Into the Dark with You

~ TARKYN ~

Meeting the uneasy gazes of his friends and his Queen and her King, Tarkyn's resolve only strengthened.

Then Elreth rolled her shoulders back too, and met his eyes with the shine of both pride and fear in her own.

Her forehead pinched, though he could see her trying to keep her expression clear and calm, and he nodded his encouragement to her as he would have on any other day.

They were still in this together.

Elreth gripped her mate's hand just as tightly as Tarkyn held Harth to his side. And for the first time in his life, Tarkyn wasn't the odd member of this little conclave.

For the first time, and with a sense of unerring pride, Tarkyn stood before his dearest friends and leaders, a mated male. One of a Pair. For the first time he was not the lone male in their circle of Pairs, watching from the outside as his friends and colleagues struggled to balance their families and responsibilities.