Chapter 357

They had gone down a narrower hallway, this one peppered with doors leading into what Elain assumed were similar suites to the one they had come through. When Lucien paused again, Elain tried to peer past him, wanting a look at whatever it was that he was considering.

"What is it?" she breathed, hoping not to make too much noise.

"I… we could pass though the East Garden." He told her, hand on a door. "It's more direct, but we would be more out in the open…" Elain eyed the door.

"Those who would be moving around the palace and pose a threat to us…" She began. "Would they be more likely to be in the garden or in one of the hallways we're trying to get down…?"

"Or they could be cutting across the garden like we want to…" he countered. "There won't be any doors for us to slip into if someone approaches…"

"Any one of these doors we go though might bring us face to face with someone inside…" Elain looked up at him. "Both have risks…"

"This whole thing is a risk." He ran hand over his face, up into his hair.

"No point in playing it safe now, then."

"There is…" he murmured, eyes closed as he tugged on his hair. "I hate risking you."

"Then let us get out of these hallways more quickly," she told him, lifting a hand to his cheek, fingers tracing his scar from brow to jaw, "by getting to our destination as soon as we can…"

"You want to go through the garden…" he opened his eyes and met hers. Elain nodded, and Lucien's expression changed to one of stoicism. "Alright, Petal." He drew his sword as he turned to the door, and Elain slipped into her usual position behind him. She would do exactly as he said, the instant he said it, if it would bring him some semblance of reassurance that she wasn't about to be murmured before his eyes. "We will move quickly," he told her, "Sticking to any cover we can see. Stay in the shadows, stay off the path…"

Elain didn't know what kind of garden Lucien expected to find behind that door, but it sounded impressive.

It was.

The instant the door was open wide enough for them to slip though, Lucien had led her in. Elain had not been to the East Garden, and now she wondered why that had been the case. She completely intended to tell everybody off for keeping this from her. There was greenery everywhere; large ferns and huge trees with massive leaves that would offer stunning shelter from the sun and the rain. It was gorgeous, and she knew that she could spend an inordinate amount of time here.

Lucien glanced at her, the tiniest smile tugging at the corner of his lips, and she knew that he had been aware of what she had been thinking, even without the bond betraying her. He turned back to where they were going an instant later, and she could read the tension in his shoulders. He moved quickly, quietly, taking them off of the little paved path that wound its way into the trees nearby, and she followed him without hesitation.

Elain tried not to get distracted by what was around them, but she found that difficult. There were plants and flowers here that she had never seen before, and she wondered if perhaps she might write a book entirely on what grew in the Day Court. She had time for that, or she would, once this was over with, Perhaps, she mused, and she and Lucien ducked a low hanging branch, she could do a book for each of the Courts. It would give her a good excuse to visit each again, and spend proper time there.

All thoughts of the other courts and of the flowers vanished when she and Lucien came across several Courtiers sprawled across the mossy undergrowth, pale and unmoving. Elain tried not to look at them any more than a quickly glance to establish if she recognised anyone. She thought she might have known the face of one of the males, but she didn't know his name. "Why would they do this?" She asked Lucien. "Why destroy the Court they're wanting to rule?"

"Perhaps…" Lucien murmured, his hand coming to rest reassuringly on her shoulder, "They wish to remove those who would not support them."

Elain nodded, about to ask what they should do for the bodies, when a rustling noise nearby made her jump. Lucien spun instantly, putting his body between her and where the noise had come from, sword raised and ready. The rustling came again, and Elain thought her heart might burst right out of her chest it was pumping that forcefully. She couldn't help but clutch a handful of the back of Lucien's clothing, pressing herself to him as he pressed her back, trying to get her more completely behind himself. Her eyes swept the trees, the leaves, the shadows, trying to locate anything that could have made that sound, but she saw only green.