AARYN

When they reached the trail where it branched to take them back to the Tree City, or Elreth could follow the righthand path and end up back at the cave, Aaryn stopped. They'd been walking holding hands and he tugged her into his arms again, still greedy to be touching her.

"Are you going to the market, or home?" he asked, his voice still husky from their kisses and his thwarted desire.

"Better question would be, where are you going? I want to be where you are," she said simply.

His chest ached with the joy of that. He combed his fingers into her hair at her temples and sighed. "I need to go get something for Mom. All we have at the house is sandwiches and I want to tempt her with something hot."

"You need to take care of yourself too, though. You said… you said you didn't think you should handle this the way you did last time. What did you mean?"

Thinking about his mother was a total mood killer. He let her go and stepped back, raking one hand through his hair. "Last time I was so young and so afraid… I just… I just fed her," he said with a shrug. "I need to get help this time. I don't know how. I was going to go find a wise-woman and see if they had any suggestions. I don't even know where to start. But… Elreth, there's going to be so much going on. I can't just stop living and sit at her bedside in case she wakes up. I need someone to help—plus, it seems like that didn't do her any good last time. She needs something to get up and… I don't know. It just hit me… doing what I did when I was ten isn't going to make this better. The problem is, I don't know what will."

"I don't either," Elreth said, closing the space between them. "But between us we can find out. The wise women are a good start. I wish Mam'Amora was still here. I bet she'd know."

Aaryn sighed, but when Elreth leaned into his chest, he pulled her in. "I wish she was too."

"I'll do you a deal?" Elreth murmured, clinging to his waist.

"What's that?"

"You come have dinner with me at the top table, and I'll make a special request from the kitchen—something your mom really likes. And I'll come with you to give it to her. And then we'll go ask Huncer who's the best person to talk to."

Aaryn shook his head. "There's so many other things you should be doing—"

"Aaryn, if my mom was sick, would you want to help me?"

"Well, of course. But I'm not Queen."

"Even Queen's have families. That's one thing my parents were really good at—even when things were tough, or really busy, they always had time for us. I want to be that way too. I want people to see me be that way, Aaryn. And one day… if we have cubs… I want them to feel that way about me."

Aaryn's throat pinched and his heart thundered. He couldn't believe she was speaking this way. It seemed like his entire life had turned upside down in two days. He wanted to climb a tree and shout it to the world. And he wanted to hide her in the cave and never let her leave so only he got to spend time with her.

"Thank you," he whispered a minute later when he could speak. "I'd like that, I think."

She nodded and stroked his face. "Even the top table part?"

He snorted. "No. But you're worth it."

Elreth's face lit up. "I think that's the best compliment you've ever paid me!"

*****

Aaryn hated the eyes on him. He hated even more that he hadn't thought about the fact that they were in public and he wouldn't be able to touch her.

He should have thought this through better.

As they wove between the tables at the market to the stairs that led to the stage, he saw Gwyn, Rak, and… fucking Dargyn all standing on the stage, well behind the table.

Instinctively he moved closer to Elreth, putting his shoulder to the back of hers until he was almost standing on her as they walked. She cut him a look.

"I told you, only you, Aaryn. But you have to let me have friends—and deal with… people," she said.

Aaryn sucked in a deep breath and braced himself, but he nodded and gave her more space, following her up the stairs to the stage where the others stood in a tight circle, talking.

"…haven't seen her since yesterday—oh! El!" Gwyn said brightly as they reached the top of the stairs. She pushed past the two males to come meet Elreth before she reached them. "I'm so glad you're here. I'm sorry I wasn't at lunch. I've been a little busy."

The girls made small talk as they walked towards the table. Aaryn stood back, eyeing Dargyn, who wasn't meeting his gaze. A simmer of smug relief bubbled in his chest, but he kept a careful eye on the male anyway, not really breathing easily until he took the chair furthest from Elreth, letting Rak—who'd waved at Aaryn, but continued whatever conversation he was having with Dargyn—sit next to her on that side.

Gwyn took her other side, and Aaryn settled next to Gwyn, glad that the girls were talking so he wouldn't have to. He hated sitting up there, feeling like there was a spotlight on him. But he didn't want to leave Elreth yet, and her promise to get something from the kitchens was such a sweet idea.

She leaned around Gwyn while they waited for the staff. "What is your mother's favorite?" she asked. "I'll talk to them when they bring our meals."

"She loves mushroom soup," he said. "And if she doesn't eat it, we can keep it for later."

Elreth nodded. "Good idea."

"What's wrong with your Mom?" Gwyn asked as Elreth sat back in her chair and one of the servers appeared.

"She's… she had a bit of a blow yesterday and she went back to bed. The way she used to when I was little," Aaryn said. Gwyn knew his mother's history, though not in detail.

"Oh, Aaryn, I'm so sorry," she said, her brows pinched. She put a hand to his arm and squeezed it.

He was about to thank her and take his arm back, when a low growl sounded on her other side.

"Get. Your hands. Off him."