Long Live | | Helion

3

She was beautiful. That was all Helion could think. She was beautiful, and he wanted to know her name.

Rhys and Feyre had outright refused to tell him her name. They told him she was single and that she was not opposed to male attention and he could speak to her if he wanted to. If he wanted to know her name, he would have to ask her. Which, of course, meant he had to talk his way into an invitation to dinner at Feyre and Rhys's house.

He was arriving with them now, and there she was with Azriel on the front lawn. They were both stunning beyond anything that seemed fair, but his attention was stuck on her. Long hair the color of spun gold fanned out behind her as she laid out on the grass, long legs crossed over each other, pink silk gown stained from the grass, brilliant green eyes staring up at the sky. As if she could feel his stare, her eyes went to him. Her gaze did not linger as he had hoped it might. She looked to Feyre and Rhys instead, rising gracefully. Azriel didn't bother to do the same, keeping to his spot on the grass for now.

"High Lady, High Lord," she greeted Feyre and Rhys, making a conscious effort not to bow. They really hated when she did that. She turned to Helion next, and she wasn't quite sure if she should bow to him or not. She gave a quick curtsy as she murmured, "High Lord."

"Please, call me Helion," he dismissed the formality, "and you are?"

"Emelia," she introduces herself, "lovely to meet you."

"A pleasure," he said, offering up his most dazzling smile. Emelia resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She looked to Rhys and Feyre.

"I do apologize, but I'll have be leaving early tonight. I'm so sorry to be missing dinner. Thank you both for the invitation," she told them, and then she began walking away. Feyre and Rhys exchanged a look before Feyre moved to go after her, only to be surprised to find Azriel already there.

"Have I made her uncomfortable?" Helion muttered, a frown marring his handsome face.

"No," Rhys dismissed, "not in the way you think, at least. It's the title."

"The...oh. The title." It wasn't often that his title dissuaded anyone from his advances. It usually did exactly the opposite.

They watched Azriel walking back to them, without Emelia.

"She forgot she agreed to go out on a date tonight," Azriel supplied an explanation for the sudden departure.

"A date? You said she's single," Helion said before he could think better of it.

"You asked?" Azriel noted, eyebrows raised.

"Am I going where I'm not welcome?" Helion inquired cautiously.

"She dates casually," Rhys cut in, "she is single. At least as far as we know. As for whether or not you're welcome...I hate to tell you, my friend, but that did look like a rejection. And not the kind of rejection Azriel, Cassian, and Mor gave you."

In other words, not the playful, easy to joke about and still make advances after sort of rejection.

"I hadn't even properly flirted with her yet! How could she know I was even interested?" he exclaimed.

All at once, Azriel, Feyre, and Rhys said, "you were making eyes at her earlier."

"I was not making eyes at her," he denied, "I hardly even looked at her during training."

"And yet, all three of us and probably Cassian and Nesta noticed," Rhys pointed out with a grin, "you were making eyes at her no matter how much you tried to look away from her. And she did seem to notice your attention."

Helion frowned before asking, "do you think there's a chance I did make her uncomfortable?"

"I doubt it," Feyre was the one to answer this time, "she's not easily shaken."

Azriel raised an eyebrow and almost looked like he might debate that point, but he kept his mouth shut.

"I'll take your word for it," Helion conceded, though he didn't seem entirely convinced.

"You're not her type anyway," Azriel wasn't even certain why he said it, but it earned him a look from both Feyre and Rhys.

"She has a type?" Helion asked, almost sounding amused.

"Everyone has a type, don't they?" Azriel responded more cautiously now. "Hers doesn't tend to be males in any positions of power."

"Ah," Helion said with a nod, eyes darting to Rhys as he recalled what he had commented on earlier. "It's the title. Well, at least she doesn't find me horribly unattractive then. I'd have been devastated."

"I'm sure flirting with Cassian and Nesta will heal any hits to your ego," Feyre teased, earning a dramatic look.

"Doubtful," he mused, "your dear Emelia has monopolized my every thought."

"Cauldron, Helion, save the poetry for when she's here to hear it," Rhys scoffed, amusement sparkling in his eyes before he looked to Azriel. "Am I to assume you're out here because Cassian and Nesta are being indecent in there?"

"They're probably just about done being indecent," Azriel replied with a shrug, "should be safe to enter now."

"I wonder which part of my house they've defiled this time."