Chapter 2

Lucien

Elain stayed quiet even as we crossed the border to Spring. I couldn't find the words to say to her. I couldn't think of anything that wouldn't make her change her mind and demand to be taken home. She was a portrait of lady-like sophistication – a far cry from any behavior Feyre had ever exhibited.

Whenever we stopped to rest I picked flowers for her. She thanked me kindly, and occasionally asked questions about the variety which Tamlin answered in my stead. Being of the Autumn Court, I wasn't exactly well-versed in the Spring Court's flora.

When we arrived at the manor, she went straight to bed in Feyre's second bedroom just across from mine, and I barely slept as I strained my hearing for any sound that might come from her room. I was afraid she would cry, or alert Tamlin to her visions. Mercifully neither happened.

The next morning Tamlin and I sliced fruit and served it in the dining hall. Most of the servants had left, and many other luxuries had been depleted as Tamlin struggled for normalcy now that no Tithe could be instituted. Together, I believed we maintained the manor well.

The creak of the door and a small 'hello' alerted me to Elain's presence. My face heated at the sight of her here in her pale yellow dress, her curls glinting in the sunlight that streamed through the dining hall windows.

The Spring Court had never known such beauty. I hadn't.

I poured her tea and fumbled nervously with a stray thread from my emerald green tunic as she sipped and gazed out from the windows.

"Did you want to be mated today?" She asked

Tamlin nearly spat an entire mouthful across the table, and my own jaw hanged.

"WHAT?" I asked, my voice louder than I had intended

She flinched slightly. "Since the cauldron gave me to you, I just thought..."

"You have a say in the matter." I half-barked, before taking a deep breath and approaching it again. "It's up to you whether or not you accept the mating bond, and it's just that. It's a connection. It's not an arranged marriage. I don't own you."

"Do you know how mating works?" Tamlin asked as he eyed her, with no small amount of amusement playing on his features.

"I don't understand it at all." Elain admitted. "How can you be in love with one person and then be mated to a complete stranger?"

"That is the question, isn't it? Surely your sisters can offer some guidance." Tamlin snorted, despite himself. "Feyre could write an entire book on the subject. "

"Feyre never wanted to be a wife." Elain said candidly. "She had no use for marriage. But I did. I always wanted to be a bride. And now...do Fae even have weddings?"

"Yes." Tamlin answered. My stomach writhed as I listened.

"I was going to marry Feyre. Many Fae choose to, if they find love but no bond is present. "

"She chose the bond over her promise?" Elain asked Tamlin. He nodded once.

"I'm sorry." She told him, and you could feel the sincerity flood the room around us. "My betrothed broke his promise when I became Fae."

"His ring should be insulting to you. For a number of reasons. Why do you insist on wearing it?" He asked.

Elain's throat bobbed as she swallowed. "Am I supposed to send it back so he can pledge to another? Is it any less shameful to keep in a box?"

I stiffened as Tamlin reached a broad tan hand across the table to cover hers. To soothe her. "Keeping it on your hand will destroy you. Eventually he will take another. Eventually he will die. You lost so much, but you've been given a precious gift. Don't waste it this way."

Elain took in his words. Slowly, carefully, she twisted the iron ring once around her finger, twice, and then slid it off completely, cradling it in her lap. "What shall I do with it?"

"Let's plant it." Tamlin growled, and as a merry spark reached his eyes, hers mimicked them.