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Horace moved as if pulled by a thread. He had just risen to follow her when Xavier's voice, low and tight, stopped him cold.
"Stop, Horace. Can't you see you're frightening her?"
"Am I… scaring you?" Horace tried to ask, softer than he meant to. He stepped forward anyway, hands open, apology in his tone. Ariel did not answer. The castle air pressed heavy around them as she broke into sobs, small, jagged noises that cut through the hush.
In moments the courtyard swelled with bodies: his grandparents, the council elders, Gurus in stately robes—everyone clustering toward the commotion like iron filings to a magnet.
"What is happening?" Caecilus demanded, striding forward.
Xavier swallowed, then said the words that made the assembled crowd inhale as one. "He—he has found his mate."
Gasps scattered like spilled coins.
"Really, my son? In this castle?" Luna Aella's voice trembled on the verge of a laugh and a sob; her eyes shone wet and fierce. "Where is she?"
