Second Circle, by lyradaemon

Chapter 7: More Trips!

A/N: MORE CHANGES; PEOPLE HAVE COMMENTED THAT LUC STILL BEING ANGRY WITH ELI WAS A BIT OOC. I'VE TRIED TO CHANGE THAT A BIT. HOWEVER, I JUST WANT TO POINT OUT THAT LUC IS ANGRY AND UPSET BECAUSE HE AND ELI ARE BEST FRIENDS; WHAT SHE SAID, WHILE NOT APPEARING TO BE A BIG DEAL, HURT HIM A LOT.

Eli hardly saw Luc for the next few days. He still seemed to be angry, although thankfully the cold anger had dissipated into a calmer one. He would speak to her politely, but it seemed very strained, which left a huge wound in her heart.

However she'd had plenty to do otherwise. Jason had shown her and Titian around Maghre, pointing out various important buildings and such with pride; Titian had thought it was rather sweet.

"Eli?" A voice said behind her. Eli whirled around; it was Arianna.

"I was wondering; my parents are in Nharkhava at the moment, and they thought it would be nice if Tristan and I could go and see them. I know you haven't been, so I thought you'd like to come too?"

Eli smiled. "I'd love to come, Arianna; thank you. Is anyone else coming?"

"Well, I did ask Jason; but unfortunately some distant cousin is coming to Maghre, so Morghann said he had to stay behind."

"Poor Jason," Eli laughed. "What about Titian?"

"I haven't asked her yet. Do you think she'd like to?"

"Why, what else would she do? Stay here with Jason?"

"Probably," Arianna chuckled.

"Yeah, I think you're right," Eli agreed. "Those two are unbelievable; head over heels in love and they don't even realize."

"Mmm; they're not the only ones," Arianna said with an unreadable look in her soft grey eyes. Eli found herself blushing.

Arianna slipped her arm through Eli's. "So," she began. "How's Luc?"

Eli started. "How did you know?"

"Sweetheart, I'm not stupid. You hardly spoken to each other in almost a week. Something's happened – and I would bet my life it has something to do with Falian."

Eli turned an even deeper shade of red. "There's nothing going on between me and Falian!" She said sharply.

Arianna gave her arm a reassuring squeeze. "I know; but I'm guessing Luc doesn't think so."

"No; he warned me to stay away from him – he doesn't trust him," she admitted.

"And you told him he was jealous." It wasn't a question.

Eli gazed at her in admiration. "How did you work that one out?"

Arianna gave a slight chuckle. "As I said Eli, I'm not stupid. Any female in that situation would say the same thing." Eli didn't want her to clarify what she meant by 'that situation' – Arianna was definitely hinting at something, and she didn't want to hear about it.

"You think it was the wrong thing to say?"

"No," she replied slowly. "I understand why you said it; and I think it struck a truth Luc didn't want to admit to."

Eli didn't reply.

Finally Arianna stopped walking and turned Eli to face her. Her eyes were full of sympathy. "I've asked Luc to come too; I think it would be for the best."

"You did what?"

Arianna sighed. "Eli, you've got to face up to him some time. And being in a different country from Falian will certainly help; Luc won't feel threatened if he's not near you. I think you might find that a little trip will actually smooth things out between you."

Sometimes, Eli thought, Arianna could be very annoying when she was being reasonable. She sighed.

"I suppose you're right," she grumbled in reply, giving her friend a glare for good measure.

"I knew you'd agree with me," Arianna grinned.

"I don't think I had much choice."

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The next day

Arianna had decided they would ride the Winds as it would be quicker, although it would mean they wouldn't be able to see the scenery as they passed out of Scelt and into Nharkhava; Tristan had suggested they take a carriage back.

The little group – Arianna, Tristan, Charon, Eli, Luc and Titian - stood at the landing stage, saying goodbye to the others who were staying behind. Luc stood a little way apart from the rest of them; he was even being curt towards Charon.

Finally, when all farewells had been said, they caught the winds to Nharkhava.

It took them just over an hour to get there, as they could all ride the darker Webs – Tristan, wearing Opal, had ridden with his sister for speeds sake – so it was still mid-afternoon when they arrived in the capital, Lyrkhava, where Aaron and Kalush lived.

"I thought Aaron was at the Hall?" Eli said as they made their way along one of the broad boulevards bordered on both sides by beautiful cherry blossoms.

"He was, but mother needed him here at home to help her sort something out. He arrived a few days ago."

A few minutes more walking brought them to a large, beautiful house set back from the road. "This is my home," Arianna explained, glowing with pride. "The Court is a few minutes walk away, but mother wanted us to live here – it's my grandfather's home."

The door suddenly flung open; "Aria!" A husky female voice cried.

They turned to see Kalush beaming at them, then whisking her daughter up into a surprisingly strong hug. "It's so lovely to see you darling," she gushed, smiling at her daughter.

Arianna hugged her back, "I've missed you mother," she replied.

Kalush turned her attention to her son – who wasn't particularly impressed – before greeting the rest of them. "It's so lovely to have you here," she said, addressing them all. "Aaron is just coming, he was-"

"It's alright, I'm here," Aaron said, coming out of the house, grinning broadly. "How are you all?"

Eli heard Titian swallow and mutter, "Mother Night." Eli heartedly agreed; Aaron was quite breathtaking. When he turned his beautiful grey eyes to them she thought she might faint dead away.

"Lovely to see you Eli," he smiled fondly. "Daemon told me to send his love."

"Is he alright?" Eli asked without thinking.

Aaron laughed, a sound which warmed her. "Oh, he's wonderful. Jaenelle is fussing though; I think it's wearing Daemon out."

"Oh," was all she could think of saying. Aaron had a very odd way of making all thoughts fly out your head…

"If you'd like to come in," he was saying, ushering them inside the house. It was pleasantly cool inside, and Eli was rather surprised to see a beautifully sculptured fountain set dead in the middle of the hall.

"I'm afraid Nharkhavans are rather taken with fountains," Arianna explained with a slightly perplexed look. "And anything remotely to do with water, for that matter."

"It's lovely though," Eli said.

"Just wait; you'll be sick of the sight of them before you leave."

Aaron, standing just behind them laughed. "My sentiments exactly," he said. "Dharo isn't known for its water features, so living here is sometimes a shock. Although your mother says exactly the same thing when she goes to Dharo with me," he added thoughtfully.

Arianna giggled in reply. "You get used to it though Father."

"I have to," Aaron said darkly. "For your mother's sake."

"What was that Aaron?" Kalush said sweetly behind them. Aaron turned, grey eyes wide.

"Nothing, sweetheart," he said brightly. "Just remarking to Eli here about the…umm, tendency towards having fountains everywhere. Very unlike Dharo, you know."

"Mmm," was Kalush's only reply. She reached up to brush a stray brown curl away from his face. "I'm sure you can get used to it darling," she murmured. "For my sake."

Aaron stared at her, but Kalush laughed and kissed him – very soundly.

Arianna rolled her eyes and grabbed Eli's arm. "This is the part where we leave," she muttered.

They left the hall and went into one of the many informal sitting rooms – as Arianna explained – which had balconies leading off them. "Let me show you the garden – it's so beautiful at this time of year," she said excitedly.

She opened the balcony door and showed Eli – and Titian, who had just joined them - out onto the balcony and down into the huge garden. It was full of hundreds of beautifully-coloured flowers and was surrounded by cherry blossom trees which were out in full bloom. "Cherry blossoms are our native tree," Arianna explained. "Don't you think they're lovely?"

Titian and Eli nodded in reply.

"When I was little me and Tristan would always play out here; it's so huge, and there's loads of places to hide. It was so much fun," she said fondly. "Sometimes I would hide so well that Tristan couldn't find me, and then I'd fall asleep. It was Father who usually found me – once Mother had had hysterics, thinking I'd fallen into the pond or something."

"Does Charon know about this penchant for hiding?" Titian asked wickedly. Eli had noticed she loved to bring her twin into anything to do with Arianna.

Arianna blushed. "No; I-" she stuttered, but broke off, blushing. Despite Charon being quite a bit younger than her, she still had a fondness for him; after all, with his golden hair and matching golden eyes, it was hard not to have a fondness for him.

"Don't worry Sugar, I'm teasing," she assured her. "But you have to admit, this is a very good chance for him to meet your parents…"

Arianna punched her playfully on the arm. "Shut up, or I'll get my Father on you," she threatened jokingly.

That shut Titian up.

Arianna and Eli laughed as the three of them made their way back inside. However the smile slid of Eli's face when they bumped into Luc.

"Luc! I'm sorry-" Eli began, but she was cut off.

"No, it was my mistake. Please, go on," he said politely, but only an idiot would have missed the icy, sharp tone to it.

Eli just gaped at him as he stalked off.

Titian put a comforting arm around her shoulders. "Don't worry Eli. Just give him space; I'm sure things will work themselves out."

Eli nodded wordlessly.

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They six of them spent the rest of the day looking around the city, Arianna and Tristan pointing out places of interest, much the same as Jason had done in Maghre. But while she had to acknowledge that Lyrkhava really was lovely, she couldn't throw off the sense of despondency she felt whenever she looked at Luc.

He still wouldn't look at her. It seemed that he wasn't the only one who had inherited stubbornness from his father.

Yet while that feeling occupied her thoughts, a new one crept in. Something bad was nearby; Eli could feel it, just on the edge of her awareness. Daemon had trained her precisely to be alert to anything strange in her immediate surroundings; and this time was no exception.

Something – or someone – was following her. And it didn't seem like it felt any warmth towards her.

A sudden flash of Jewelled strength stopped her dead in her tracks.

"Did you feel that?" She whispered to Titian, who was closest to her.

"Feel what?"

"That flash – of Jewels, I think."

Titian gave her a puzzled look. "No."

"Oh. I must have imagined it," Eli said absently.

"Yeah, you must have."

But Eli knew what she had felt; Daemon had also taught her – along with Jaenelle – how to sense Jewels of any strength. It was quite hard to feel Jewels which were darker than her, but then again, apart from her immediate family – and Chaosti – no one wore Jewels darker than hers.

Except one she had just met.

But it couldn't be, could it? He seemed so nice though…

While those thoughts were spinning through Eli's mind, she didn't notice Luc watching her. He had seen her flinch at that tiny flash of Grey power.

And he knew who he suspected.

A/N: Who was it!

It was…nah, I'm not going to tell you! Read more! And review – thanks so much again to HeLl HaVe No FuRy LiKe A wOmAn and also to avidreader101 for their reviews. They were greatly appreciated! Lyradaemon x