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ELRETH

The elders sat in the chairs around her, their faces stunned—and shifting towards anger.

Elreth tried hard not to swallow or show her nerves. "Her name is Hannah. We hid her for her own safety until we could figure out exactly who she was and how she got here. But in the middle of that, everything happened with the human, and the disformed and… I just lost sight of it. But I\'ve spoken with her at length. She is a good heart, and the mate bond between her and Marryk is clear. She is here for the right reasons."

"You… hid a human… in Anima… from us?" Lhern seemed barely able to get the words out.

Elreth sighed. "I know it seems that way, but in the beginning it was simply trying to stifle any news of anything getting to anyone. I was still learning what had been happening among the disformed—Protectors—" she corrected herself. "As I said, I… I dropped the ball. When everything else happened, it went out of my mind. In part because Gar had hidden them so there was no chance of the Anima picking up her scent."

"Gar is involved in this, too?"

They all stared at her, and Elreth discovered their shock and dismay was far harder to face than their anger.

She wanted someone to snap their teeth. She knew how to deal with that. But this wide-eyed, stunned silence…

But she steeled herself and let them all have a moment to process what they\'d learned. She couldn\'t expect them to simply smile and nod at this kind of news, she knew.

"I have spent some time with Hannah before bringing this to you," she said firmly. "I believe she will be an asset for two reasons—firstly, she is willing to share her knowledge of humans, their culture, and how they think. She can help me train before I cross the traverse—"

"You\'re still planning to cross?!"

Elreth frowned. "Of course. Nothing has changed."

"Everything has changed! You\'ve called the Rite of Veneration. You\'ve learned there\'s now more than one human in Anima and you\'re taking them prisoner and now… this? Now you tell us YOU have been hiding a human here, also?" Huncer\'s voice was getting stronger with her anger. "Elreth, you are our Queen, and I stand for your strength. But you have to see that this… our entire world is being turned upside down and no matter what we learn, what we swallow and step into, you always seem to take a step, then pull yet another unpleasant surprise from your pocket. What will be next? The Anima migrating to the human world?"

"Don\'t be ridiculous—"

"What else do you know that you haven\'t told us? What else will swoop from the sky to attack us at the rear?"

"Nothing!" Elreth said sternly, then took a breath. She couldn\'t afford to lose her temper. "Look, I understand that I\'ve caught you off balance a few times, but—"

"Off balance?" Lhern said in disbelief. "Elreth, you have changed the landscape of our society, and are about to change it historically. And now… now you say that the very enemies we prepare to fight are being welcomed in!"

"That\'s not what I said. This was a unique situation and it began before we knew—"

"There will always be a reason to do things as you wish to do them. The heart will always press the mind towards desire. But Elreth, this is… this is a… the humans call it a Trojan Horse—this could be an ambush disguised as a gift."

"I do not believe you have the right of it there, Lhern," her father spoke up from the side of the room. Everyone turned. Elreth was half-relieved, half-irritated. But he spoke so rarely, she knew he must believe he had something that would really help. With a glance at her mother, he addressed the elders. "Many of you were with me during the war of the wolves. You saw how our allies came from both sides of the tribal lines. Elreth is wise, I believe, not to disregard anyone\'s alliance or loyalty based only on their race. The connection between Anima and human is so thin these days… any allies we can find from among them will be a great aid to us."

"But the timing!" Huncer said, clearly exasperated. She looked between Elreth and her father. "You cannot deny that the timing appears incredibly coincidental—and you\'d don\'t believe in coincidences!"

Elreth nodded. "Sometimes the Creator provides just at the right moment," she said simply.

They all remained staring at her. Elreth sighed.

"I wish I had addressed this sooner so you would have had time to absorb and meet Hannah—which you\'ll do, of course. We\'ll bring her in for you to question, along with Marryk. But tonight… I told you tonight because we have learned about the humans gathering here. Only a handful so far, but we both know this is like the ants—when the enemy begins to circle, it\'s only a matter of time.

"You needed to know that I will be bringing Hannah in not only to answer your questions, but to answer mine, as we attempt to gain information from these humans. Tarkyn has already been asked to bring a team to question her and that will happen tomorrow so we can all be certain. She will not be given information or access to anyone or anything important. But she will, potentially, be an asset to us."

Huncer opened her mouth, but Elreth carried on. "I appreciate that I have given you reason to feel shaky and I\'m sorry. It wasn\'t my intention. But there are no further secrets that I\'m aware of—and should anything come to light, I will share it with you as soon as I know it. But what I know is that we can\'t spend this time arguing or bickering, or allowing our pride to rule. Things are changing too fast—"

The door of the cave swung open so quickly it smacked against the wall of the cave and bounced back into Aaryn\'s shoulder as he raced inside, sweating and panting.

Elreth was on her feet, along with her father and half the elders.

Aaryn slid to a halt, his eyes landing on the elders and he blinked.

"What is it?" she asked him, fear twisting her gut.

"I… I need to speak with you. Right now," Aaryn said, stalking through the Great Room towards the tunnel to their bedchamber. "Privately. My apologies to the elders, but this is critical."

They all murmured, their eyes following Aaryn as he stormed through. But Elreth just followed him through the cave to their bedchamber.

"What—" she began, but he snapped his fingers in the sign for \'Silence!\'

Elreth blinked and waited.

Aaryn took a deep breath and looked over his shoulder, at the wall, in the direction of the Great Room. \'Don\'t speak. They might hear you and I doubt you want them knowing this,\' he signed. \'I\'ve been looking all this time. In the end I came back to the meadow and followed the scent trail because I couldn\'t find him. Gar didn\'t go to the disformed. I think he\'s gone after the humans.\'

Elreth\'s mouth fell open.

**** END OF VOLUME 2! ****

Thank you SO MUCH for your support of this book and these characters this year. I can\'t wait for you to see what\'s happening in Volume 3, beginning TOMORROW!