~ TARKYN ~
He took a deep breath and braced himself. "Of course you're right to question the strategies of outsiders. But you are not right to question my integrity! My loyalty!"
Elreth sighed with exasperation. "Perhaps not. But forgive me, Tarkyn, you are not perfect. You cannot tell me that this doesn't place you between a stone and an anvil. We all battled the pull when we found our mates, and you are, and will too. And if she proves to be under the thrall of an enemy—"
Tarkyn wouldn't hear it. "A battle is not lost until the last soldier falls."
"No, Tark. You're right. But I can't gamble the fate of the entire Tree City on your ability to navigate this without mistake. Please… forgive me, Tarkyn. But until we are certain who these creatures are and what they're doing, we cannot… we cannot allow the conflict you are placed in to affect others."
Tarkyn sucked in a breath. "What are you saying?'
"I'm saying that… you will remain my advisor. You will remain in your position as our Defender. But you will not be given freedom to place our people in jeopardy until we're certain your mate is trustworthy."
He gaped. "And what will that take?"
Elreth's eyes went sad for the first time since he'd challenged her. "I honestly don't know," she said quietly. "But I hope that not only will she prove to be worthy of you, Tarkyn, but that she will also prove to be a friend to the Anima. Because if she isn't, I will remove her as a threat."
Tarkyn gaped at her, shaking with rage and protectiveness.
Elreth finally broke the gaze and turned to look sadly at Aaryn, but he was staring at Tarkyn, observing how he trembled.
"Your discipline is remarkable, Tark," Aaryn said.
Tarkyn had to swallow the urge to punch him. "What are you saying?"
"I'm saying that I'm sure if anyone can get through this without destroying the people or his mate, it's you, brother."
The King's approval broke the tension just enough for Tarkyn to back off, shaking his head. But her words echoed in his head.
I will remove her as a threat…
He knew. He knew what that meant. But he had to make her acknowledge it.
"Elreth, speak plainly, what are you saying? Do you… do you threaten the life of my mate? To me?"
Elreth sighed, but her jaw was tight. "It's the last thing I want to do, Tark. And would only be a last resort. But yes, Tarkyn, you need to understand that if the Chimera are hostile, and her loyalty is not thrown completely behind the Anima, and against her own—just like Rika did—then… then she will be counted among our enemies and removed. Just like we did with the humans."
Suddenly Tarkyn couldn't breathe.
"You can't… you can't…"
"I don't want to."
"No, Elreth, you can't."
But she didn't even blink. "I can, and I will—but hear me, Tarkyn: Only if there is no other option. You have my word on that. It will be the last action I will choose. Now… until we know for certain, there is one conversation that I think you need to have…"
As Tarkyn stood there, his head buzzing with alarm and his body trembling with fear and rage, Elreth stepped past him and went to the door, leaning out of it and calling for someone. A moment later, she stepped back inside, Jayah the healer on her heels.
Jayah strode up to him, her brow furrowed in concern, and she took his hand to examine his nails and pinch at his skin, then looked into his eyes and shook her head.
"What—" Tarkyn began. But Jayah spoke over him.
"He's still dehydrated and needs food. Protein and fruit."
"And the bond?" El asked her.
Jayah shook her head. "It's incomplete."
"I know. But is it an Anima bond? Do you have any idea what it will do to him if he completes it and Harth is killed?"
Jayah looked at Tarkyn, who stared, confused. She was very solemn. "Losing any mate will destroy an Anima heart. Only the strongest of us heal from that blow—and even those never lose the scars."
Tarkyn could barely breathe. What was Elreth trying to do? "She is my mate," he muttered through his teeth. "I won't deny her."
Elreth swallowed, and it was the first sign she gave that she wasn't sure of her course. Tarkyn glared, but she didn't back down. "I'm not asking you to deny her as your mate. I'm asking you to consider, for your good, whether it's a good idea to wait to complete the bond. Just until we know for sure she can be trusted. Just in case there's any deception. In case there's any… need to…"
"In case you have to kill her?" Tarkyn growled. Aaryn tensed and shifted his weight, but Tarkyn ignored him.
"Yes."
Tarkyn narrowed his eyes. "Are you asking me this to soothe my heart, El, or yours?" he asked bitterly.
Aaryn growled.
Tarkyn turned on him. "Don't you dare judge me. I stand for my mate! I stepped in for you. I opened your eyes to your own need for yours. I valued the priority of your bond before you did!"
Aaryn bristled. "You just hold right there, Tarkyn. You taught me the confidence to stand for my mate—and I'm grateful. But don't make this into something it's not. You understood something about the hierarchy and taking my place that I didn't. But now I understand something about finding and having a mate that you don't. This isn't an area where you are wiser, my friend."
A strange kind of tension crackled between all of them then, Tarkyn battling his acceptance that they knew something of the bond that he didn't, humbled by it. But also knowing that they didn't experience his mate like he did. That she was good, and strong and…
Tarkyn forced himself to break the eye-contact. To step back. To humble himself.
They were right. whether he liked it or not, they were right. He'd developed a lot of wisdom over the years through observation and experience… but he had not experienced this.
"This really is different than I expected," he admitted reluctantly. "But that doesn't mean it's not real."
"I hope it doesn't, Tark. I really do. But… let's do what we can to check. I'm going to get Gar and Rika in here since she's not Anima and that might change things. I want you to tell us all what this feels like, Tark. Let us help you figure this out. Please."