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READER SHOUT OUT: Thank you SO much Bad_Vibes for the Magic Castle. I happened to be online this morning when it came through and I got all weepy. You\'re so sweet. I hope you enjoy this. Thank you for being a part of this book!

*****

ELRETH

"But—" Elreth began as her mother nodded, but her face crumpled.

Gahrye turned to Elreth. "I\'m sorry, El, but they shouldn\'t have to hear this with an audience. I\'ll fill them in, then let them tell you everything when they\'re ready. What you need to know is that between us, we can close the traverses."

"But I thought it was the Protectors that would do this? I thought that was the whole point?"

"It is, but… just, please, trust me. Your mother has a role to play and if anyone should hear that first it should be her. I\'ll talk to you when we\'re done and we\'ll arrange how you\'d like the Protectors and their families to come through. Then I\'ll go back and make it happen."

"Look, Uncle Gahrye, I trust my parents more than anyone to get a job done. But this isn\'t just a moment. This is… this history. This is the survival of our people."

Gahrye nodded, glancing at Elreth\'s mother on the other side of the table. "I know. We just need a little bit of time. I\'m sorry, El, I\'m not trying to be mysterious."

Elreth wanted to snap her teeth. "So you\'re saying that you guys are going to discuss this, and once she\'s aware… what? This plan you\'re making will fix everything?  The humans won\'t be able to come through?"

Gahrye\'s throat bobbed and his eyes went sad. "Once the traverses close, the worlds will no longer be linked. No one will be able to come through."

Elreth pulled her head back. "And my parents have a role in this?"

"Yes."

"And the Protectors?"

"Yes."

Elreth looked around the table. Gar and Rika looked as disturbed as she felt. But Reece, her mother…

Elreth swallowed and made her voice strong. "Then… what happens to them when they do this? What side of the traverse do they end up on?"

Gahrye held her gaze and made his words very clear. "We don\'t know."

Elreth blinked at him. She couldn\'t have heard that correctly. Gahrye waited a moment, but when she didn\'t speak, he pushed his chair back, nodding at her parents.

Aaryn caught her arm and she turned to look at him as Gahrye, Reece, and her parents all stood up from the table. Gar was watching them, his arm on the back of Rika\'s chair. Why wasn\'t he fighting? Why wasn\'t he getting in their way?

"You can\'t just—"

"El, look at me," Aaryn said quietly. When she turned, he signed.

\'They\'re your parents. Whatever it is, let them hear it without having to worry about you.\'

She knew he was right. Gahrye\'s face was pale, and his eyes immensely sad. But she couldn\'t even nod. This was everything—this entire journey! This prophecy, the Anima—the victory! How could they just leave her in the dark?

\'It\'s like when I was dealing with Mom. Sometimes you just need time to process alone before you bring other people in.\' Aaryn signed, holding her eyes.

It was partly a ploy, she knew, because her parents and Gahrye were already headed for the door. She was being distracted so she wouldn\'t make it harder on them. She hated being managed. But she knew Aaryn was right.

She turned to Gar. "You\'re okay with this? With just… not knowing? What if we need to make this happen? What if they don\'t realize how important—"

"This is our parents, El. Until a couple months ago, they were in your shoes. And Gahrye\'s been serving the throne longer than you\'ve been alive. Give them some credit."

Elreth almost huffed. She almost got indignant and took her frustration out on her brother, but dammit… she knew he was right.

,m If her parents heard anything that needed her immediate attention, they\'d either tell her themselves, or make sure she heard it. But everything within her fought the idea of just sitting on her hands while they determined the fate of her world. Her people!

She looked at Aaryn, despairing, and he pulled her into a hug, whispering in her ear. "They\'ll fill us in. He said that. He\'s just giving them a chance to process."

Process what, though? That\'s what made Elreth\'s blood run cold.

Process what?

*****

AARYN

Aaryn was stunned. It had never occurred to him that Elia would have any further role to play in the prophecies beyond what she\'d already done. The incredible things she\'d achieved. She\'d carried this secret for so long, he was relieved on her behalf now that it was all out in the open, but this? Possible separation from the Anima… permanently?

Aaryn looked at Elreth who stood next to him, pale and clearly disturbed. He wasn\'t sure if she was going to roar, or weep. She looked incredibly fragile—and yet, her teeth were clenched.

\'Are you okay?\' he signed, cutting a look over her shoulder where Gar and Rika were still at the table, but he was leaned onto the back of her chair, their heads together.

\'He said they need Protectors. So it has to be something they do in the traverse.\'

Aaryn nodded, he\'d caught that too.

\'But what can they do there except cross safely? And they already do that. What can it be?\'

\'I don\'t know,\' he signed, reaching for her arm. \'But he\'s going to tell us. He just wants to tell her first.\'

Elreth frowned and her jaw twitched like she was clenching her teeth. She\'d been so ready to hear all of this and he knew she was off-balance now. She hadn\'t anticipated possible harm for her parents. Not like this.

"It can\'t be forever," she said suddenly, her voice heavy with relief. "If they\'re part of the prophecy then they have to be here to make it happen, right?" she said, smiling at him, her eyes pleading with him to make it okay.

Aaryn just pulled her into his chest. "I don\'t know, El. We\'ll find out, I guess."

Then she ripped herself out of his arms and turned on Gar. "What do you know? What haven\'t you told us?"

"Nothing!" he snapped impatiently.

"But you\'re just sitting there, so calm! You\'re never calm unless you know what\'s going on!"

"I don\'t have any other choice—he said they\'ll tell us, so we\'ll wait!" Gar snarled, leaning in closer to Rika who was tensing, watching the two of them growl at each other.

Aaryn took Elreth and led her to the couch, doing his best to soothe her without giving any actual answers. Because he didn\'t have them. So it was real when he said he didn\'t know.

But he did have a feeling.

Because he remembered the part of the prophecy Gahrye hadn\'t talked to them about. The part that he suspected, Elreth was trying to ignore.

… Love must sustain to keep Anima hearts safe.

Love in silence.Â

Love in distance.Â

Love in death.