Falling in Love with the King of Beasts

GAHRYE

Gahrye walked through the forest on the southern end, towards the Royal Meadow, his heart lighter than it had been in days.

He'd decided to fill Elia in about Suhle and what he'd discovered there, two days earlier.

He knew now that meeting her with Reth had been an appointment of the Creator. He'd thought so at the time, as soon as he'd scented her truly. But he hadn't wanted to jump to conclusions. But now he was certain.

When he'd walked out of the cave with her, he'd really just been curious and a little wary. But then he'd read the winds around her and his heart leapt. The Creator's voice—or whatever He allowed Gahrye to hear when he was reading the winds had been very clear.

She is One.

Suhle was a Protector. He would have sworn to it.

He'd been wondering how he would find them, how difficult it would be to gather the right information without actually telling them why he wanted to know about them. But he hadn't thought about being able to scent them—and perhaps the quality he found in her had nothing of a physical scent in it. But as they'd walked and he scented her, all the parts of his heart, his soul, that listened to the Creator, heard her name with conviction.

She was a female of good character. A servant. Loyal to the Creator. Loyal to the Crown. Trusted by Reth. Known to him since she was young. She wasn't allied with the disformed, but she was clearly accustomed to keeping attention off of herself, and working without applause.

That afternoon, despite their newness to each other, she'd walked confidently next to him, but with… humility? Something kept her eyes on the ground in front of her. Yet there was a quiet strength to her. Not that shy, timid air so many of the disformed adopted over time. Especially the females.

They walked and talked for half an hour. She had been eager to get away to her duties—a hard worker, something else Gahrye knew a Protector would need.

By the time they parted—he asking her to meet with him again soon, and her agreeing, though clearly hesitant to commit to anything to do with the disformed, which was the only thing that gave him pause.

He'd spent the last two days testing his idea, comparing what little he knew of the Protectors of old, his own experience, and what he knew they would need. And as of last night… he was certain.

He could find no reason not to invite her to train. Whether she would or not, he would find out that day. But he wanted to tell Elia about her first, and celebrate that he felt like he knew what he was looking for, now.

He needed the strong, the solid, the humble. He needed those that aimed for something bigger than themselves. And those that weren't too proud. That didn't need to fight everything.

A Protector's role, first and foremost, was to watch over others. To provide a path of safety. They couldn't be aiming for their own ambition—the voices would quickly turn the head of any Anima that thought to use the Traverse for their own ends. He could see that now. He would warn them about his own experiences with the voices—something he would know more about soon, he hoped. When he crossed again.

But the most exciting part of all of this had been when he saw clearly how to approach the problem of training disformed without telling them what they were.

He'd almost torn out his hair trying to think of a way to couch the truth—so that they weren't lying, but so that the disformed didn't know about the ultimate purpose.

It hadn't been until he'd thought specifically about trying to convince Suhle to train that it had come to him. And now he needed to talk to Elia and make sure she was on board.

When he entered the Royal Cave he could smell Jayah. Reth had been there, but his freshest scent was beginning to fade, so he must have left early that morning.

Elia wouldn't be happy. She was still pale and drawn whenever he was gone.

He hurried through the cave to the side-tunnel that led to the bedchamber. The door was closed and he thought Elia might be sleeping. Should he go in? She'd told him to always come, and they'd arranged to see each other this morning. But then he heard a quiet, high voice say, "Your Advisor is here."

Jayah.

As he slowly opened the door, remembering to knock, he found Elia laying on her side under the furs, while Jayah sat near her feet. Their hands were clasped on the side of Elia's belly. Elia looked like she had cried, but was feeling better now—her eyes were just a little red.

He hesitated just inside the door. "Should I come back later?"

"No!" Elia said and gave him a watery smile. "I'm just pregnant and hormonal. Ignore me."

Jayah squeezed her hand and stood up from the bed, turning to usher Gahrye closer. "She will need to rest soon. Will you stay with her, or should I remain in the cave?"

Gahrye looked at Elia, who shrugged. She didn't have plans.

"I think… I think I'll be here an hour or so. If there's anything you want to do…?"

Jayah smiled. "I will go deliver one message, then I will return to the Great Room. Just call for me when you're ready to leave so I can attend her."

Gahrye nodded, and the wolf female strode from the room, closing the door behind her. Then he turned to Elia, smiling.

She automatically smiled back. "What's made you so happy?"

"I think I know how to do this!" he said, hurrying to her side and taking a seat on the bed, like Jayah had.

"Oh? Tell me!"

"Well, the thing is… I kind of need your help to make this work."

"Okay," she said, searching his eyes. "What can I do?"

"How do you feel about having a dedicated network of eyes and ears… just for you, as Queen?"

*****

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