Chapter 79

The clash of metal on metal rang around them and Elain tilted her head. Lucien's hand squeezed hers and she looked up to see his eyes, russet and gold, on her. "What is that?" she asked.

"Sounds like fighting." Nesta said simply, and Lucien nodded.

"It's the training square…" He flashed Elain a grin, "Want to see?"

"Sure…" Elain nodded while Nesta made a face. "Did you learn to fight here…?"

"Yes." He said, steering her around a corner. "My brothers and I all learned here. Some of them spent all their time here, in fact."

"And what did you do?" Elain asked, and he smiled at her.

"I learned as many other things as I could."

"Hiding from them?" Nesta asked, and Elain saw Lucien flash a glance at her older sister before he nodded simply.

"Sometimes." He replied.

Elain shifted her gaze to Nesta. Her sister had accompanied she and Lucien on their walk around the Forest House from the moment they had left their room after bathing that morning. She had thought, at first, that Feyre and Rhys would also join them, but the other couple had failed to appear, and Nesta had suggested that they be left to their own devices. Looking at Nesta's face, Elain noticed when her sister's perfectly arched eyebrows lifted in surprise, and she turned her own attention to the square they had just walked into.

There were weapons everywhere. That was the first thing Elain noticed. Weapons and equipment. There were also many more faeries than she had anticipated. Most of them, Elain noted, were High Fae, but there were a few who were not. All of them seemed to be going about some task or other, and nobody was standing idle. At first glance, it appeared to be chaotic, but the longer Elain watched, she noticed the order among the chaos.

Following Lucien as he led her around the edge of the square, Elain noticed that several of Lucien's brothers appeared to be sparring nearby. They stopped as Lucien approached, and vulpine grins appeared on their faces. "Ahh, little brother!" one called, striding closer.

Lucien stopped, holding an arm out in front of Elain and Nesta, trying to keep them behind him. Elain paused, staying where she was, but Nesta stepped around Lucien's arm, facing the two redheaded faeries who came to stand before them. Looking carefully at them, Elain noticed that one of them was the brother who had fought Lucien in the forest when they had tried to flee the court during the coup. He was the one who had threatened her; the one she had stabbed. His amber eyes slid toward Elain and she saw the recognition in them, knew that he had just remembered the same thing she had.

"Come back to play some more?" He asked, giving her a wink.

Elain slid closer to Lucien who moved a little more in front of her. "Don't get excited, Tallan," Lucien said, his hand sliding into Elain's once more. "We're just walking through."

"You sure?" Tallan pressed, "Go a round with me, Lucien."

"I don't think so." Lucien went to move, drawing Elain with him, but Tallan stepped closer, blocking their path. Elain watched the grin on the older faerie's face widen.

"Come on now," he simpered, "You wouldn't want your little mate to think you don't have it in you. She might think you can't protect her… if something were to happen…"

Elain felt Lucien go rigid, saw him stand a little straighter. His jaw was set firmly, and she knew that he was going to give in.

"No…" she whispered to him, remembering how Tallan had beat him the last time they had fought.

"I'll get you a sword…" Tallan winked at Elain and turned to go and fetch what he needed.

Lucien turned to Elain and she could see the apology in his face. "Elain…"

"No." she whispered, "He'll kill you…"

"You know he's goading you." This was Nesta, and Elain felt her sister move to stand at her back.

"If I don't do it, they'll see it as a weakness." Lucien said gently, "They'll think they can do whatever they like to us…" his eyes focused on Elain again, "… to you." She gave a soft sigh when one of his hands slid from her wrist up to her elbow, gently stroking her skin. "It's only a practice ring. It'll be fine."

Shaking her head, Elain watched helplessly as Lucien shrugged out of his jacket and began rolling the sleeves of his shirt up to his elbows so that he could move more freely. "Can you beat him?" she asked softly and Lucien's eyes met hers.

"I don't know." He said after a moment, but she heard the 'Probably not' behind his words. Lucien's gaze shifted to Nesta then and, a moment later, Nesta's hand came to rest on Elain's shoulder.

"Be careful."

"Of course, Petal." He gave her a smile and bent to press a gentle kiss to her cheek, and then he had turned and was striding toward where Tallan waited for him in the centre of a large square painted on the ground.

"Nesta…" Elain murmured, and her sister began to rub her shoulder.

"They won't kill him here." Nesta said softly, "That would ruin Eris' plan."

Elain bit her lip. She wasn't sure that Tallan or the other brothers cared all that much about Eris' plans. Malak certainly hadn't. It seemed to Elain that it was each of them for themselves. Watching as Lucien took the sword Tallan held out to him, Elain tried to calm herself. She drew one deep breath after another, trying to force herself to breathe more deeply, to keep her heartrate steady. She heard the moment Lucien's own heartrate accelerated, and it was the instant that Tallan smiled at him, raising his own sword. Reaching out, Elain grabbed at her sister's arm an instant before a new clash of metal on metal met her ears.

At first, the two redheaded faeries circled one another, trading light blows here and there and, just for a few moments, Elain thought that it really would be a regular practice sparring match. She had let out a relieved breath, and cast a glance at Nesta, giving her sister a soft smile. But then, Tallan swung high and Lucien was forced to fling himself backward, bending at a nearly impossible angle to avoid being struck in the face or throat. Elain's heart felt as if it had dropped into her stomach, and Nesta's hand instantly tightened on her, holding her where she was.

The other brother, who had been practising with Tallan, came to stand by them and Elain could see him grinning widely, even from the corner of her eye. "How terribly exciting." He said, and Elain frowned, trying not to let him draw her into whatever he was attempting. "You know," he continued, "I don't ever actually remember Lucien beating Tallan…"

"I'm sure a lot has changed since you last saw him fight." Elain muttered.

"Yes…" he replied, "Tallan has spent the years training and battling the best warriors the Autumn Court has to offer… I imagine Lucien has been sitting pretty in the Spring Court, dining and tending the flowers…"

Elain swallowed, not knowing what to say, but Nesta saved her from having to speak. "Is this the best the Autumn Court has to offer?" her sister asked, her tone mocking.

"Are you not impressed, Lady?"

"Not really." Nesta sniffed, "I've seen Illyrian training camps. Trained with some of them myself…" Elain turned her head enough to see her sister's face when Nesta went on. "Cassian could wipe the floor with each and every one of you."

Her eyes flicking to the redheaded faerie standing beside her, Elain couldn't hold back a smile. He looked stunned at first, if not a little wary. His vulpine grin returned after a moment, however, and he looked back at Nesta. "You've trained?" he asked her, "Perhaps you'd let me give you a bit of a workout. I could really help you build up a sweat."

Elain felt her cheeks heat in a blush, but the rage that washed off of Nesta was palpable. "I doubt it."

"I don't know…" he chuckled, "Think you could do with a bit of fire to melt that ice in you…"

"Do you?" Nesta's tone was flat, and suggested that she didn't care about what he thought at all. Elain's eyes returned to the fight, and she watched with bated breath as Lucien deflected blow after blow from his brother, any of which could have cleaved him in half if it had been able to land.

"You've played with Illyrians…" he went on, "Let me teach you what real Fae can do. Besides, you've not fucked until you've fucked with an Autumn Court male…"

Elain turned wide eyes on him, watching as he moved, around her, toward Nesta. "You keep that hand to yourself if you don't want to lose it." Her sister snapped, and Elain shuffled away from the both of them, one eye still on Lucien.

Having apparently heard the tone in Nesta's voice, or seen the movement, Lucien turned his head their way, his eyes flicking over them quickly, as if to check on them. Tallan's blade caught him across the chest an instant later and Elain gasped, making to move toward him, but Nesta caught her wrist, stopping her. Lucien wheeled away from his brother, switching his sword to his other hand and, when she could see him properly again, Elain's eyes caught on the blossoming bloodstain now evident against the white of his shirt.

"Lucien…"

Lucien held his hand out to her, telling her to keep back, before he blocked Tallan's next slash at him, wincing as he did so. Elain couldn't breathe. She could feel his determination and his pain, and she could feel her own panic rising within her. When Nesta pulled her back, Elain tried to get free, struggling to keep her eyes on Lucien, keep her focus, when tears blurred her vision.

"Come now, Lucien…" Tallan taunted, "That's what happens when you allow yourself to be distracted…"

The brother standing beside Elain chuckled, and then she realised that he had intended to be exactly that. He had come to speak to them hoping to distract Lucien. She and Nesta moved away from him, Elain keeping her eyes on Lucien the entire time. He was dripping blood now, creating a little trail of scarlet drops as he moved, circling Tallan as his brother attacked and withdrew repeatedly.

"This has to stop…" Elain breathed, and Nesta squeezed her hand. Elain could see Lucien weakening, slowing, his movements less fluid and less precise. He was continually retreating now as Tallan advanced, and he was continually trying to defend himself, with no time to do anything else.

"What's the matter, Lucien?" Tallan laughed, "Need your mate to jump in to save you again?" Lucien didn't reply and Tallan laughed again, "Don't worry. I'll comfort her when you're dead."

Clutching at Nesta, Elain flinched when she heard Lucien's grunt of pain as Tallan's blade sliced across his forearm. He switched his sword back to his original hand, and she heard another grunt of pain as he tried to lift it again. "No…" she murmured, trying to step forward again, "No…"

She tugged free of Nesta's grip, and had just managed two steps toward Lucien when another voice rang out, clear and commanding.

"That is enough."

Everyone in the training square froze, and dozens of pairs of eyes turned to watch as the Lady of the Autumn Court strode toward them, red hair fanning out behind her. Elain gave a soft sigh of relief, her eyes going back to Lucien as he dropped the sword, and went down on one knee. As Ashk moved closer, putting herself between Tallan and Lucien, Elain threw herself toward her mate, crashing down to her own knees before him, hands reaching out but unsure of where to touch him.

"Lucien?"