Chapter 310

Dinner that evening was in one of Helion's favourite gardens and the entire Court had been invited. The tables were small and circular and placed equidistantly along one of the far walls with small balls of faelight hanging in the air above them so that the food could be seen in their warm light. There were no tables for the guests to sit at, but large orange blankets places all over the grass under the trees upon which one would sit with their plate of food in a picnic style manner. Elain had stopped in surprise when entering the garden, and she felt Lucien's own surprise be replaced by pleasure as he took in the scene beside her.

"Did you know that Helion was going to do this?" She asked, and he shook his head. Elain then turned her eyes on Sheera who had come in behind them, and she raised an eyebrow at her friend. "You must have known." She said, "You would have had to help him get the garden ready…"

"Indeed." Sheera nodded. "He was very insistent on creating a warm and inviting atmosphere."

"Ahh…" Elain eyed the garden once more. There was something that was distinctly Autumn about the feel and decoration. Perhaps, she thought, it was the orange blankets on the grass, appearing as if they were fallen leaves having just tumbled from their trees. "Lucien…" she murmured, "Does this…?"

"Oh, yeah." He replied simply.

"Do you think it's for…?"

"Oh, yeah."

Nodding, Elain followed her mate to one of the tables. She glanced around, letting her eyes sweep the garden quickly as she looked for the High Lord. It was a bit cute, she thought, that he would go to all of this trouble to try and make his garden reminiscent of the Autumn Court for Ashk. Elain wondered then if Ashk might be feeling a little homesick. She had been here for quite a while now, and it would make sense that she would miss the place that she had been born and had lived in for centuries. Not finding either Helion or Ashk, Elain returned her attention to the table laden with food before her. Even some of the food on offer was from the Autumn Court. Elain remembered similar fare having been served when she and Lucien had visited his old home each time they had gone there.

"Honeyed pears…" she said, putting several onto her own plate, her mouth watering as she caught their scent.

"Yes…" Lucien smiled at her, a teasing quirk to the corner of his lips. "Have you thought of growing yourself some pear trees, Petal?"

"I hadn't…" Elain said, meeting his eyes, "But I'm thinking of it now…"

Lucien smiled again, shaking his head as he put a honeyed pear onto his own plate. Elain made a few more selections and then the two of them headed for an empty blanket nearby. They had barely sat down when Feyre joined them, followed moments later by Rhys, and Elain couldn't help but look at their plates, wondering at the odd choices the both of them had made. Noticing her look, Feyre raised an eyebrow at her, and Elain smiled before returning her attention to her own plate.

"I have a gift for you." Feyre said, and Elain looked back up at her in surprise. Feyre looked to her mate who made an odd gesture and pulled a large parcel out of apparently nowhere. He passed it to Feyre who grinned at looked at Elain as she held it out to her. "Have you forgotten?" she asked.

"Forgotten what?" Elain asked, unwrapping what she had been given. She paused as she found a canvas and, as she turned it over in her hands, her memory sparked. "OH!" she exclaimed, glancing up at her sister, "The garden!" She remembered asking Feyre if she would paint the garden at the Town House for her, and she hadn't realised that her sister had already started let alone finished. She looked at the paining, her eyes moving quickly over it as she tried to take in every detail. Feyre really had gotten good at this. Every detail was just as Elain remembered it, and just looking at the paining produced the same nostalgic feeling that being in the garden herself did. "I love it!" She looked at her sister once more, "Thank you, Feyre."

"You are welcome." Feyre smiled, "I hope it brings a little bit of the Night Court to you when you feel like you miss us."

"Yes, thank you." Elain leaned forward and threw an arm around her sister, hugging her tightly. "It will look wonderful on my wall."

"I am pleased that you like it." Feyre said, and Elain squeezed her harder.