ELRETH

When things had settled down and the elders' attention returned to Elreth, she still waited.

Lhern's lips twisted, and Huncer's face was tight with disapproval, but Elreth had no question about her plan. She would not let them make her quaver.

"If you will give me a moment,

" she said quietly when most of them had stopped talking,

"I will explain to you what I see and why it's necessary for me to travel.

"

"But—

"

Elreth shot a look at Jayah—one of the eldest in the room, who rarely spoke up. She was close to Elreth's parents, but also a healer and often missed the meetings because she was called to help the people. Yet she'd made it that morning and she, who had missed so much of what had happened to this point, was the one who wanted to challenge Elreth directly?

Elreth let herself simmer in her alpha power, let the female feel her strength and certainty, nodding when the woman sat back with a sigh. Then she turned back to the rest of them.

"You all heard the prophecy. You heard that the Creator has had a plan for centuries. And that we are already equipped to meet this one, though we hadn't known it. I have spent the past two days exploring what is already in place, and what is known about the future.

"

"And what is known about the future?

" Huncer asked quietly.

"Little more than you already heard,

" Elreth answered calmly.

"Which is precisely why I need to attend those in the human world who have all the available knowledge at their fingertips. I will not travel on a whim. We are training and planning. And I will lift the ban for Gahrye so that if new information is discovered after we return he can bring it to us without fear of reprisal. But regardless… I told you and I meant it: We are at war—whether our enemies know we are aware of them, or not. We face a strong and ruthless enemy. Waiting to find out how they plan to attack will only leave us on the back foot and ill-prepared.

"This is a time to be proactive. This is a time to go on the offensive. My mate and I, and enough Anima to keep us safe, will travel to the human world as soon as we are able. We will meet with Gahrye and his mate who have access to the histories. We will determine what is needed, then we will return—having left a plan in place on that side of the traverse.

"

"What plan?

"

Elreth tipped her head.

"I cannot know that until I've explored the prophecy more deeply, and understood what is happening on that side of the traverse.

"

"But, Elreth, you have to see the potential chaos, the devastation that will occur here if you and Aaryn are both hurt or killed—

" Lhern began sternly.

"I do not deny the risk. But if this threat were to come from the bears and I determined it best to travel to their region so as not to draw them here, if I were to engage over their borders, you would not discourage me. You would send the warriors with me and call me a Battle Queen,

" she said shortly.

"The humans are a different threat, but our approach must be the same. I have to understand my enemy in order to meet them wisely. I hesitate to say, it has been so many years since any of you have crossed the traverse—if at all—that you are not in a position to advise me on this. And the disformed that have been travelling are not in the hierarchy. They can educate me, help me understand the land. But they do not have the eyes of rulers and leaders.

"I will enter the human lands, explore what is needed, make the decisions, then return here to lead our people into what I know to be the best way forward. The rest is in the hands of the Creator.

"

A low murmur rose in the room as the elders discussed this, though Lhern and Huncer both simple stared at her. The fact that they weren't arguing was a good sign, she decided. But she'd also decided the time had come to put all their cards on the table.

"When I announce that I'm no longer banning Gahrye, I plan to also tell the people that the disformed will be given tribe status, and that family groups and tribes should discuss the future with their disformed members before they are no longer a part of their societal structure.

"

"WHAT?!

"

"You can't put all of this on the people at the same time!

"

"They have rebelled, and they are being rewarded?!

"

Elreth growled, and the room went silent.

"I told you I planned to do this,

" she said through her teeth.

"While I do not like the timing, the disformed are crucial to the survival of our people and I will not see them… marginalized as we try to walk into this.

"

She stood then so she stared down at each of them as she turned to meet eyes and let them feel her power.

"Your wisdom is unparalleled, your experience is an asset. But your fear… your fear of change, your desire for your own comfort… we cannot let that rule us now. We face the greatest challenge the Anima have ever faced—the destruction of our entire people if we do not meet this correctly. The Creator has shown us the resource He has provided, and you want to argue with me that we should acknowledge them?!

"

"Of course not,

" Lhern growled.

"But how that information is given to the people can have a huge effect on what they do with it. If we truly are at war, we need unity, not division in the tribes! We need certainty, not fragile, shaky people!

"

Elreth shook her head.

"If our people cannot accept the changes I bring, we have bigger problems. I will show them the value of the disformed. I will show them their own blindness. And they will take it, and they will walk with me.. Or they will die—not at my hand, but at the hands of the enemies that are breathing down the backs of our necks.

"