GAHRYE

It was the most surreal sensation to walk out into the Royal meadow in Anima and onto the trails through the WildWood.

They started deeper into the forest, rather than towards the City, and Gahrye wasn't sure if Elia, like him, was just following old patterns. Or if there was a purpose. All he knew was that twenty years ago, when they'd been training together, and before Reth knew about the Outsiders, they'd always taken these back trails. The ones that spiderwebbed out through WildWood and were rarely walked by the normal Anima who didn't want to avoid contact with others.

Neither Reth nor Elia spoke as they stepped into the shadow of the trees, and he knew it would be up to him to start this conversation.

And he knew he needed to keep his eyes on Reth.

He turned to invite Reth to walk on Elia's other side so they could see each other, when he caught sight of Reece walking twenty feet back, his eyes on Reth's back.

Gahrye sighed and stopped walking, both Reth and Elia turning as well. The fact that none of them had paid enough attention to notice Reece's footsteps was a measure of just how consumed all of them were.

Gahrye stepped past Reth, back the way they'd come, to meet his son.

"You can't be a part of this, Reece."

"Why not? You said it my vision that made it clear for you."

Gahrye nodded. "Yes, but this is.. I need to speak to them without anyone else. I need to give them this. I promise if they have questions, I'll bring them to you afterwards, okay?"

Reece scowled, then took a breath and his face cleared. "I don't want to leave you," he said quietly.

Gahrye's stomach clenched like he'd been punched. "I know. I'm sorry. It will only be for a little while. Go back to the meadow, talk to the others. You're all the same age, they can tell you what it's like here—"

"This isn't a time for being social, Dad!" Reece snapped.

Gahrye put his hand to his shoulder. "Then go read the winds. But I need you to stay back here, okay?"

Reece looked down, shaking his head. But he turned and started back towards the meadow.

"Thank you, Reece," Gahrye breathed, knowing his hearing was sharp enough to pick it up. "I love you."

"Love you, too," the answering mutter—reluctant, but genuine—came from his son.

Then Gahrye turned around to find Elia standing just behind him, her face kind. Her eyes following Reece's progress back to the meadow.

"It's like having your heart pulled out of your chest and walking around on its own, isn't it?" she asked quietly.

Gahrye blew out a breath. He was about to say, "You have no idea," but then he took one look at her eyes, then Reth's and knew the statement wasn't true.

"Will you both.. do you think Elreth will let me leave him here?" he blurted suddenly.

Elia and Reth both looked stunned.

"Of course," Elia answered. "But why? Won't he want to stay where he's grown up? With you both?"

Gahrye sighed. "That's why we need to talk."

With Reece gone it was as if his bones had turned to jelly. Gahrye stood with his hands on his hips and looked at Reth. "I need you to promise me you'll keep yourself under control."

Elia frowned. "Reth? Why?"

But Gahrye didn't take his eyes off the former King, whose tension had his entire body rigid.

"I'm perfectly under control," he muttered.

Gahrye snorted. "Stay that way."

Elia looked back and forth between them. "Reth isn't going to shoot the messenger, Gahrye. Just tell us."

Gahrye nodded and raked a hand through his hair.

"We went through the prophecies—how you and Kalle are at the center of them. We figured out all the different pieces, we thought. But we were still unclear exactly what it was you had to do. We looked everywhere, I need you both to know that. We had so many leads—at one point we figured out that the Bears had tried to do this once before. They'd gotten some messed up idea that the prophecy didn't need humans and.. anyway, it was bad, what they did. It is, I think, part of what Gawhr was hiding. They lost a lot of bears."

Reth grunted. "What did they do?"

"They tried to do what Kalle and Elia are going to achieve. And when you do that without the right people, without the true need.. the voices take you."

Elia shuddered. "Tell me," she whispered.

Gahrye turned and talked to her. Because in the end, this was about her. "Reece saw it first, about me and Reth—your mates. That those portions of the prophecy didn't relate directly to you, but to us. But I still couldn't be sure. I was coming to talk to you about it because I was clear on what needed to be done, but not on who, or how the distinction was made. I was going to come over here and bring it to you because... Because selfishly.. I couldn't choose Kalle. I couldn't," he said, his voice rough and pleading.

historical

Elia put both hands to his arms and gripped them. "Gahrye, it's okay, just tell me."

"There's two traverses," he croaked, looking back and forth between them. "Two traverses. Two females. Two true mates."

Elia nodded, but confusions still clouded her eyes. "What does that mean? What do Kalle and I need to do?"

Gahrye's heart pounded like it would lift the top of his skull. He swallowed hard.

"The voices hold on the Anima—on anyone—needs to be broken. The only thing that can break them is true love."

Elia shot a quavering smile at Reth. "Well, we have that."

Gahrye shook his head. "There is a role for Reth and I to play, but the.. the victory will be yours. Yours and Kalle's. With the Creator's blessing."

"How do we do it?"

Gahrye took a deep breath then held her eyes. "You have to love your people, your family, your friends so much that you would willingly sacrifice yourself to them."

Elia blinked, he could hear her heart hammering against her ribs, which meant Reth could too. "Sacrifice myself to my loved ones?"

Gahrye shook his head. "No, Elia.. You have to give yourself.. to the voices."

Reth exploded.