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AARYN

He was trembling. She clawed at his back, his hair, desperate and he couldn\'t let go. She\'d given over to him and it was stunning. Half of him wanted to throw her to the ground and take her here and now, to cement this. The other half wanted to weep.

"This is how we find each other, El," he whispered into her hair. "This is how we make it work."

"What do you mean?"

He cleared his throat and forced himself to loosen his grip so he could look at her. She let her leg slide to the ground to stand, but she leaned into him, neither of them willing to lose contact yet.

"When we\'re out there in the world and under other people\'s eyes, you\'re in charge," he said. "I submit myself to you. But when we\'re here or at home, by ourselves…"

"I submit to you," she whispered, and her eyes sparked.

Aaryn\'s body twitched. "Yes. You let me carry you when you\'re resting, I\'ll let you carry me through everything else."

She nodded. "Trust."

"Trust."

She swallowed. "So… this thing with the disformed, Aaryn—"

"Trust," he repeated, smiling. "I was always bringing them to you, El. Always."

"You didn\'t bring them to Dad."

"Because they didn\'t entirely trust him. Too much had happened with Gahrye and your mom and… they knew Reth was a good Anima, and they could see he was sympathetic. But they didn\'t think he\'d ever be willing to break the traditions to give them what they need. And I didn\'t know he knew about us, so I thought it was just time… I would have talked to him, tried to build some kind of link if I\'d known that he knew. But as it stood, I was always waiting for you to take power so I could bring them to you. They knew that! In fact, my seat was challenged when I denied the Cohort role because they were so angry I hadn\'t put myself in that position of power. They were trusting me to bring them to you, and in their minds… I didn\'t."

She blinked. "You had to fight?"

Aaryn chuckled. "I have to fight all the time. But… yeah. They were really angry. They\'re still getting past it. They want to be recognized, El. They don\'t want to leave. They want to be a part of the Tree City that isn\'t seen as weak. They want their talents recognized and…" he hesitated, swallowed.

She stroked his hair back off his face. "I see you, Aaryn. I see them, too. But I\'m betting they\'re just like the rest of the Anima: None of them are you. No matter what else happens, no matter where we take this… I need you with me."

"I\'m here, El—"

"No, Aaryn, I need you with me. On my side. I need you as my Advisor."

He gaped at her. Was she mad? "Elreth, we\'re mating! I\'m not giving that up!"

She smiled. "And you don\'t have to. Didn\'t you hear my announcement? I\'m putting off appointing an Advisor—"

"But that doesn\'t change the law, if I\'m your Advisor, I can\'t take you as mate, Elreth, I am not giving this up!" he snarled.

She buried her face in his chest. "You don\'t have to. If a Ruler is mated, they can appoint their mate to whatever position they want. We\'ll just have to wait until it\'s all official, but… I just need to hear you say that you\'ll give your life up that way. That you\'ll vow as my Cohort and be my advisor."

"Of course I will," he breathed, stunned once again by her courage to break tradition. "That\'s why you put it off? Not because you thought you could talk me into it?"

"No! I already knew… I didn\'t want anyone else, Aaryn. I only want you. I had to figure out how to get you as my mate and my Advisor, and that meant waiting. So, I\'m breaking one tradition so I don\'t have to break another. But you\'re worth it. I need you in this. For real."

"I just need you, period," Aaryn said quietly.

They stared at each other and he smelled her desire rise to meet his own.

Thanking the Creator that she wanted him as much as he wanted her, he was about to kiss her again when Elreth\'s eyes went wide with horror and Aaryn\'s stomach clenched. He gripped her arms. "What is it, what\'s wrong?"

"I just realized…" she whispered, horrified, "We\'re becoming… my parents." She said the words like they were stink bugs in her mouth.

Relief hit Aaryn so hard, it took a moment for the laughter to breath—but it did. He threw his head back and laughed, startling a night dove from the branches above them.

"It\'s not funny!" Elreth growled.

"It\'s fucking hilarious," Aaryn spluttered. "Where do you think I learned about this submission from in the first place?"

Elreth blinked. "Ew. My parents do this? Gross!"

"El," he said, still chuckling. "It\'s not gross. You\'ve seen how amazing their relationship is. I\'ve watched them when they didn\'t know I was watching—your dad always gives in to your mom when they\'re alone. And he told me you\'d need that. That it was the only thing that had kept him sane over the years. When he\'s with her, he relaxes and lets himself be weaker for a time so he can refresh."

"But they fight!"

"So do we. Submission doesn\'t mean you have no will, Elreth. It means… it means you let the crown stop with someone else. As soon as he told me, I knew he was right. You need that. Otherwise you\'re going to kill yourself trying to be everything to everybody every day." Then he tipped his head and narrowed his eyes. "And you know… it can be fun, too," he said in a low, rough voice.

Elreth\'s scent spiked with desire again and Aaryn wanted to howl.

Dropping his hands to her lower back, he pulled her in against him. When she let her head roll back he growled with approval.

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