A Court of Love and Family

Chapter 4

"Show me again." Her father asked, Luna sighed and did just that, showing him the memory from the moment they grabbed her until she returned to the River House. "Again."

"There isn't anything else to see." Luna protested, but did as he said.

"This doesn't make any sense." He just said back, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Why let you out so fast?"

"Maybe they didn't grab the one they were supposed to?" Luna asked, just wanting this interrogation to end.

"No..." He said and leaned back in his chair.

"They must have planned this... Do we have a leak?" Feyre asked back, placing her hands on Rhys's shoulders. Luna looked at the ink covering her hands, and hidden in them, the tattoo from the bargain they had done to keep Luna hidden. "Some servant that walked to the wrong room?"

"They have sworn loyalty..." Rhys said back.

"Can't we, like, not care about this? Nothing happened, I am fine, no one is hurt." Luna said and got up. "And just leave it alone."

"Luna we can't just..."

"Nothing happened, just... Don't lock me up, don't force me to stay inside." Her mother moved only to be completely still, her father did the same. "I just want to go out, have a drink with Kira and Evalyn, and walk in the streets of my home. I can hold my wings a secret if you feel better about that." Her father got up, and Feyre's arms pulled him close. Luna used her magic, finding the two of them talking. Luna drew back her magic, not wanting to by mistake listen in on something she was not supposed to hear. Then Rhys left.

"He is mad?" Luna asked.

"Yes..." Her mother sat down, resting her head in her hands. "But he knows that this was the risk from the start."

"Can I leave?"

"Yes... But...Yes, we would be glad if you chose not to show your wings in public. Just for now and a time forward. Until we know if there's a leak or something else."

"I will..." Luna left the room. Not sure what to do now. Kira was at her mothers, working in the shop on the dresses from the sketches. Evalyn had needed to return to her own home, hiding while her body was in pain again. She walked past the main door, remembering that she could walk to Kira's shop, she could walk... She looked at her clothes, soft silken pants and blouse. Luna ran to her room, changing to more formal and appropriate clothes for walking before taking a step outside of the house.

The streets were way busier than she thought, Fae walking everywhere, horses dragging carriages with goods towards markets, smells of the sea, food, fabric, sweat, animals, and fires mixing in the air. Shouting, music, footsteps, and more, hundreds of minds open for her to hear. Luna stumbled when it all came over her. She closed her mind off, and then she tried to locate her friends home. She had winnowed there before, but that was straight into Kira's room. She wasn't even sure in what part of the city Kira lived. Luna took a step forward, hesitating again. She could just winnow and then walk her way back to the river house on her way home. But that only worked if Kira was in her room, and if the house and shop were a part of the same building... Luna walked forward, following the stream of Fae.

She knew how Verlars was built, how the streets took you to one of the Palaces, and that following the Sidra would take you to the sea... Luna had seen the city from the House of Wind before, but only at night, it was never considered safe for her to stand there during the day. Now daylight flooded the streets, Luna felt her cheeks cramping from smiling. She was there, walking, no one watching over her, alone...

"Luna, Lady Luna!" The green skinned Fae looked at her. Big black eyes that seemed to stare right into Lunas soul. "Lady, why are you crying?"

"I am okay... Who are you?" Luna wiped her tears, still smiling.