A Court of Heart and Fealty | Rhysand

Chapter 52: Seal

"Nothing that I haven't already told you," Cassian replied, taking heavy steps to follow Azriel to the lounge. "Windhaven wasn't much of a concern anyway. Az and I are heading up north today. That's where trade struggles the most." Where Amarantha's influence was strongest.

"We don't need to linger then," said Rhys, smiling down at Galadriel when Cassian nodded in confirmation.

"I'm ready for home," she admitted. "Some good food too."

"She handled it well." Their attention went to Azriel. Galadriel's heart warmed at the compliment. Rhysand's thumb gave an approving stroke down the nape of her neck. "It will be a shame to go back to bland broth again. Cassian cremated our potatoes last time we let him cook."

Galadriel pulled her arms back to herself, flipping the Siphon over in her palm again. "I'll have a feast waiting for you when you get back." She gave Cassian his Siphon back. "Thank you." He kept her together here. There was no denying it.

Winking, he pinched her chin between his thumb and forefinger. "Keep training till I get back. I'll know if you miss a session."

"I'll just bribe Mor to tell you whatever you want to hear."

He leant back into the cushion, wings fitting themselves around it. "You won't be so cocky when you get my fist to the gut because you haven't practised defence." She laughed, returning to Rhysand's side as Cassian situated the gem back into the empty slot on his left knee.

With a look and a nod shared between her and Rhys, he winnowed them home.

Galadriel let out a long breath as she took in the familiar sight and scent of the town house. Rhys's touch drifted when she did, headed towards the window so she could look out and see the city.

"That was quite the welcome," he said.

She knew what he wanted—what he was asking. Why she had thrown herself at him when she'd left with her back turned to him? "I missed you," she confessed softly. "That place... It was harder than I thought it was going to be." Turning, she plopped herself on the seat of the alcove, Rhys migrating closer as she spoke. "I know that I must sound like a bit of a coward saying that. You grew up there. You survived all those years fighting in those training and I barely survived a few days just watching."

He sat next to her, hands loosely interlocked in his lap. "Did I ever tell you how I wept myself to sleep the first few weeks my mother put me at that camp?" Galadriel fervently shook her head, eager to hear that story. He grinned broadly but there was a distance to it, a smile for some long-ago memory. "My father was a callous male, but it still didn't prepare me for what I was getting into and every night I'd cry until I was too exhausted to. I learnt quick though. You don't need to learn at all. I don't want you to grow used to it the way I did. That emotion you have on your face right now—" he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear "—is beautiful to see. So many females grow numb to life there. Complacent because they know there is nothing else for them. Feeling something, even if it's fear, is far better than nothing at all."

"Cassian said you've been trying to change things in them."

"Unsuccessfully. It's a damn-near impossible feat to get them to do anything when I'm there. After I leave, they just go back to how they were. There are so many camps that it's impossible to keep up with them all. But I try."

She knew he did and knew the failure weighed on him.

Galadriel watched through the window over her shoulder for a little while longer, then slid from the alcove and made her way to the kitchen. "I didn't get breakfast yet," she told Rhys who followed her. She hadn't had the mind to eat much the night before either. The fire beneath the oven plate burst alive from her spark of magic. Once she set the eggs and toast to cook, Galadriel placed her hands on the cool countertop, across from where her mate sat on a stool. "I'm sorry for getting upset that you talked to your family about my being a High Lady before me. They're the heart of your court and it was good that you consulted them before making any rash decision, especially for something that big. But I'm not sorry at being upset that you decided to give me that title without telling me."