𝒜 𝒞𝑜𝓊𝓇𝓉 𝑜𝒻 𝑅𝑒𝓈𝒾𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒮𝒸𝒶𝓇𝓈 | ᴀᴢʀɪᴇʟ

Chapter 30

Chapter 30

Arwen wandered through the long halls in search of her room. It shouldn't have taken her so long to reach it, but with her mind lost in its own way, there may have been a few misturns taken. Turning into a new hall, before her is a long passage of shadow casted walls. And a head of long, flaming hair.

Lucien appeared to be quite lost, his steps indecisive.

"I'm afraid I must have neglected my duty as a hostess," Arwen called down. How long had he been here? It had been some time since he left the throne room. Lucien turned to her, his lips pressing together. "Let me show you to your room."

"I can take myself if you'll offer me the direction," he offered.

"Nonsense." She lifted her shoulders and gestured with her head to follow. "Besides, there are things that I must speak to you of."

Her tone left little for negotiation though she wasn't doubting that he may try. Lucien bobbed his head and conceded to her request. They were alone this deep into the palace grounds. Not even the ghost of the music reached here.

"No one enters this part of the palace without my brother's permission," Arwen informed him. "If they do so he will have their head and plant it on a spike. You will be safe here."

"Call me ungrateful but that is not the most reassuring thing I've heard," he muttered.

She stifled a snort. "You think that is cruel, Vanserra? I hope you never have someone pin you down while you have a piece of your own body cut out from you, because that is what your High Lord has done. Rhysand was his friend before he was betrayed. Tamlin killed my mother that day too. Just because his court is filled with flowers does not mean they are not poisonous."

"I cannot speak on his behalf, and I won't defend what I do not yet fully understand. For either of you."

Arwen glanced over him. "That is fair." A few steps of silence passed, footsteps echoing down the corridor. "My intention was to speak with you about my choice of words earlier tonight. To apologise for them." She took his silence as an invitation to continue. "I meant what I said, but not in the way you received it. I am glad that you have left the Autumn Court, to not be in your father's clutches anymore or beside your brothers. I wasn't aware of the circumstances you left under."

Arwen slowed their pace to allow more time for their conversation before they reached his guest chamber. Lucien swallowed as he looked ahead, then finally down at her. "I'm not surprised. My father would have made efforts to keep my acts of disgrace to him a secret. She was a lesser faerie."

"I am sorry. That is true cruelty, and as much as I despise Spring, I hope that you find some happiness there. Some freedom. I think you deserve that much."

They arrived outside of his designation chamber; a simple but spacious room with its own sitting room and private bathing chambers. Lucien inspected the inside as Arwen waited just inside the door. "If there is anything you need, there are a few servants around. That bell on the table will summon them. They will not enter this room without that permission until you leave."

Lucien nodded as he looked over the silver bell sitting on the end table near the lounge.

"Do you like it here?" he asked, catching her by surprise. At her frown, he clarified. "Do you like Hewn City?"

"No," she answered. "I don't think anybody with a decent heart would."

"Then why do you stay?"

Arwen bit the inside of her cheek, moving her gaze around the room. There was a line she was approaching that she could not slip over. She could not speak of Velaris or give hint of the beautiful city's existence. "Because I live the opposite of what you have, Vanserra. The Autumn Court has a pride-worthy beauty, but its ruler has an ugly heart. My court may not be beautiful, but my family is. I would not leave them for anything."