Chapter 63

Awaking well into the morning, Elain yawned and stretched, wrapping her arms around Lucien when she felt him next to her. She heard him make a contented sound and she opened her eyes, peering up at him. He looked back at her with a sleepy smile and Elain pushed herself up on her elbow to see him better.

"It's late…" she said softly and Lucien nodded, propping himself up against the pillows, one of his hands coming up to gently brush her hair back from her face.

"I don't think anyone will be looking for us."

"That's good." Elain replied, enjoying the sensation of his fingers moving through her hair. "I need to get back out into that garden to choose some flowers…"

Lucien smiled at her. "Rhys was meant to send word today about when we are to be due in the Summer Court."

"I feel like that is going to be a shock…" She murmured, "Going from Winter to Summer so quickly."

"You're probably right." His fingers kept moving through her hair, "Although, stopping in Spring might make it easier."

Elain felt herself blush, remembering what they had decided upon last night. "Ah."

"That is, if you still want to do that…"

"I do." She really did think that choosing the place Lucien had lived for so long, the place that had been a home to him, was the best decision.

"You sure?" he asked, his fingers massaging into the back of her neck, "Just because I said that I didn't want it to happen in some random bed doesn't mean that we need to choose somewhere now…"

Elain pushed herself higher to meet his eyes. "I don't want to wait anymore."

Lucien's metallic eye clicked and whirred as he looked at her. "I just don't want to have pushed it…"

"You haven't." she told him, "I know that you haven't… I know that you've done everything you can to not push me." Lucien nodded and she smiled at him. "Now, this is something we both want…"

She watched something flicker through Lucien's russet eye, although she couldn't quite place what it was. He wasn't sending anything down the bond toward her either, and she tilted her head, wondering what he was thinking. "Alright." He replied softly.

"… You do still want it, don't you?" Uncertainty scratched at her, as she was still unable to read his expression.

"Oh, Petal." He smiled widely at her, his hand moving through her hair again. "For so very long now."

She nodded slowly, pushing herself up into a sitting position. "Good…"

Lucien took the letter Kallias offered him. "From Rhys?" he asked the High Lord who nodded.

"It arrived during breakfast. I would have given it straight to you, but you were… missing."

"Awoke late…" Lucien murmured, ignoring the smile Kallias gave him as he opened the letter and scanned the contents. "We're not due in Summer for a week…"

"Oh." Kallias smiled again, "You're welcome to stay here."

"Thank you." Lucien glanced at the other male. "Elain needs to complete her collection for her book, but then we were going to head to the Spring Court."

"I thought you had already spoken with Tamlin."

"Yes, we have…"

"You're going back for another reason?"

"…Yes."

"Ohh…" Kallias gave Lucien a knowing smile and Lucien focused his attention on folding the letter carefully several times and slipping it into his pocket. If the High Lord was so keen on knowing such private details, maybe Lucien could put that interest and knowledge to good use.

"You told me that your mating bond with Viviane snapped into place while you were… intimate…"

"Yes." Kallias lifted a hand to his white blonde hair. "It did."

Lucien nodded. "… did it change how you were?"

"Interesting question…"

"I just…" Lucien let out a huff, his eyes sweeping the room in case anyone else was around and listening, "I'm… concerned…"

"About what?"

"Not being able to control it."

Kallias' blue eyes were serious as he met Lucien's gaze. "What do you mean?"

"I already fight to keep it under control." He murmured, "Just about every time my hands are on her, I'm trying to keep it leashed, and I'm scared that if I loosen that leash… I…"

"It was not the same for us." Kallias said softly and Lucien nodded, "We began before the bond…"

"But were you different then?" Lucien asked, "Did it change you, drive you? Were you…" Lucien broke off, not knowing what he wanted to say. He glanced again at Kallias when a hand came to rest gently on his arm.

"When the bond took hold, I was… more attuned to Viviane…" The High Lord said softly, "I… seemed to know what she wanted… what pleased her…"

"Okay…"

"It's not the frenzy." Kallias told him, "The need for you will be greater than it would have been without the bond, but you won't lose yourself." There was a pause as pale eyes ran over Lucien. "You won't hurt her."

Lucien relaxed a little. "Okay…" He liked the sound of that. It would only be an advantage to be so attuned to Elain, to be able to read what she needed. "I… just thought that because it's been something I've been fighting to control so far it would only get worse in that situation."

"But you'll be giving it what it wants. You wont be fighting it. If anything, it will be easier."

"That's true…" Lucien murmured. "I hadn't considered that."

"No part of you is ever going to hurt Elain." Kallias told him, "Even when the frenzy hits. It's not always like the violent stories everyone enjoys telling. If you're not like that by nature, then you won't be like that then."

"I had heard something similar." Lucien replied. "That's good to know." He gave a smile to the other male. "Thank you…"

Having learned her lesson about kneeling in the snow the previous day, Elain had brought a blanket out into the garden with her this time. She spread it before the large hellebore plant that had caught her eye, before kneeling down on it, and then she pulled the small book from her pocket and opened it to a new page before selecting a flower to begin sketching. Time passed quickly, and Elain found that this was getting easier than when she had first begun. She was still no artist, especially compared with what Feyre could do with paint, but she thought that she was at least getting better.

"The blanket is a good idea."

"Yeah." Elain looked around as Viviane dropped down beside her. The Lady of the Winter Court's pale eyes dropped to the book in Elain's hands and she tilted her head.

"How long does it usually take you to complete what you want from a court?"

"It depends." Elain replied, "Usually no more than a couple of days."

"How many have you done here?"

"Two."

"Ah, so you have a bit of work to do."

"I sure do."

"So, did you enjoy last night?" Viviane asked, "Up on the ridge…?"

"It was stunning." Elain replied, giving her a smile. "Thank you for organising that… I have never seen anything that… resplendent."

"The Aurora put on a good show for you, too."

"It was magical." Elain added a few more lines to her sketch.

"…did it lead to a further magical evening?"

"What?" Elain glanced at Viviane in surprise, was she seriously asking Elain if she and Lucien had had sex? "What do you mean?"

Viviane gave a low chuckle. "Did it bring you closer?" She asked, "Are you closer to accepting the bond?"

"Oh." Elain tilted her head, looking back to her sketch. "Yes, I suppose so." She added a bit of shading to the sketch, "We decided that we will spend some time in the Spring Court before we head to the Summer Court."

"Hmm…" Viviane indicated a Snow Drop flower coming up near the edge of Elain's blanket and Elain began to draw it. "I take it there's a reason you're going back there."

"Yes." Elain glanced sideways at the other female, "I… why do you care so much?" She cringed at how rude the question sounded, but she really didn't understand why Viviane was so focused on her relationship with Lucien.

Viviane paused for a moment before speaking softly. "I am sorry if I have pried too closely…"

"No, I just … want to know why you're interested."

"I don't know that there is any specific reason." Vivian told her, "Finding one's mate is a rare occurrence, as I'm sure you have been told. It's special, and very sad when it doesn't work. Aside from that, you know that I have known Lucien for a long time, and I truly want him to have something go right in his life… It's wonderful that he has found his mate, and it's even more wonderful that you are kind and lovely…" Vivian paused for a moment, "Even all that aside, it's clear to anyone watching the two of you that you love one another. So, if I can help you both take that next step toward accepting the bond and being as happy as Kal and I are, then I… I just want to see that…"

"Who would have thought the Lady of the Winter Court and her High Lord would be so warm…?"

Vivian gave another soft laugh. "The inside of our palace is nothing but fireplaces and furnaces."

Elain was silent for several minutes as she worked on her sketch. "The Spring Court was Lucien's home for a long time." She said gently, "His room in the manor is still the way he left it. Those personal touches are still there… it still feels like his space… We thought that would be a good place for… moving our relationship along."

"That makes sense." Viviane replied kindly, "His instincts will want to have you somewhere he feels is his…"

Elain nodded in understanding. "He'll be possessive…"

"He already is." Viviane told her. "You already know who he is. What you feel through that bond…" Vivian smiled at her, "You'll be thankful for it, trust me." Elain blinked, her eyes moving over Viviane as she tried to process those words. "When that connection shows you what he's feeling… And you know what it feels like to be able to feel the mattress against your back while he moves inside you, but then all of a sudden you also know how good it feels to be inside of you…"

Elain's eyes widened and she felt herself blush slightly, quickly returning her attention to her sketch.