Beyond the Books

A Lesson Learned

Characters: Estelle and Lysander
Book: This story is not directly referenced in any of my fanfictions.
This story takes place when Estelle is 16 and Lysander is 12.

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This story was suggested/requested by Holb32

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Estelle sat at her easel in her mother's art studio, happily smearing paint across the canvas. She wasn't sure what she was painting yet. She'd just selected a few colors and was moving them into whatever shapes they chose to take. Right now, she appeared to be painting feathers.

The shadows wrapped around her wrists, tugging her towards a tube of gold paint. "I'm not done with the white and gray yet," Estelle protested.

The gold will make it look better, the shadows huffed.

Estelle rolled her amber eyes and ignored the sentient wraiths, choosing to continue with her work instead. Wings flapped beyond the closed door of the studio. "Mom said no flying in the house, Lys," Estelle hollered to her younger brother.

There was a muffled thud followed by a curse. "I wasn't flying," Lysander protested. He pushed the door open and leaned against the frame, crossing his arms indignantly.

"Sure," Estelle scoffed. "You aren't supposed to curse either."

"You do it."

"I'm sixteen. That means I get to do more things than you."

"I'm twelve," Lysander retorted, standing a little straighter. "And anyway, Corbin does it too."

"And Aunt Nesta beats his ass." Which seemed a bit ironic to Estelle, considering her aunt swore more than her Uncle Cassian.

Lysander stuck his tongue out, then swiped dark brown hair out of his tanned face. "If I'm not allowed to curse, you aren't allowed to say ass."

Estelle returned the gesture. "Quit bugging me now."

"What are you painting?"

Estelle shifted her wings to accommodate Lysander's as he sat down beside her. "I haven't figured that out. It looks like feathers right now."

Gold, the shadows urged, guiding her towards it again. Gold like the sunrise. Gold like dawn.

You're still upset that we didn't get to go to the ball in the Dawn Court, Estelle realized.

She didn't blame her shadows, of course. Rhysand and Feyre's entire Inner Circle had been invited to the Dawn Court for a ball only last month. Estelle had begged to go, especially when she learned Nyx was. Her cousin had helped with her plight, but ultimately, she was left behind with Lysander and Corbin, and the promise of, "Maybe next time."

She'd been forced to settle for Nyx's less than satisfying descriptions of the ball. He hadn't been impressed about being forced to dance with several different females for hours on end. Apparently, he hadn't even been around Thesan's son, which was unusual.

Mikael was Estelle's age and held the same titles as Nyx, Prince and Heir Apparent. It would've made sense for them to spend time together, but apparently the Prince of Dawn had been grounded and not allowed to attend the event. Nyx had learned that the reason was the Prince had stolen a bottle of wine to try with several of his friends.