and leaves—and pink and white flowers in the spring—cascaded towards the dirt. But if you pushed through the curtain of leaves and twigs that fell to brush the grass of the small clearing, inside you found a wide, nearly circular area around the trunk, completely clear and dry. She’d spent more than one summer storm under it’s cover and never felt a drop.

As she stepped into the shelter of the tree, and behind its hiding cover, she sighed with relief. This was her favorite place to be, and to think. But the relief didn’t last long. Because she was truly alone. And though the WildWood was never actually silent, it was beautifully peaceful. Which meant she was alone with her thoughts. And fears.

And regrets.

And angers.

Stumbling over to the trunk and letting herself slide down to sit with her back against it, Elreth hugged herself.

What the hell had just happened? What had she done? What had she gotten into? What had her FATHER gotten her into?

She couldn’t believe he’d pushed her to this. Couldn’t believe he’d taken such a risk.

She couldn’t believe she’d beaten him.

Her heart began to race far faster than it had from the running and she dropped her face to her knees as she remembered her father, on the ground snarling, her hands on his throat.

“Submit,” she had growled at him. And meant it. “Do not make me tear it out!”

She looked at her palms in horror. She’d been… taken over. As soon as she’d started to fight, there’d been no thought in her head except to win, and to take what was rightfully hers.

Except… it wasn’t rightfully hers. Was it?

She dropped her face into her knees again.

How had she gotten here?

What was she going to do?

*****

AARYN

He’d known she would run. It was always her way when she didn’t know how to deal with something, or when she was overwhelmed. She needed time and space alone—and usually to do something that blew off a little steam. So, when she tore into her beast form and shot down the path, he didn’t speed up, or try to catch her. He continued walking. He knew where she would end up. He would go there and wait for her if she didn’t beat him there.

But as he walked, he shook his head and laughed in disbelief.

She’d done it. She’d really done it.

Holy shit.

*****

Sure enough, when he pressed back the curtain of branches at the weeping tree, she was seated in the dirt, her back to the base of its broad trunk, curled in on herself, hugging her knees, tears tracking through the dust still caking her warm cheeks.

“What have I done?” she asked in a faint voice, her face buried in her knees, before he’d even made it across the space between them. “What the hell have I done?”

He walked slowly towards her so he wouldn’t startle her—her beast instincts were always stronger when she was feeling fragile. Then he knelt in the dirt in front of her, elbows on his knees. And he couldn’t help it, he smiled.

“Elreth,” he whispered, “You’re amazing.”

She raised her head, eyes red and shining and stared at him. “How can you say that? I just… my father… he’s the best leader the Anima have ever had. They adore him! I can’t—I could never be what he is to the people! And a dominant Queen? The Anima have never had a dominant Queen before. They’re going to revolt the second I do something they don’t want! I can’t… this can’t… Aaryn, once they get past the shock they are going to FREAK OUT.”

He nodded, fighting a smile. “You’re right. It’s going to be really challenging. But Elreth, you just saved a fifth of our population from utter isolation. Do you know how many families would have been touched by that? How many people like me would have…” His throat bobbed and he looked away from her for a minute. “Thank you,” he whispered, overcome as it hit him what she’d done. And for whom.

“Don’t look like that,” she said, not meeting his eyes. “I’m not the only one who didn’t want the disformed kicked out. I can’t believe my father would even consider it, let alone announce it so—”

“Your father knew it was the kick in the ass that you needed, Elreth,” a deep voice said from behind Aaryn.

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