ELIA
They sat at the table, all eating. Silent. Elia wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry.
From the minutes she'd arrived at the market—excited, happy, and anticipating finally finding her feet—it had been obvious there was a problem. Candace and Aymora stood at the foot of the stage, talking in low voices, Gahrye stood a few feet away, alone and watching them. And everyone else stared.
Then they'd smelled her and seen the mark on her shoulder.
Aymora was surprised, but happy. "That will make the mating much more successful," she said confidently.
Elia had blushed. "Success hasn't been an issue," she said through her teeth.
But when she'd turned towards Gahrye, his face was wide with horrified shock.
"What?" she asked quickly, looking behind her, but there were just interested Anima looking at them from the nearby tables, and Candace and Aymora watching closely. "What's wrong?"
