Chapter 80 - 080: Rylan...

Anaria remained hidden for only a few more seconds before she realized she could not stay there any longer.

Rylan was alive.

He was standing in the council room, only a short distance away from her, after days of searching for him. She had imagined finding him countless times, but none of those thoughts had prepared her for actually seeing him standing there.

Her hand tightened around the edge of the wooden wall.

Then she stepped out.

One of the council members noticed her first and immediately turned toward her. The others followed his gaze, while Zane’s expression hardened.

Rylan turned as well.

The moment his eyes landed on Anaria, he froze.

"Anaria?"

She stopped a few steps into the room. "Rylan."

He stared at her in disbelief. His eyes moved over her as though he was trying to understand how she had suddenly appeared in the middle of Wolfrine’s council meeting.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I came looking for you."

Rylan glanced toward the council members and then back at her. "How did you even get here?"

Anaria hesitated. "We followed the trail from the settlement."

"We?"

Rylan’s eyes immediately became more alert.

Anaria adjusted the baby against her chest. "Kenai and Kai came with me."

Rylan’s expression changed.

"They’re here?"

"They were outside looking for me."

He stared at her again, this time with disbelief mixed with concern. Then his attention fell on the baby.

The child shifted against Anaria’s chest, and Rylan’s eyes softened slightly.

"Ana?" he asked.

Anaria nodded. "Yes."

Rylan looked at the baby for a moment longer. He had missed so much while he was gone, and seeing Anaria standing there with the child made the time apart feel even more real.

But his surprise quickly gave way to worry.

"You shouldn’t be here," he said.

Anaria frowned. "I came because of you and I’m not leaving with you"

"That is exactly the problem."

Rylan glanced toward Zane. "Do you understand where you are standing?"

"I know."

"No, Anaria. You don’t." His voice became more urgent. "You should never have come this close here"

Zane’s eyes narrowed at the exchange "So this is the husband you were searching for," he said.

Anaria looked at him but did not answer.

Rylan turned sharply toward Zane. "Stay out of this."

Zane gave him a cold look. "You disappear for months, and now you return with a wife and child standing in my council room."

Several council members began speaking at once "She has nothing to do with your claim."

"This matter concerns the rightful heir."

"Enough," one of the older council members said. "We are discussing the position of Wolfrine, not the woman’s arrival."

Zane ignored him.

His eyes remained on Anaria. "You were the woman searching for a missing husband."

Anaria’s expression tightened.

Rylan looked at her. "You spoke to him?"

"I didn’t know who he was connected to," Anaria explained even tho she knew whom Zane was. "I only told him I was searching for my husband. I never mentioned your name."

Zane’s mouth curved slightly. "You described him well enough."

Rylan looked back at Zane. "You knew she was looking for me?"

"I didn’t know it was you," Zane replied. "And also I never knew you were alive and here."

Rylan’s expression hardened "Im very must alive."

"I believed what I had every reason to believe."

The council members immediately objected.

"You attacked him."

"You never confirmed his death."

"And you took his position before his body was even found."

Zane turned on them. "I said enough."

The room fell tense again.

Anaria barely paid attention to the argument. Her eyes stayed on Rylan.

He looked exhausted, thinner than she remembered, and there were still faint marks from the injuries he had suffered.

She wanted to go to him, but the council room was crowded, and Zane was standing only a short distance away.

Rylan looked at her again.

"You need to leave."

Anaria shook her head.

"Anaria, this isn’t the place for you."

"I came all the way here because you disappeared."

"I know."

"We searched for you."

"I know."

"We thought something had happened to you."

Rylan’s jaw tightened. "Something did happen to me."

"Then let us stay and help you."

"No."

His answer came immediately.

Rylan looked at Ana and lowered his voice. "I don’t want Zane anywhere near you or the child."

Anaria held Ana closer. "We’re already here."

"That doesn’t make it safe."

"I know."

"Then why won’t you leave?"

"Because you’re asking me to leave you here after we finally found you."

Rylan stared at her.

Anaria shook her head. "I’m not doing that."

Before Rylan could answer, noise came from outside the council room.

"Anaria!"

Kenai’s voice carried through the corridor.

Rylan looked toward the door.

Another voice followed. "She has to be somewhere in here."

Kai.

The guards at the entrance immediately moved to block them.

"She cannot enter the council room," one guard said.

Kenai stopped. "She’s inside."

"That doesn’t mean you can enter."

Kai looked through the doorway and caught sight of Anaria.

"There!"

Anaria turned toward them.

"I’m here!"

The guards exchanged uncertain looks. Before they could stop anything further, one of the council members spoke.

"Let them enter. If they came with her, they should at least know what they have walked into."

The guards stepped aside.

Kenai and Kai entered cautiously.

The moment they saw Rylan, both men stopped.

Kenai stared at him. "Rylan."

Kai’s eyes widened. "You’re alive."

Rylan looked between them, still struggling to process everything.

"You actually came here."

Kenai gave a short nod. "We came for you."

Rylan looked at Anaria again, clearly frustrated and worried at the same time.

"You should never have brought them into this."

Anaria answered before either man could. "They came because they care about you."

Rylan looked away.

Zane watched the entire exchange without speaking.

The council members, however, were no longer interested in keeping the matter private. Rylan’s return had already changed the meeting, and Anaria’s arrival had only made the situation more complicated.

One council member stepped forward.

"Now that everyone is here, perhaps Rylan should explain how he survived and why he was brought back to Wolfrine."

Anaria looked at Rylan.

He nodded slowly.

"There is something you need to know."

He looked toward the council before continuing.

"The people who brought me here were not Zane’s men."

Anaria’s eyes narrowed.

"Then who brought you?"

Rylan looked at the council members.

"They did."

The room went silent for only a moment before the older council member stepped forward.

"We are the ones who found Rylan and secretly brought him back to Wolfrine."

Anaria finally understood.

Rylan had not been taken by Zane.

He had been hidden from him.

And now that Anaria, Kenai, and Kai had found him, the secret was no longer a secret.