Zale
Spring break ended too soon. Fen took Astrea back to her dorm room, then took us to my living room. It was strange being back here after so long. This used to be my haven away from court, the fulfillment of a dream I had of living independently from my destiny.
Now, it didn't fit quite right anymore. Having finally returned to my home, it was more obvious how un-homelike this place felt. I belonged with my people, under the sea. I had to prepare for my lessons tomorrow, but I couldn't think about mitosis or meiosis. I had so many more pressing things to be thinking about. Fen, my screwy magic, my upcoming coronation. Pick whichever. And that wasn't even getting into my siblings' problems. It seemed a little absurd to be worrying about my job teaching high school in the midst of all that.
"Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow?" Fen said sadly. He held my right hand in both of his and was tracing patterns over my palm with his fingers while he avoided my gaze.
"Or you could stay here," I offered.
Fen smiled at that. "Okay! I just need to grab my phone charger." He dropped my hand and disappeared before I could stay another word. Seconds later, he reappeared with a black cord dangling from his hand.
Needing no further invitation, Fen got his phone charging and settled onto the couch, where he fixed me with an expectant smile.
"Well, aren't you going to sit down?" he said when he must have decided I was taking too long.
I really should be planning my lesson.
Or researching why my magic was still so unreliable.
But something had happened between myself and Fen over break. I felt closer to him. Less willing to be apart. I just... I needed him in a way that made me uncomfortable, because I had never needed anyone like this before.
I knew with chilling certainty that I never would again.
So instead of attending to any of the items on my to-do list, I smiled back at Fen and sat down next to him, a little bit apart so I could have the satisfaction of him sliding over to settle himself against me. When he did just that, I pressed a kiss to his forehead.
"This is nice," Fen said softly.
"It is," I agreed. My heart pounded in my chest as a question rose up, one that would probably shatter the peace we'd found. But we had to talk about it. "Fen?"
"Yeah?"
"Will you move in with me after the semester ends?"
My heart beat twenty-six times before Fen answered. "I don't know."
"Why?" It was a relief to finally ask, since I had been wondering about his answer for a while now.
Fen bit at his lip until I gently pulled it out from between his teeth with my thumb. "I guess it's mostly that I don't know what it would mean for me. For... us."
I really shouldn't move someone into the castle with me without us having a formal engagement, but I was past the point of caring. For me, it was Fen or it was no one. This wouldn't have any impact on our relationship, but it would impact how it was perceived. It was all well and good to announce my intent to marry someone. It would become real to my people when he took his place by my side.
But I didn't want to put all that on Fen, not now. "It doesn't mean anything, Fen, except that we'd be living together."
"Yeah, but wouldn't I need to act and dress a certain way? And go to meetings or events or whatever?"
"Is that what's had you so worried?" I asked.
"Maybe a little," he hedged. But I could feel his nerves through the bond we shared, and they weren't little.
"Well, stop. This is just two people moving in together, Fen. It doesn't obligate you to anything."
He shook his head. "I don't see how that's possible."
I sighed. "You wouldn't have to do anything," I reaffirmed. "If you wanted, you could spend all your time at home in the family wing or in your garden. I'll never make you do anything that makes you uncomfortable."
"Limiting myself to only one part of my home would make me uncomfortable, Zale," Fen said. For the first time in a while, I felt flickers of irritation sizzling through our bond. "I just... I don't know. Okay?"
I knew when to stop pushing. My heart ached, but I nodded. "Okay."
Fen's eyes softened and he cupped my cheeks tenderly. "I'm sorry. I'm not ready."
If I opened my mouth, I would try to convince him again. So, I just nodded and buried my nose in his hair and let the feel of him distract me. I needed to find out what shampoo he used someday. It smelled divine.
After a moment, Fen shifted a little to grab his phone and turn it on. After it booted up, the display filled with a host of notifications. E-mails, voicemails, and texts. Fen's fingers shook as he unlocked his phone and opened his text messaging program.
He started with his oldest messages. The first few were innocuous. Glenna wanting to set up another dinner, Safiya sending a photo of herself and her soulmate looking infatuated with each other captioned, "Thank you thank you thank you for this!" Then was one from Luin, a picture of food Arrowan had made for them and the message "Come over for dinner sometime!"
The problem started when Fen opened up a group chat called "Family." The most recent message said "Still no sign of them," sent from Magnus.
I felt Fen's anxiety spike and he quickly scrolled up to see what he'd missed. What followed were all the people from his dinner party group except Luin and Arrowan, talking about some fae war that had arisen and the shocking revelation that the pair of them had somehow gotten caught up in it.
Fen called Glenna on speaker, with his hands clutching his phone in a white-knuckled grip.
"Fen, finally! We've been so worried about you! Are you okay?" she said in a rush that was very unlike her. Glenna was usually the calmer and more measured of the sisters.
"I'm sorry, my phone's been dead but I'm fine. What's going on?"
"Who is that? Oh my gosh, Fen! Fen, where have you been?" I recognized Safiya's voice coming through the line.
"I've been with Zale. Guys, please, what's going on?" he asked.
"We're not totally sure," Safiya said. "Luin left a voicemail weeks ago saying he found a whole city of fae who were about to join in some war, and he and Arrowan are helping! Can you believe it?"
My stomach roiled with Fen's nerves. What I didn't feel was any kind of surprise, which had me studying his features carefully. He was sick with worry, but somehow took everything Safiya described into stride.
"I can," he said. "But why didn't he tell me?"
"Your voicemails," I suggested. Fen hadn't bothered checking them before he called Glenna.
"I need to go," Fen said. "Talk to you later!"
He hung up on them without another word and called into his voicemail service. Just as before, we had to wait through a couple of mundane messages before we got to anything interesting.
"Fen, Arrowan and I are going to be out of touch for a while. I'll explain everything when we get back." Luin's recorded voice paused before he added, "Take care of yourself."
The recording ended and an automated voice informed Fen that there were no more voicemails.
"That's it?" he said angrily.
Fen's phone buzzed again with another text in his Family chat. It was Glenna saying, "Can you find Luin and Arrowan? We're getting really worried about them."
Anxiety pulsed even stronger between us as Fen's eyes glowed with magic. "I can't," Fen said once the glow faded. "I can feel them, but something's obscuring their location from me."
His fingers clumsily typed a response. Fen was an adorable texter, having to search out each individual letter and press it deliberately. The whole process took far longer than it should have. "They're alive, but I can't find them," he sent in response.
Finally, Fen set his phone down and looked up at me. "Zale, what if something happens to him?"
It wasn't the kind of question that needed an answer. "We'll get through it," I said. There was no other option, and I had learned the hard way that life goes on even after the worst loss.
Fen curled himself into my side, wrapping his arms around me like a vice and tucking his head against my chest. I held him just as tightly. I could feel how much he needed it.
A while later, he sighed and pulled away enough to look up at me. "There's a pocket realm for Earth-bound fae. I'm not allowed in. Their protective wards only allow in those who have a soul bond with someone from the opposing faction of fae. Like Luin and Arrowan."
"Seelie and Unseelie," I supplied, recalling the terms from when I researched fae after meeting Fen.
"Right. I never told Luin or Arrowan about that place. I knew there was unrest. There's a war brewing in my homeland, Zale, and I knew those fae were planning on involving themselves. I tried to keep Luin out of it, but now he's caught in the middle."
"What does this mean?" I asked, since Fen seemed stable enough now for questions.
"I'm not sure. Luin isn't a fighter. I don't know what he's thinking."
Fen grew anxious and fearful again, the feeling creeping through our bond and chilling me. "Stay with me tonight," I said. He shouldn't be alone like this.
"Thanks," Fen said. As if I hadn't already made it clear I wanted him with me every night. As if I was doing him a favor.
"Any time."
--
We settled into a pattern. Fen stayed with me every night, then zipped off to his garden in the morning to tend his flowers before class. We ate lunch together and met back up after the school day ended. Our only other time apart was during my weekly counseling sessions.
It carried on like that until the weekend, with still no news from Luin or Arrowan. Fen grew more reserved and anxious, and harder to distract. I didn't want to put any more stress on him when he was already worried enough about his friends, but a situation arose that required his help.
It started with Betty, who worked in the school's office, slipping into my third period class and pulling me into the hall. It was odd enough that I followed her without resistance. Another science teacher was there, too, looking at me with a curiosity I didn't appreciate.
"Ralph here is going to take over your class," Betty told me. "There's a... situation with one of our students and your presence is required."
Who could it be but Astrea? "Is he okay?"
"He's fine," Betty assured me as Ralph slipped into my classroom. She explained while we walked down the hall, "His father – well, your father – is considering pulling him out of school and wanted your input."
It was no secret, now, that Astrea and I were siblings. Disclosing that had been a necessary step once we started spending more time together and once I started taking her off-campus. It still irked me that so many people were so involved in my family business.
And now my father was here.
I stiffened more with each step we took toward the office, dreading this confrontation. I was afraid. Euripides had been ignoring Astrea for months, and she'd been thriving away from his stifling influence. I didn't know what he was doing here now, but it couldn't bode well.
Astrea was leaning against the wall outside the office with tears streaking her face. When she saw me, they flowed faster and I internally cursed my father.
"Give us a minute," I said to Betty. She nodded and went into the office alone.
As soon as we were alone, Astrea's arms were around me. "He's taking me home," she cried, and my heart ached.
I hurt because she was hurting, of course, but most of my pain was selfish. I didn't like that she called his realm home. I'd been thinking of my home as hers, and I hated the reminder that she was actually still under her father's domain.
It also hurt that, if Euripides was determined to rip her out of my life, he had every right to. There was no stopping him.
"I'll see what I can do," I whispered when her hold on me loosened. I knew better than to make promises, though.
Astrea nodded and stepped back, wrapping her arms around herself. "Good luck."
I needed it.
I nodded and headed into the office. The door to the headmistress' office was open, and I didn't wait for anyone to invite me in or announce my presence.
I snorted when I saw that Euripides was sitting in Lana's chair behind her big wooden desk, while the headmistress was in one of the smaller chairs across from him. It wasn't my most tactful start.
"Zale, good of you to join us," Euripides said with a smug air that instantly angered me.
But I knew better than to lash out at a predator who had the advantage.
"To what do I owe the honor?" I asked in a carefully neutral tone.
"I'm worried about your little brother. He's been distancing himself from the rest of the family. I think it would be best if he returned home for his schooling," Euripides said. He watched me carefully for my reaction, and I tried my damndest not to give him one.
"Could we have the room?" I asked Lana. She looked understandably reluctant to give up her office to us, but she seemed to understand this was a family matter, not a school one.
"Of course."
Once the door was shut behind her and we were alone, I stepped forward. I wouldn't sit down, not when that would put me on a lower level than him. "What's this about?" I asked.
Euripides looked hurt. He had to be faking. "This is about a father's concern for his youngest son."
"You don't need to worry about me," I said, deliberately misunderstanding. I might be his eldest child, but I was his only son.
"And that is what concerns me," Euripides said, his mask finally slipping. "You're filling Adras' head with fantasies, and the boy needs to come back to reality. He's had his fun, but it ends here. Don't think I haven't heard about you parading your sister around your palace. Have you once stopped to think about what you're doing to his reputation? What will happen when he's older and looking to marry, and our allies hear about his youthful delusions?"
"What will happen when she wakes up one day and realizes there's no escaping the cage you've put around her life? You'll destroy her," I said. I had seen the chilling despair Astrea couldn't always hide away. I knew what it was like to feel that depth of misery, and I was genuinely afraid of what she might do if it became her every day.
"You're wrong, and it's not your decision. Adras is my child."
"Astrea is my sister, and she's her own person. She should decide her destiny."
It was obvious we were getting nowhere, and Euripides must have come to the same conclusion. He stood and headed for the door. "I'll be taking him home. Don't expect to hear from him again."
No.
No!
"Wait! What do you want?"
I could scarcely believe the words had flown out of my mouth, and I felt sick at the prospect of owing him a favor. But better that than losing Astrea and letting her down like this.
He paused in front of the door with his back to me, and slowly spun around to show his satisfied grin. "I don't know what you think you could possibly have to offer me."
I wracked my brain, desperately searching for something I could give him that might be more valuable than "rescuing" Astrea from my influence.
Inspiration struck and I blurted out, "Huron!"
Euripides' brow lifted, and I knew I had his attention.
"What if I get you a marriage alliance with Huron?" My heart raced. This was all I could think of. If he said no, there was nothing else to offer.
"How?"
"I can get Kyra to agree." I didn't want to get into the how. I also didn't want to reveal that it was Castiel she might marry, not Benny. So, it was best not to get too specific.
Euripides stared into my eyes, and I imagined I could see his mind working. "You have a month," he said. "If you don't follow through, Adras will be coming home with me and you won't meddle in his life anymore."
"When I follow through, Astrea will live with me until she reaches her majority."
He grimaced in distaste, but finally nodded. "Agreed."
Euripides swept out of the office. I followed, and saw him march past Astrea as though he didn't see her. She looked up at me with terror in her eyes.
"You're staying," I said, and accepted another tight crying-hug. "It's okay," I murmured.
"Thank you," she whispered. "Thank you so much."