"Hey! Where are you going?" Eris stopped her by grabbing her arm gently, just as she stepped out of Thesan's mansion.
She turned to him, and his hand dropped to his side. "I'm going to say goodbye to Walt."
"Isn't he meeting us soon?"
"No, it took a lot of pushing but I was finally able to convince Walt to stay with his family. He's been away from his family too long."
"He's a good male."
"That he is. We'll winnow the rest of the way."
"We're not taking the carriage?" He had his hair halfway up in a bun. It looked good on him, really good. His features more pronounced.
"I rather leave it here in Walt's care, then to have to leave it in the Day Court. The drapes aren't the only things not from around here. It's too rare and valuable. There are too many mountains in the Night Court, it would take too long with a carriage. And I don't see you horse riding all the way to Velaris and sleeping outside without shelter."
He opened his mouth to object but closed it. "Winnowing is fine."
"I thought so." She smirked. "I'll be back in two hours."
He clasped his hand behind his back. "Ah." He rocked a little on his heels. "So, I guess I'm not invited."
She blinked. "I - I didn't think you wanted to come along."
"I wouldn't mind seeing a bit of the city. I've never explored when I visited. Maybe you could show me around. And I would like to say goodbye to Walt after taking such good care of... us."
She took him in, his hands were still on his back as he slowly rocked. He was nervous, for some reason. "I'm not sure I want to be seen with you in public. Might hurt my reputation." She held back a grin.
"And what kind of reputation is that?" He still looked nervous, but a small smile appeared.
"That's for me to know and for you to find out." She winked. He huffed out a laugh and followed her into the city.
She was a good tour guide. And it was obvious when they finally arrived at Walt's home, she had taken the long route. Not that he minded, she was tugging him in all different directions through the city. Telling him about the monuments, building, statues, everything they passed. People recognised him and stayed well away from him. But he barely registered it, his eyes were glued on her. He's a pro at finding his way, but if he had to walk back alone right now, he would get lost.
When they arrived at Walt's home, the elder Fae tried convincing Terrin to let him drive her to Velaris. But he knew she wouldn't budge; knew she wouldn't keep him from his family. Not when he saw how happy they were that he was back. They were all excited to see Terrin too. Walt's Mate was coddling her like a mother hen. She looked embarrassed by the attention but let her do whatever she wanted. She couldn't look him in the eye though.
"Can I speak to you for a moment, General?"
"Of course." He inclined his head a little. If Walt was surprised by the movement, he didn't let on. He just walked out of the house. When he stepped out behind him, he said. "I wanted to thank you, Walt. For the way you looked out for Terrin all these years. She is very fond of you."
"Miss Terrin is my family. I would never stop looking out for her." Walt straightened up. "That's why I wanted to talk to you." Eris inclined his head a little again to show he was listening. "Miss Terrin informed me about what happened in the Autumn Court. About the curse."
Oh. He wasn't expecting that. He hid the surprise from his face.
"I love her like she's my own daughter. And I've seen the way you look at her, you care about her. But I've travelled many, many miles in my life. I've heard many rumours. And I don't like a single one I've heard about you."
"Walt, I -" He stopped talking as he held out his hand.
"But being on the road with you for the past week I've seen a different side." He stepped forward, not breaking his gaze and jabbed his finger against his chest. "Now it is for you to decide who you really are and who you want to be in this life. Because only one of them deserves to be in her life. The other should stay well clear of her. Do you understand, General Vanserra."
The old man had guts, he had to admit that. Not only for speaking like that to him but touching him without permission. He admired him even more because of it. Because he was doing it for her. He was just about to reply when -
"Is everything okay?"
They both turned to see Terrin standing in the doorway, looking concerned. "Everything is fine, miss Terrin. I was just saying goodbye to the General." Walt turned once more to him. "Think about what I said. Maybe we'll see each other again."
"I hope so, Walt." He said with smile. And he meant it.
Terrin hugged Walt goodbye before stepping up next to him. "Are you ready to go?"
"Yeah."
"Do you want to winnow back to the mansion? Or walk back?" Her green eyes met his.
"A walk sounds nice." He offered his arm. She glanced down at it, a calculated look on her face. Then she looped hers through, her fingers resting on his arm.
She beamed up at him. So broad and open, the dimple appeared in her cheek. Fuck, she was beautiful. "Good, there is this ice-cream parlour I want you to try out."
"Ice cream, really?" He chuckled as she started tugging him along.
"Don't tell me you don't have a sweet tooth anymore." She nudged, and with that movement she pressed closer to him.
"You were the one who stabbed me with a fork for a dessert." He said as he raised an eyebrow at her.
She tossed her head back and laughed. He wanted to pull her closer, close to his chest and savour it all. "Maybe, but you once ate an entire chocolate cake in ten minutes because you didn't want to share it with Lucien."
"How did that work?" Her smiling face turned confused. "Me and Lucien."
"I've said before, you were different back then. You and Lucien got along pretty well. It wasn't like you two hung out much without anyone else present. But you two were my best friends, so the three of us were together a lot. Your mother used to call us the Triple Menace. He was your favourite brother."
His heart clenched at the mention of his mother. At her distance behaviour she had towards him for most of his life and the time she wasn't, he couldn't even remember. "What kind of things did we do?"
"All sorts of things. When we were really little it was kids' games, like tag and hide & seek in the forest. When we got older, we started pranking your brothers." She grinned. "And you two always took the blame for me when they found out." Her fingers started playing with his sleeve, which was very distracting. "We would go out to the lake and go swimming, we would read books in the treehouse, just things like that."
"Sounds like a good childhood." He said, his heart clenching again from the loss of all those memories.
"It was the best." She said quietly.
He looked at her then. From the tone in her voice. And found tears filling her eyes. He stopped walking, not caring who saw what. He turned to her, one hand around her waist and with the other he cupped her cheek. She leaned into his touch and when a tear rolled down her cheek, he swiped it away with his thumb.
"Please don't say you're sorry." She whispered.
He leaned his head against hers. "I don't know what else to say."
"There isn't anything to say. Or to do about it, Eris." She rested a trembling hand on his chest. "That's why I didn't want to do this. This is too hard."
"Terrin, I don't want to hurt you but it's like you opened a door to a whole different life I had." He stepped closer. "A better life. I don't know if I can let it go."
"You promised."
"And I keep my promises, Terrin. After my business with Rhysand is done and you still want me out of your life, I'm gone. And I'll never bother you again."
She closed her eyes, their heads still connected. "I think we should winnow back to get our things." She stepped away from him and his arms fell slack to his sides. "It will take us four times before we reach the Day Court. We should switch so we don't need a break."
"Alright." It was clear she wanted their time together to be over. "I'll meet you in front of the mansion in ten minutes." His voice was steady, even though he didn't feel like it.
Her green eyes rested on him for a moment. And then she was gone.
Like she said, they switched off to winnow to the Day Court. She held him at arm's length, too afraid to hold him any closer. Her head was on the verge of exploding. Her feelings all over the place. Feelings she buried deep down for centuries. And it was all messing with her head. Because nothing from this situation is straightforward. She could see glimpses of the old Eris, but there was three hundred years of the new one, the cruel one. Even if she could set that all aside, this was different than it was back in the day. The way he looked at her, touched her. Her reaction to it.
She shook her head, trying to clear her mind. Because she couldn't go that way, took many measures to never feel that way, to keep her freedom. To keep herself from getting hurt. They arrived at the Day Court a few hours later. A few hours of complete silence between them.
Helion, the High Lord of the Day Court was waiting for her in front of his palace. Fuck, how nobody had noticed how much he and Lucien looked like each other was beyond her. She had a feeling Beron knew, by the way he treated his 'supposed' youngest son. Her mind was going in overdrive thinking about Lucien, about telling him. He deserved to know, Helion deserved to know. Helion was much a better male than Beron was.
He smiled broadly at her, ignoring the future High Lord next to her. As he wrapped her in his broad arms and kissed her cheek, close to her mouth, like always.
"Hello, gorgeous."
She rolled her eyes and hugged him. "Helion."
"Is that the only welcome I get? Not hello, handsome or hello, hot stuff."
Eris snorted behind her, so she answered quickly. "Have I ever greeted you like that?"
"No." He fake pouted. "But a Lord can hope." He winked. He turned to Eris, his expression hardened. "General Vanserra."
"Helion."
The High Lord looked back at her, offering his arm. "Let me escort you to your room. It's right next to mine." He winked again.
"Are you not going to ask why I'm here, High Lord?" Eris asked.
Helion shot him a bored look. "No, Gen loves taking in strays." Then he turned and marched her inside the house, leaving a fuming Vanserra on the front porch. They talked about the Pegasus' while they walked to her room, Eris following silently behind them.
When they reached the room, he said. "So, this is you." He pointed to the door on the left. "This is me." A smirk to the door right next to her. "You can take the room at the end of the hall, Vanserra. So, you won't wake from our nightly activities." She noticed Eris tense, his jaw twitched but he bowed his head. Just before he turned to leave, Helion said. "Dinner should be ready in an hour."
"Oh, is it okay if we have dinner in our rooms? We had quite a long day and I'm not in the mood for company. But I promise we'll be there for breakfast." She said.
"I'll let them bring something up to you." He said without hesitation. "And hopefully we'll have breakfast in my room, gorgeous." He licked his lips before he sauntered off.
She turned to Eris, but he was already striding to his room on the other end of the long hall. He didn't look back once.