Chapter 32

When screams had begun to echo up the hallways, Lucien had taken Elain's hand and hurried back to their room. He did not know what was going on, but it clearly wasn't good.

"Tell me what happened." He said, closing the door and turning to Elain. Just looking at her set something in him on edge. He could easily see that something had occurred. Her face was red and blotchy, and he could see that she had been crying. The longer he looked at her, the more he saw. Moving closer he inspected her face, a snarl ripping from him when he saw a faint bruise coming up along her cheekbone. "….Elain…"

"I…" she shook her head, "I don't want to say…"

"Then show me." He replied, bending to slip an arm around her waist. She leaned into him and he carefully rubbed her back, closing his eyes and reaching for the bond. Finding it, he tentatively tugged at it, feeling her shift in response.

"I don't know how."

"Just try." he murmured. "It's instinctual. It's there… just… feel it." He stiffened then when he felt Elain tug back on the bond. Her hand slid up his chest to come to rest at the side of his neck and then he drew a sharp breath as the image of a courtyard flashed before his eyes.

Lucien found himself snarling and pacing back and forth across the room while Elain watched him with wide eyes. "Stop…" she breathed and he wanted to, but he was so so angry.

"I'm going to kill every last one of them!"

"Stop, please…" She moved in front of him, pushing him to a stop with both hands against his chest. He was surprised at her strength, and he looked down at her, his anger vanishing at the pleading look in her brown eyes.

"I'm sorry." His eyes moved over her, the metallic eye clicking and whirring as it took in every detail of her rumpled dress and bruised skin. Gently, Lucien ghosted his fingertips over the hand shaped bruises of her upper arms. "I'm so sorry…"

"It's not your fault."

"I knew it." He breathed, his hands coming up to cup her face. "I knew bringing you here was a mistake. I knew they'd try…" he broke off when Elain pressed a finger to his lips.

"Calm down." She said softly, "I can hear your heart… You'll pass out or something…"

Lucien let out a bark of a laugh, then shook his head as the laughter died. "I shouldn't have left you alone…"

"Stop." She wrapped her arms around his neck, and Lucien bent to wind his own around her waist. "I'm okay." She told him and he nodded, straightening up and bringing her with him as he held her tightly against himself. "I need you to be calm." Her breath was hot against his ear, and Lucien nodded again. She was right. She was fine, he could feel her heart against his own chest and he forced himself to draw a slow deep breath, enjoying her sweet floral scent with just a hint of apple.

"Alright." He murmured. "Alright." He knew that Eris had stopped the others before things had gone any further, but the instinct in him to find them and kill them still flared within him. But, right here and now, Elain needed him to be calm. So, he would be. "Whatever you need, Petal."

Her hands slid up into his hair and Lucien's eyes closed. "Calm your heartbeat down, so I can calm down." She murmured and he nodded, trying to focus on getting his breathing under control so that his heart could slow. "Thank you." She breathed after a few moments, letting out a soft sigh.

Lucien opened his eyes when she leaned back enough for him to see her face. He tried not to focus on the bruise which appeared darker than it had only minutes before. "I will never allow that to happen again." He promised and Elain leaned forward enough to press her lips lightly to his.

"You didn't allow it to happen at all." She murmured.

They both jumped when someone pounded on the door. Lucien lowered Elain gently back to the floor, and pushed her behind himself, "Go to the bathroom," he said softly, "It locks from the inside…"

"Lucien…"

"From the window, there's only a small drop to the balcony below."

"Lucien…" her hands tugged at his jacket and he turned, pointing to the bathroom door.

"Please."

She sighed and moved toward the bathroom door. He watched her for a moment before moving back to the other door and opening it quickly. When Ashk pushed inside he almost sagged with relief. Elain came back out of the bathroom, and Lucien had been about to ask his mother what she was doing when he noticed the screaming in the distance. Going cold, he turned to look at his mother.

"You need to take Elain and go."

"Is it happening?" he asked, already moving toward Elain who had just gone rigid, her head tilted and an odd look on her face. Her dark eyes focused on him a moment later.

"Eris has had things in place for months." Ashk was saying, "Now Malak is challenging him. He's got those loyal to him seeking out anyone loyal to Eris…" Lucien watched as his mother moved around the room, picking up things she had obviously deemed belonged to him and putting them in his pack by the wall. "You need to go. You're not safe here."

"There's fighting everywhere." Elain murmured, and Lucien glanced at her. "In the hallways… outside… Blood…"

"Eris will win, though." Lucien looked back to his mother for confirmation. Upon seeing her look unconvinced, his mind began to race.

"But…" Elain said softly, "Beron is still High Lord… He's not dead."

"Doesn't matter." Lucien told her, "By the end of today, he will be."

More pounding on the door startled all three of them, and Lucien strode toward it, indicating the bathroom once more and waiting as Elain took his mother's arm, pulling her toward the bathroom door. He grabbed a small blade from his pack and went back to the door, pulling it open, dagger ready when he came face to face with Eris.

Before Lucien could do or say anything Eris had met his eyes. "You need to take your Mate, and leave." Blinking, Lucien just stared at him. Eris snarled, and pushed into the room. "Did you hear me, Lucien?"

"Yes…" Lucien turned as Ashk and Elain moved back into the room. Eris strode toward their mother.

"What are you doing in here?"

"Telling them to go." Ashk replied. Eris nodded and turned back to Lucien who just watched them.

"Why are you telling us?" Lucien directed his words at Eris who rolled his eyes.

"Do you want to die?" his brother asked, "Do you want her to die?" he jerked his head at Elain. "Because they will come for you, and they won't spare either of you."

"And you would?" Lucien asked, his blade still in his hand.

"You're not a part of this." Ashk said, buckling his pack up on the bed. "I told you the truth so you would know. This isn't your fight."

"You're not a threat to me." Eris added, and Lucien eyed him. He'd been right. Eris did know that Beron wasn't his father.

He staggered when his mother thrust his pack into his arms and his sword into his hands. "You need to go now. If they see you, they will kill you."

"…come with us." Lucien took his mother's arm, his eyes meeting hers. "You don't have to stay here…" She looked up at him, her hand coming gently to his cheek before she shook her head.

"Part of you belongs here," she told him, "My blood… inside you… will always belong here. But, part of you does not. You can make a home where you choose." She smiled at him, "But every part of me is Autumn, and this is where I belong." Lucien wanted to convince her otherwise, but she pushed him toward the door. "Go… take Elain and go, while you can." Elain was suddenly beside him, her own pack slung across her back.

"Take the Dark Road," Eris' voice said when Lucien took hold of the door handle, and he looked back over his shoulder at his brother. "They wont just kill you if they happen across you. They'll actively be looking for you." Lucien nodded, his eyes moving over Eris before flicking to his mother again.

"Go, Love." She said, "Be careful."

Fear squeezed at Lucien's heart. What if something happened to her and he never saw her again? Elain took his hand then and he glanced at her. He couldn't focus on anything else right now. He needed to get Elain out of here and somewhere safe. That was his top priority. "Thank you." He murmured over his shoulder before he slipped out into the hallway, Elain on his heels.

The screaming was louder out here, and seemed to be coming from every direction. He felt Elain shudder and he turned to look at her, pressing the small blade into one of her hands. "Stay behind me." He told her, "Stay close." She nodded, her eyes wide. Taking her other hand in his free one, he led her slowly down the hallway, pausing to listen before rounding the corner at the end.

Lucien knew a dozen quick and easy routes out of The Forest House, having spent many years sneaking out when he wasn't meant to. It was different, however, when it seemed that every corridor he wanted to use had some form of fight happening in it. Elain had groaned in horror the first time they had been forced to step over a dead faerie, skirting the blood that was pooling around the body only to press themselves flat against the wall as a new scuffle had passed them by. Lucien hadn't realised that Malak would have been able to put together so many who would support his bid for the throne. He knew that Eris would have a strong following, as his eldest brother had practically been running things behind the scenes for decades. He had expected Eris' coup to go smoothly and without much bloodshed. Malak, it seemed, had grown tired of Eris' control. Lucien had no doubt that if Malak came out of this as High Lord, the bloodshed today would only be the beginning.

When Elain tugged at his arm hard enough to half turn him around, Lucien raised an eyebrow at her. "Not that way." She breathed, refusing to let him go.

"Why not?" He asked, "There's a door just beyond…" They would be outside in a matter of moments.

"No…"

Before he could ask anything further, Elain had pushed him up against the wall, tucking herself against him and gone still. A moment later a shadow passed the nearby window and he heard Malak give an order for the road to be searched. "Eris said take the Dark Road." Lucien murmured, and Elain looked up at him. "That will take us back to Spring."

"Not the road they're searching?"

"It goes to Spring, too…"

"But they won't search the other?"

"Not likely."

Lucien hesitated for a moment, not loving the idea of trusting something Eris had told them to do. It seemed right, though. Nobody used the Dark Road, and he doubted that Malak would want to waste men he could be using elsewhere to search it. He thought for a moment about not going back to Spring at all. The other option was the Winter Court. They were meant to head there next anyway. That journey was far more difficult, however. He'd done it with Feyre, but he wouldn't put Elain through that. It had to be Spring, and they would take the Dark Road.

Elain jumped when a scream rang out somewhere nearby, high pitched and painful, and Lucien took one of her hands tightly in his again. "It's going to be fine." He told her softly, "I'm going to get you out of here. Back to your sisters." She nodded, her eyes wide and her face pale. "Do you trust me?"

"Yes." Her quiet murmured response pushed Lucien into action again and he began heading for a nearby corridor. If he could get up two flights of stairs and down another on the other side of the house, then they would come out close to the path that would take them to the Dark Road.

Listening to everything going on around them, and making sure that he kept an ear out for Elain's footsteps following him, Lucien led them as quietly as possible through his old home. His every sense was heightened and every reaction simmered just below the surface, itching beneath his skin. He heard every breath Elain took, heard the way her breath hitched whenever they heard something going on nearby, and that pushed him on. Everything in him was screaming Protect! Protect! Protect!