AARYN

By the time he arrived at the cave Gar had already explained to Elreth and Tarkyn the system they used for testing the character of the disformed without their knowledge.

Aaryn stifled a smile. His own testing had been eye-opening.

He'd been led to believe he'd be offered wealth just for informing on the Royal family to a highly-ranked disformed officer. He wouldn't even have to do anything or try to change their minds. All he'd been asked to do was tell someone outside the family about the things he heard them talk about.

He'd been horrified. But he had to admit, the method worked. There'd been no pressure. He'd been told to think about it for a few days.

He'd gone home on more than one of those days, looking at the relative squalor of his treehouse compared to Elreth's cave.. he'd been encouraged to imagine the status he would gain within the tribe—the better treatment he'd receive by the merchants, the less stress his mother would be under to provide..

He'd weighed the decision, but in the end, he'd known he couldn't do it. And he'd been horrified to think that the disformed, who had always presented to him as being behind the crown, would work against them. In the end, he'd gone to Elia and spoken with her about it.

She'd been very understanding—and more pleased than he expected. She'd assured him she would take care of it, that he wasn't to worry. He'd seen the male around training less, but there'd been no rumors of him being removed from the disformed ranks, or outed as a spy. He'd asked Elia about it a few days later, and she'd only winked and told him that they were taking care of it.

Of course, a few weeks later, he'd learned why.

What he hadn't known was that they were making sure he wasn't pretending to report the issue, while actually becoming an informant behind the scenes.

A cunning manipulation that would never have occurred to him, but was apparently not uncommon among spies—to make a gesture that seemed to show them as trustworthy, when in actual fact it was merely an act to get them closer to the source they were gathering information about.

He told Elreth the story after he'd taken his seat at the table and her mouth dropped open.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

He shrugged. "I didn't want you to feel worried that there were people out there trying to harm your family. Plus.. the disformed training is a secret. To tell you that I would have had to reveal where and how it happened. Your mom specifically made me promise not to tell you."

Elreth's face went thunderous, but Aaryn reached for her hand. "She didn't tell her mate, either," he said gently. "I know it sounds awful, El, but I promise.. there was no desire to hurt you. It was entirely about keeping people safe. You understand that. You keep secrets for that reason too."

"Not from you," she shot back.

Gar cleared his throat. "Look, El.. none of us are perfect. Including you. The disformed that we have in the Protector training are good Anima. They aren't perfect either, but they're good. Their motives are pure. Their intentions are honest. And so were ours. We can be trusted. And if you're still looking for evidence of that, we're telling you now, right? I'm telling you. No one else did, I did. Because it was the right time. At some point we have to just work together and let the past be the past."

"Except that I have to continue questioning whether you're telling me everything," she snapped. "Keeping secrets doesn't build trust, Gar."

"Until it's your secrets you want us to keep. Surely we've proven ourselves on that score?"

Aaryn watched her filter through that. Her lips were tight and her eyes flashing, but she nodded. She knew that Gar was right.

Aaryn breathed a little easier.

"The thing I'm uneasy about at this point isn't the secrets that have been kept so much," Tarkyn said, leaning into the others at the table. "I'm more concerned with the way those secret keepers are being trained. When you have strong willed people encouraged to make their own choices—even in the face of authority—we get situations like we had with Hholdyn. That male has possibly revealed us to the human that was here."historical

"No, he didn't," Aaryn growled. "He was the one who discovered where they went!"

Tarkyn turned to him, frowning. "If he can be trusted. He was in a position to need to justify his own actions at that point. And you saw—we proved to you—that their loyalty had ultimately been pointed at you, rather than the crown. That is a serious problem."

"Which is just another reason it's good that it's Gar now," Aaryn said, reminding himself that it was true. "He's a part of the royal family, so loyalty to him is to the crown. And now that he'll be working so publicly with El.. it's all going to be fine."

Tarkyn snorted. "You are being na?ve. Just as you've seen in your training that people have to be tested for their moral character, so they need to be tested for their loyalties—and their loyalties will determine their character.

"If, for example, they are loyal to Gar rather than the crown, if anything were to happen to pit El and Gar against each other, that would be the true test of the disformed—who would they follow? From what you're describing it seems that you've made a virtue out of rebellion!"

Gar growled. "Then you aren't listening. We structure our hierarchy differently—allow more questioning and greater freedom. But we do not allow rebellion. Our people answer for their choices—the difference is that if someone goes against my order, I don't automatically assume they were wrong to do so. I ask them why," Gar said, staring Tarkyn down.

The Captain growled in return and Aaryn froze as Alpha strength began beating the air around the table.