Of Light and Echoes

3

AUTUMN COURT

THINGS HAD GONE quiet within Carlisle's family in the following days after his decision had been made. Vera would not even look at her brother when she saw him in the House's halls, and by the next evening, Vera had announced that there would be no more family dinners.

Carlisle was distraught over this, but Isolde was heartbroken. Her big sister, the one she always tried to impress and cheer up, the one who Isolde had wanted so badly to see a glimmer of her former self in order to bring their family together again...Vera had turned her back on them. Out of spite, Vera ignored Isolde, too, for she believed that, if given the chance, Isolde would take Carlisle's side over her own.

On the night before he was to be sent to Dawn Court, Carlisle, Trygg, and Isolde sat quietly around a bonfire in the middle of the wood. All three sat on the ground, staring at their laps. Carlisle bit into his food and chewed silently, cautiously casting his eyes over his companions.

Trygg met his gaze, fury like he has never seen echoed in his dark brown eyes. They seemed almost black in the night. The only sounds he could hear was the crackling of the fire and the shuffling of animals in the woods as they howled or hooted or scurried to their dens for the night.

The embers of the fire danced into the sky, illuminating Isolde's jet black hair and letting Carlisle see Trygg's angry stare so vividly.

Out of exasperation, Carlisle threw his hands up for a moment and sighed, "Trygg, please. I have decided this on my own terms, and staring at me like that will not stop me from going."

"And you can take the decision back on your own terms, as well," he huffed in reply, his voice with an edge Carlisle had never heard before, his eyes intent on burning holes through Carlisle's skull. He winced at the words. Carlisle had always thought that Trygg knew the gravity the girl had held in his life, and though Trygg admitted to understanding, he did not think Carlisle should be throwing his life away for a girl he saw once.

Isolde looked over at their friend, the hurt in her eyes reflecting what was in Carlisle's.

"We both know why he's going, Trygg," Isolde replied, her voice low as she spoke a truth that Trygg did not want to admit, "He needs to see her again. She's his mate."

Those words had never been spoken aloud. Carlisle tried not to wince at them as he heard them; the words were pure stone, the weight hardly managed on Carlisle's shoulders. He brought his eyes to his sister, and she offered him a soft, sad smile.

They had always known they would lose Carlisle to that girl one day, but none of them had pictured that it would be this soon. And now the words that they had always been too afraid to say had been spoken. Carlisle was leaving for a mate he did not know anything about, discounting her name and her status.

Noor. The name he could never forget, the name that had been written across his chest in light ever since. They did not use her name around here, out of fear that Eris may find out what bond Carlisle of Autumn Court had with the princess he longed to see. It did not need to be said aloud, however, because he could hear it repeated in her voice every single day.

Noor. Noor of Dawn Court.

Trygg gazed over at his best friend with a pained look, the anger softened into a deep sadness that Autumn Court residents were all too familiar with.

"This could be the last time I see you, Carlisle," Trygg's voice wavered as he spoke, "You're leaving to stay, aren't you? You know you will not be imprisoned for long, for Noor will free you...but you will not return once you gain your freedom."