Chapter 110

The letter from Rhysand arrived the next day, and Elain watched Lucien take it from Thesan almost apprehensively, and she wondered what he thought it might say. Reaching a hand out to him under the table, she tilted her head when his eyes slid to hers.

"What is it?" she asked, her hand resting on his thigh.

He just shook his head, and she knew that he didn't wish to say whatever it was that he had been thinking in front of anyone else. He looked back up and down the table, and Elain's eyes followed his. Thesan and several members of his court were all seated at the table for the midday meal, and she just nodded. Lucien opened the letter and his metallic eye clicked and whirred. She felt a wall of panic slam into her down the bond then and her eyes widened as she looked at him. After a moment Lucien lowered the letter, his face as calm and neutral as ever, but she could hear his heart and knew that he was doing an excellent job of hiding how he felt from everyone else. Ever the courtier, she supposed.

"Lucien?"

He passed her the letter without a word and Elain read it.

Lucien,

I am glad that you and Thesan escaped Connal without permanent injury. I apologise for not thinking that you might need further support after what had happened previously. Thesan has offered to send a few of his Peregryn Legion to escort you to the Day Court in case there is further need of assistance.

You are expected in the Day Court three days from now. Helion has arranged escort from the Dawn border.

I have heard that Eris and your mother are currently visiting the Day Court as well. Just figured you would want to be made aware of that.

Please let Elain know that once she has completed her draft, Amren has agreed to edit before we move to further publish. She has already been compensated for this favour.

Rhys

Not understanding why Lucien was so panicked, she looked up at him again. His hand was clenched around his goblet and he was taking slow and deliberate breaths. Setting the letter, now folded, down on the table between them, Elain reached out and took his hand, prying it from his goblet and holding it gently in her own. Lucien looked again at her, and she realised that it was the prospect of facing Helion, now knowing that he was Helion's son.

Thesan was watching them and, when it became apparent that Lucien wasn't about to say anything, Elain turned her attention to the High Lord. "We are to head for the Day Court in three days' time." She said brightly, "If we might remain here until then, we would be most thankful."

"Of course."

"Thank you." She glanced at Lucien again, "I think that Lucien and I might retreat for the afternoon, we have a few things to discuss…"

Thesan nodded and Elain got to her feet, picking the letter up with one hand and drawing Lucien to his own feet with the other. She could still hear his heart beating far too quickly, but his face remained impassive as he allowed Elain to lead him from the room.

By the time they got back to their room and Elain had closed the door, she was growing uneasy. She hadn't ever known him to be this quiet or restrained and worry began to gnaw at her. Turning to face him, she watched as he strode for the bed.

"Lucien…?"

He turned to face her and then his neutral mask cracked and anxiety was clear in every line of his face. He sank down and Elain thought he meant to sit on the bed, but he went further until he was sitting on the floor, his back against the bed. "I…" he covered his face with his hands and Elain moved toward him. "I know this is ridiculous." He muttered, his voice muffled by his hands.

"I don't think so." She moved to sit on the bed behind him, a leg either side of his shoulders, and she reached a hand out to his hair, stroking him gently. "You're worried about Helion…"

"I didn't expect to react this way, but when I read that we will be there in three days…" he paused, "I still haven't even thought about what I will say to him. If I would say anything at all…"

"And your mother and Eris will be there…"

He looked up then. "Yes… I… I just don't know…"

Elain settled her hands on his shoulders, leaning into him and feeling him press back against her. Slowly, she ran her hands over him, across his shoulders and then down the front of his chest, leaning forward to press a kiss to his cheek. "You don't have to do it alone." She told him gently. "You never have to face anything alone ever again…"

She felt his breath hitch as she wrapped her arms around him, and a rush of affection washed over her down the bond. One of Lucien's large hands came to rest against her own arm across his chest and he nodded. He turned his head to look at her and Elain smiled at him. "Tell me that again." He murmured and she smiled more widely.

"I will be there with you…" She said, squeezing him gently. "If you choose to talk to him about it or not…"

Lucien nodded, his eyes flicking over her face quickly. "Do you think she would have told him?"

"Your mother?"

He nodded again and Elain thought about it. She had no idea what she would have done personally, if she had been married to someone but had an affair with someone else and bore that child in secret, raising that child to believe that he had been a legitimate son of her husband. "I don't know." She murmured. "I suppose Beron might have forbidden it…"

"That is what I assumed." He replied, "Claiming I was his to protect his reputation would hardly work if my mother was allowed to tell Helion the truth…"

"But Beron is dead…"

"And she is in the Day Court." His eyes, russet and gold, continued to move over her face.

"She might tell him…"

"Maybe."

"Do you hope she does?"

"I… don't know."

Elain slid her hands down his chest again, leaning forward to press herself to his back. She could feel how stiffly he was holding himself and she smiled. "You know…" she murmured, lips against his ear, "Thesan gave me something before lunch…"

"What?" he turned his head to look at her again and she slid a hand into her dress pocket, pulling out a small vial of honey golden liquid. "What is that?"

"Oil." She replied, "From that flower he saw me sketching yesterday."

"Oh…" She saw the moment Lucien caught on to what she was suggesting and an instant later he had pulled his shirt off, tossing it away dramatically. "You should probably take that dress off." He said, a smile tugging at his lips, "Wouldn't want to get any on it…"

He wasn't wrong, so Elain quickly went about untying the laces of her dress. She had tugged it off and set it nearby on the bed, shuffling back to the edge, to Lucien, in only her underwear. Lucien had quickly braided his hair and tucked it up, out of the way, and Elain grinned. She settled, as she had been before, with a leg either side of his shoulders as he leaned back against her and the bed, smiling as he made an appreciative sound. "Here…" she began, tipping a small amount of the oil into one hand and then quickly rubbing her hands together to spread and heat the oil before she returned her hands to Lucien's shoulders. "It smells good…"

"It does." His words came out with a soft groan as she set about kneading her fingers into his muscles. "Oh… beautiful mate…"

Laughing lightly, Elain leaned forward, around him, to press a kiss to his cheek, right over his scar. A flush of pleasure reached her down the bond as she straightened, working her fingers down to his collarbones. "You are indeed…"

"I was talking about you, Petal."

"I know." She slid her hands down his chest, leaning into him again, liking the feel of his strong back against her chest as her hands moved over the rest of his firm body. When he gave a low chuckle, Elain suspected that he had somehow gleaned something of her thoughts through the bond.

"Are you objectifying me, Petal?" there was still laughter in his voice, but Elan felt herself blush anyway.

"Of course not." She breathed, unable to make herself stop running her hands over him.

"That's a shame."

"Is it?" she pressed her lips to his cheek again. Her hands continued to move over him as she moved her lips to his neck, earning another groan from him. Elain grinned, licking at his skin the way he always did to her, and then felt his warm hands on her ankles, sliding up her legs slowly. "What are you doing?" she asked, giggling a little when he shifted his shoulders under her knees. Lucien just lifted one of his hands, holding it out for one of hers and she took it. "… what?"

Lucien's only response was to suddenly stand up, taking Elain with him, balanced on his shoulders, and holding her upright with his firm grip on the hand she had given him. Elain squealed. "Lucien!"

He laughed, spinning around and lifting his other hand for her to take hold of, and she did immediately. "Got you." He chucked and Elain squealed again.

"Don't drop me…" Elain held tightly to him, unable to help laughter bubbling out of her.

"Never." He replied, "What do you think Thesan would think if we went out to join them for dinner like this?" He strode toward the door and Elain let out a shriek.

"No…" She cried, tugging at his hands. "I'm not wearing a dress…"

Lucien laughed again and turned back around, walking back across the room toward the bed. "We couldn't have that…"

"No…" she smiled, looking around at the floor. It looked such a long distance away and made her slightly dizzy. She held more tightly to Lucien's hands. "Please don't drop me…"

"I never would, my love." His voice was so matter of fact, that Elain believed him, and relaxed. She gave another shriek, this time in laughter, when Lucien began a strange sort of dance, bobbing here and there as he moved around the room. When he reached the bed, he turned and sat down, releasing Elain's hands and allowing her to drop harmlessly to the mattress. She had scrambled to her knees almost instantly and wrapped her arms around him from behind, pressing another kiss to his cheek.

"Back on the floor." She murmured, "I haven't finished with you…"

"Oh, I like the sound of that…" he snickered but, as Elain watched, he moved obediently into the position he had been in before and she shuffled closer, tipping more oil into her hand. She warmed it, as she had the first time, before sliding her hands carefully across his shoulders. She felt a shiver from him, both beneath her hands and down the bond, and she began working her fingers into his tight muscles.