When The Last Petal Falls

17. Pleasing A Storm

The morning sun shone down on Bellona as she made her way through Velaris. She had left training this morning as soon as she could, not bothering to take Lysander up on his offer of breakfast together. Her mind was still muddled from the night before, snippets of Elain's tense body and her haunting words still echoing, never fading. She had instead started towards Nithar's house to clear her head. The two had grown closer over the weeks since their first meeting. He had become her comfort whenever things got too tense at the House of Wind, so much so, she knew she would miss him when she went back home.

Before Bellona could knock, the door swung open revealing an exhausted-looking Nithar, his skin unusually pale from when she last saw him. His face soon broke into a smile as he saw who it was. "Now here she is", Nithar said swinging his arm around her shoulder. "I'm short a worker for today, maybe I could convince you to help in the bakery?"Bellona rolled her eyes, "wow, not even a hello? Good morning, how are things going?"

"Yeah yeah, all of that", he responded, "please?"

"Well I suppose I could, only on the fact that you look like shit and I get unlimited food", she said as they walked through the bakery door. The smell of fresh bread and clatter of baking dishes greeted them as Nithar left her out front to serve customers, despite her hissed protests. Only giving her shoulder a squeeze as he left to see how things were going out back. Grabbing an apron from the bench behind her and plastering a fake smile on her face, she turned back around to the line, "good morning, what can I get for you?"

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Bellona had just finished mopping when Nithar came up to her carrying a white box, the sweet smell of cinnamon rolls wafting through the cardboard. "Thank you for today, Bell, take these with you as a tribute of undying appreciation".

"Mother, you're so dramatic, but who am I to pass up free stuff?", she laughed and handed him her apron, "I'll see you later".

Bellona began her walk back up to the House of Wind, dreading each step as it brought her closer to the sequel to her first useless lesson with her powers. It had only been Feyre, as they thought it best to be separated from Nyx for a while until things had calmed down. The High Lady had winnowed her to a clearing in the middle of nowhere, where the only witnesses were the pine trees that were shadowed by the dark mountains behind them. It had been nothing but a waste of time, she couldn't even feel a lick of her flame. Feyre had only sighed and enquired about her mental shields. Begrudingly, Bellona admitted the hours that she had spent trying to perfect them before arriving at the Night Court. And well... what a mistake that was.

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He was leaning on a gate post, one hand in his trouser pocket, his dark wings seemingly relaxed in the afternoon breeze. "Where were you? You're late".
"Only by a couple of minutes", she answered. "And for an explanation to where I was even though you are not entitled to one, I was helping out a friend".
"You and the word friend in the same sentence? Now that's unusual", he muttered.
Bellona let out a breath as she contemplated kicking his kneecaps in, "where do you want me to put these?" She gestured to the box she was carrying.

With a short wave of his hand, her goods disappeared to somewhere in the house. Bellona could only hope she would be able to find them later. "Well now that's taken care of, shall we get this over and done with?"

The icy air bit at Bellona as they arrived at the same clearing Feyre had taken her to. The wind whistling through the mountains behind her, whispering for her to wander through them. To explore the rugged beauty, to explore the darkness that festered there.

"I was told your last attempts didn't go as well as was expected, so today we are going to try the basics", he looked at her. The silent agreement to get this over and done with passing through the air between them. "You remember how to clear your senses, don't you?"