Taming the Queen of Beasts

ELRETH

Aaryn had been very quiet on the walk, but he strode with purpose and showed no hesitation when they approached the building where the elders met. She stopped before they opened the door and gave him an assessing look. But before she could ask, Aaryn just glanced at her, then stepped forward, opening the door and walking inside without a word.

Elreth followed him in, but it took a moment for her to focus on what the Elders were addressing, because she was so busy watching Aaryn for signs that this was a bad idea.

So she didn't catch what they were saying until Aaryn's face turned thunderous.

"What do you mean, Tarkyn dealt with it?" he snarled.

Elreth snapped her head to look at Lhern and Huncer who were both sitting in their chairs, their faces stern and fixed on Aaryn.

"Hholdyn attempted to return to the City without notifying anyone in the hierarchy," Lhern said, his face somber and firm, "he was unaware of the sentries, who took him and brought him to us because they weren't sure where Tarkyn was. When he returned, he took the male for interrogation."

Aaryn was on his feet again and heading for the door.

Elreth grabbed his wrist to stop him leaving until she could get her feet under her. "Hholdyn has returned?" she asked Lhern stupidly.

The male nodded. "And returned defiant."

Aaryn growled, but Elreth only squeezed his wrist. "Did he find the human?"

"We don't believe so. That's what Tarkyn is working to find out."

"He should have come to get me! I should have been the one to discipline Hholdyn!"

"It is your discipline that has put these people in the position they're in," Lhern said sternly. "While I do not doubt your intentions, Aaryn, you must accept that your leadership has been flawed and that some of us who have been in these positions for a while are fully capable of dealing with them."

Aaryn blinked like he'd been slapped. Elreth's heart throbbed as he deflated in front of their eyes.

She wanted to snarl at Lhern. He didn't understand what Aaryn was going through! She turned on the older male, but Aaryn grabbed her arm and when she looked back at him, he was shaking his head. He couldn't sign properly with one of his hands in her grip, but he made a slicing motion with the hand that had grabbed at her.

It meant, don't speak.

She frowned. He didn't want them to know?

"I submit to the elders, of course," Aaryn said a moment later, his eyes slow to leave Elreth's face and return to Lhern. "But… there are dynamics at play in the disformed—learned mistrusts that could create conflict rather than resolve them. Tarkyn and I had spoken with the security council. It was agreed that I would discipline them, then hand them to him along with whomever I would submit the Alpha to. There was a plan in place!" he said, a touch too forcefully.

"And we were led to believe you were unable to attend today," Huncer said, a question in her tone and the look she gave Elreth.

Elreth stared at Aaryn again. She needed to tell them!

But Aaryn's jaw hardened. "There are… issues in my family. They will be difficult. But I do not plan to stop working. I apologize if you were misinformed," he said tightly.

Elreth's unease grew. He needed time. He needed to grieve. But she understood his fear as well. She made a mental note to speak with the wise woman, Eadhye, when the female was able, to gain some insight in how to help Aaryn avoid his mother's affliction.

"Well, we must trust the Creator's intentions," Lhern returned. "Our decisions were made in good faith, and things have worked out as they have. Tarkyn will return with a report on what the male found. Then we'll determine the best way forward with the Security Council. The Elders are firm in our position that this issue must be treated with the utmost urgency. If it is a single breach, we can move on. But until we are certain where this person, or people, came from and they're here, we must treat it as a possible invasion."

Elreth nodded her agreement. "Were there any other developments this morning while I was absent?"

"Some of the disformed were… unsettled when Hholdyn was taken. The guards were firm and there was no challenge, but they sensed a growing tension in the disformed who were gathered."

"They await the attendance of their Alpha," Aaryn said darkly, then looked at Elreth, his eyes dropping to where she gripped him, then back to meet hers.

That's when she realized she was still restraining him. He hadn't challenged her front of the elders despite his tension.

She let go of him quickly and made the signs for "grateful" then "wait."

Aaryn's jaw twitched, but he didn't move for the door.

"You're gathered to discuss the other issues we had planned to address today, then?" Elreth asked quietly.

Huncer and Lhern nodded, and Elreth sighed. "Very well. Aaryn, go to them. See what you can find out from the disformed. I'll stay here to deal with the logistics, then I'll speak with Gar, though we might not need him now. If you learn anything—if Hholdyn told them anything—please tell us. Right away."

Aaryn nodded tightly, but she knew he'd do it.

She signed "thank you," then turned and took her seat as Aaryn bolted for the door.

They all waited for him to be gone, and his sprinting footsteps out of earshot before they spoke.

"He struggles against a real issue," she said quietly. "Please do not judge him for this."

Lhern and Huncer looked at each other. "If he is to be King he must learn to put aside his personal needs and desires for the good of the people."

Elreth was chastened, then remembered Tarkyn's warning earlier—that some would try to tell her that her focus had to stay on the larger people, over her mate or family. And her conviction that he was right to warn her against it.

"One thing we will have to be clear on," Elreth said, shifting herself to find a comfortable position in the seat, "is that I will never condemn Anima—myself, my mate, or you—for prioritizing loved ones in crisis. I would ask you to keep that in mind, to accept it now, because it will not change. It was, if you remember, a tenet of my father's after the war with the wolves. I know you have seen that balance at work. I appreciate your input and advice on how to achieve it, and sustain it. But I will not be swayed from it."

There were murmurings, but also nods from many of the elders, then Elreth folded her hands in her lap. "So, our order of business today was determining how Aaryn's role would sit within the hierarchy, yes? I'll hear your thoughts on it, but again, be certain: I will not see my mate put down, or suspected, simply for being male."

"He has potentially seeded an army of revolutionaries," Huncer hissed.

"With no intent to do so. It is a mark of his ignorance and youth, not intention," Elreth snapped back. "So we determine where and how his role fits, then we deal with the issues we've discovered. If I am allowed to make mistakes, so is my mate."

Huncer and Lhern gave each other speaking glances, but the rest of the elders remained quiet.

Nerves trilled in Elreth's stomach. It was good that Aaryn wasn't there for this discussion. It was the last thing he needed on this day.. Then she sighed and settled in to fight for her mate's honor.