Son of Night and Daughter of Stars

Chapter 51: The Peace

Estelle wearily pushed open the door to her room. She'd counted. Her mother had yelled at her for forty-seven straight minutes. It was mostly the usual things. She had a kingdom to protect, she had more important things to worry about, he was the son of another world, blah, blah, blah. 

Then Aelin had actually had the nerve to ask Estelle whether she was being 'safe,' which made Estelle want to curl up and die. Like she'd ever be that careless. She'd been taking a tonic since she turned sixteen. She wasn't a child. And she certainly didn't want to add that kind of problem to her ever-growing list. 

She shut the door behind her with a snap and slid to the floor against it. She didn't want to think about what her mother was undoubtedly telling her father now. Sure, they both knew she'd taken lovers before. As Fae, it was quite impossible to hide. But this was different. Nyx was different. That's what she'd told her mother, but Aelin had just waved her away. The disappointment in her mother's eyes had threatened to crush the happiness that Nyx had filled Estelle's heart with. It was a lot for one girl to go through in a day, after all, and her mother didn't seem to care other than how it would affect her. 

Estelle leaned her head back to bang it into the door. The dull ache made her feel a bit more focused, if not better. She'd promised Nyx she'd go see him, but she really didn't feel like moving right now. Also, she knew that witch Delilah would probably be there, and she'd had enough verbal assault for one day. She laughed slightly as if occurred to her that if she waited long enough, Nyx would probably come to her. She uncoiled her feet to splay out in front of her, examining the dusty toes of her boots. She looked a mess. She hadn't bothered to fix her hair since Nyx had run his hands through it, her tunic was rumpled from sitting on the floor, and she hadn't eaten since lunch, which had really only been an apple she'd forced down before going to see Nyx in the healer's room. 

Gods, this male really had ruined her life in the best way possible, hadn't he? 

It was as if she'd summoned him. Behind her, a knock sounded on her door, and her heart leaped into her throat. Without thinking, she called, "Come in!" 

So he did. The door swung open, and she fell backward, landing hard on her back with a yelp. She stared straight up, laughing when she saw his bewildered expression. "Hello, there." 

"What in the world are you doing?" Nyx shook his head and leaned down, grabbing her hand to pull her up to stand in front of him. "Why'd you tell me to come in if you were sitting against the door?" 

Estelle shrugged as he set her on her feet. "I forgot." 

"You forgot," His tone was teasing, his eyes glimmering with amusement. "That the door you were sitting against tends to move from time to time?" 

Estelle shrugged helplessly, embarrassed. He stepped into the room, closing the door behind him. "So? How did it go?" 

"Eugh," Estelle grunted, turning away from him to walk to her bed. She flopped backward onto it, resting her hands across her stomach. Nyx joined her, tucking in his wings so he wouldn't hit her. 

"Wow. That bad?" He asked, correctly interpreting her grunt. She nodded, bringing her hands to her face to press her fingertips into her eyes. 

"She acted like I'd started a war or something," She muttered. "I couldn't get a word in, not that she'd have heard anyway." She turned her head to look at him, examining the features of his tanned face. "What about you?" 

Nyx grunted as well. "Well, Artemis likes you." A sly grin spread across her face. "She said you've got the mouth of a Valkyrie."

Estelle groaned and hid her face in her hands. "Oh, I'm never going to live that down, am I?"