Winds of Fire [ACOTAR]

CHAPTER TWENTY

"Hello, stranger! What brings you here?" Scarlet asked, her voice gentle and kind.

Orion chuckled, his breath clouding in front of him, "I'm here to see my cousins. You haven't seen them have you?"

Scarlet nodded simply, "Yeah, last time I checked they were both training in the ring at the other end of camp. You know the one?"

Orion sighed, "The mountainside one?"

"Always." She grinned, rolling her eyes playfully. Orion nodded his thanks and Prim waved a quick goodbye as Orion prowled forward once again. Prim was becoming rather tired of walking. 

Her knees were weak by the time they made it to the other end of camp, she was sweating within her coat and in dire need of some water. Orion moved across the small distance between where Prim had sunk onto a log and the training ring. It wasn't a ring, exactly. It was more of a raised platform, an extremely high raised platform that had steps either side to reach its height. It was small as well, not much room for the training to take place, a harder fight. Luckily, Orion's cousins hadn't been in the ring at that moment, had simply been watching as he approached them. Prim watched as the cousins greeted one another, Orion playfully punching the other male on his shoulder - Apollo, Prim supposed - and gave the female a quick kiss on her cheek.

It was not Orion who returned to sit beside her, but Lyra. Prim looked quickly across the snow to see Orion still stood with Apollo, smiling at what the other had just said. Prim smiled at Lyra, clasping her hands in her lap awkwardly.

"So, your Orion's wife?" she asked blatantly, though not unkindly.

Prim swivelled on the log, turning to face Lyra properly. Lyra, like her mother, was most beautiful. She had long golden-brown hair that matched the coppery tones of her skin. Her arms were covered in inky black tattoos, her thighs were thick as she sat, her hips wide and on display from the tightness of her armour. Mixing both her parent's genes, Lyra had hazel eyes, a gorgeous deep brown shade twirled in with the grey blueish colour that belonged to her mother.

Prim blinked, realising that she had, in fact, been staring, "Um, yes! And you're Orion's cousin?"

Lyra nodded, her tight bun bobbing up and down as she did so, "Indeed, though for a family we're not that close."

"Nothing like a war to bring people together," Primrose muttered, looking out again to where Orion and Apollo were. There was something inside her that needed to see him, be near him, make sure he was safe. She supposed it was just part of being married.

"I'd laugh but you're not wrong," sighed Lyra, her wings fluttering behind her, "Us Illyrians have been preparing for war since the last one. It was about time the rest of the world got the memo."

Prim found herself staring at Lyra again, but not at her face this time. At her wings. She had never seen them so up close. They looked thick and almost leathery. They looked beautiful.

Prim spoke before she could change her mind, "I'm not sure if this is inappropriate or not, so I apologize in advance if it is but... You have very beautiful wings."

Lyra grinned almost immediately, her wings stretching out fully behind them to reveal the fullness of her wingspan, "Oh? Well, thank you. Our wings are very important to us, has Orion never shown you his?"

"No," Prim breathed, "I wasn't even sure if he had them."

"He has them, alright!" Lyra laughed, a melodic sound that echoed out to the mountains, "He used to show them off all the time, I'm not sure why he stopped."

Her smiling dropping, Prim crossed her arms over her chest, leaning into the warmth of herself, "Well, he's never spoken about it with me so I'm afraid I can't answer any questions."

Lyra cracked her knuckles, rolling her shoulders with a shrug, "It's okay, I didn't expect you to. I'm sure my twin can get it out of him, one way or another."

A frown lined Prim's brows, her perking up suddenly with surprise, "You and Apollo are twins?"

"Yes," Chuckled Lyra, "Didn't you know that?"

"No," Prim shook her head, "It's so rare for a fae to have twins."

"That's why my parents only have us, the birth was pretty... messy, or so I've heard." Lyra explained, glancing out to look at her twin. Prim didn't know what it felt like to have a sibling, let alone a twin who was the other half of you. As if sensing her, Apollo turned to smile at Lyra who simply threw an obscene gesture his way.

"I can imagine," Prim smiled, "Have you and Apollo always lived here?"

"No, we lived in the River Estate for a while then came here when we were 13." She replied, rubbing her hands upon her thighs to create warmth.

"You're not a big fan of Velaris or-?"

Lyra laughed, shaking her head, a large smile on her lips, "Velaris is nice but this is home. My dad grew up here, my mom spent a large amount of time here after she was turned. It just kinda feels like were meant to be here, yknow."

Lyra stood, beginning to kick at the snow with her boots. Prim watched her with a small smile, squinting against the sun, "I get that. Though, sometimes it is nice to find a home away from home."

Lyra nodded knowingly, smirking at Prim as Orion jogged over to them. He stopped before them, "Me and Apollo are about to go in the ring, you're gonna watch right?"

"Wouldn't miss it," Lyra winked, brushing past her cousin and toward the ring.

Orion looked to Prim as she stood from the log, moving to stand beside him, "You know you'll probably lose right?"

Chuckling, they began to walk toward the ring. Orion nudged Prim's shoulder, "As long as I still have you afterwards I don't care about losing, I've already won in my mind."

Prim rolled her eyes, but watched as Orion ran up the steps to join Apollo upon the ring. Despite the chill of the war camp, something warm blossomed in Prim's stomach that she simply couldn't explain.