Chapter 45

Striding into the large sitting room, Elain's eyes swept the grand decorations. It was rather impressive, for a mortal home, she thought. Since she had begun to see more of Prythian, she found that she was less impressed by what she saw around her than she would have been even two years ago. Nevertheless, it was a nice mortal house.

Following Feyre and Rhys, Elain came to stand beside Nesta who stopped just to the left of their youngest sister. They stood and looked at the two people before them. Jurian stood by a window, his shifty eyes following them, and Vassa sat resplendent on a large armchair that may as well have been a throne for the way she commanded the room.

"Welcome." The mortal queen said, her bright eyes sliding over them and coming to rest on Elain for a moment. Elain met her gaze, feeling a little unnerved. Looking away, Vassa gave a weak smile, "It is lovely to see you all again. I hope you have been doing well since we last saw one another."

"We have." Feyre replied and Vassa nodded, looking them over again. "I must tell you again how sorry I am about what happened to your father." She gave a light pout. "I think about him all the time."

"That must be so difficult for you." Nesta's voice was sharper than Elain had heard it in a long time, and she flicked a glance at her older sister. Nesta's back was as straight as ever as she stared at the titian haired queen. Reaching out, Elain lay a soft hand against her sister's arm and Nesta turned her face toward her for a moment, a look of thanks in her fierce eyes.

When Jurian moved closer, Elain turned her attention on him. She wouldn't trust that man for an instant. She knew that he had betrayed his fae lover to her death, and then sought another for leaving him for a fae lord. There was no way he could be trusted. She watched Jurian eyeing them while Feyre and Vassa discussed how they might try to break the curse, although her attention wandered and she began taking in the rest of the room again.

When she heard her name, Elain looked back around. Vassa's bright eyes were on her, but it was Feyre who gestured in her direction. "Elain?"

"Yes?" Elain asked, wishing that she had been listening.

"Tomorrow morning, will you try and see if you can see anything that might help us?"

"Yes, of course."

Feyre nodded and returned to her conversation with the queen. Vassa smiled and nodded, talking with Feyre, but her bright blue eyes kept returning to Elain, moving over her in an almost assessing way that Elain found more than a little unnerving.

The door behind them opened and Vassa's bright eyes grew even more bright as she looked past them, half getting to her feet. Elain did not need to turn around to know why. She had felt Lucien the moment he had entered the room. Her eyes remained on Vassa.

Lucien came to stand beside Elain, and it took every bit of self-restraint she had to keep her hands to herself, and keep her eyes on Vassa before them. She watched as the queen looked Lucien over, more than a little obviously, and Elain couldn't help but wonder what had happened between them when they had been travelling and living together here after the war. Jealously flushed through her, making her extremely hot. She felt Lucien turn toward her, obviously sensing something within her, but she kept her eyes firmly on Vassa.

"Oh, Lucien." The queen said, a wide smile across her beautiful face, "You did come back after all…"

"He's with us." Rhys said, his voice silky, and Elain watched as Vassa's eyes flicked directly back to her.

"Oh, yes." She said, giving them another smile. "Of course." Elain just stared at her, not liking that smile at all. It was the smile of a spoiled little queen who completely expected to have her every desire catered to. Vassa must have found the curse that changed her into a firebird during the day completely inconvenient. "Well," Vassa said, clapping her hands together and looking back to Feyre, "I will have you shown to the rooms that have been prepared for you. You're all on the east side of the manor. I thought you might enjoy the morning sun."

"… coming from the Night Court?" Nesta asked drily.

"Oh… I…" Vassa frowned for a second, "I just thought you'd like to get a start on the day nice and early… since I… won't be helpful at that time."

"We will be happy with any rooms you give us." Rhys said, and Elain was sure she heard the faint hint of amusement in his voice.

"You can have your old room, Lucien." Vassa said then, turning her eyes back to Lucien who Elain finally allowed herself a glance at. Her eyes moved over him, pleased that he looked as well as the last time she had seen him. It felt far longer than it had been. "It's just as you left it." Vassa's tone was light, but it sent another wave of hot jealousy coursing through Elain.

"I appreciate that." Lucien replied, and Elain ripped her gaze away from him. She looked again at Vassa, taking a step back as Nesta began to retreat.

Then, as everyone else began to move toward the door, Elain turned. "Lucien," Vassa's voice rose above the low hum of voices, "We have a lot of catching up to do." Moving quickly, Elain strode from the room, needing to get out. She didn't know what was happening. She had never felt this jealous in her life, and the feeling had never had this much of an effect on her. She could barely breathe, and her entire body was hot. It almost felt like she was having a panic attack.

When Elain turned and ran away, Lucien felt his heart sink. He had hoped when they had seen one another that things would go a little differently. He had fantasised about Elain throwing her arms around him, of being able to hold her close and promise that he would never leave her for so long again. Instead, she had barely looked at him, and then run away at her first given opportunity. He had felt something from her as she had stood beside him, but he hadn't been able to identify it.

Perhaps she had enjoyed her time away from him, and she wasn't ready for it to end. The thought saddened him, and he decided that he wasn't ready to be cooped up in his room just yet. He turned and headed for the gardens. He had greatly enjoyed walking out there when he had stayed here before. Nobody ever looked for him there, and he had always been able to clear his head. That was what he needed now. He had realised that he was in love with Elain, but what if she had come to the conclusion that she did not want him? He didn't know what he would do if that was the case. Where would he go?

He wasn't going back to live in that cabin…

Lucien let out a heavy sigh as he stepped into the hedge maze. It was delightfully quiet out here, and he rather thought that some peace was what he would need. He could feel Elain now, stronger than he had been able to back in the Night Court. He didn't know if that was because they weren't in a faerie court, or if it wasn't actually any stronger than it had been but rather he was just noticing it more now because they had been distanced the last few days. Either way, it stirred something inside himself and he fought the urge to seek her out. Instead, he wandered, feeling restless, and not knowing what to do.