Chapter 113

Watching Elain braid her hair up off of her shoulders, Lucien tried to sort himself out. It had been easier than he had anticipated to keep himself in check when looking at Helion. As long as he had the formal role of the emissary to follow, he knew the rules and had etiquette to hide behind. He knew what to say and how to act and, if he was able to stick to that, everything would be fine.

"Do you think he knows?" Elain asked, her brown eyes meeting Lucien's gaze in the mirror.

"I… have no idea." He replied. He had been wondering that himself. The High Lord had given no real indication that he was aware they were related at all, but then he had hardly expected the other male to just publicly announce the fact to the Court the moment they met. Perhaps he did know, Lucien thought. Maybe that had been the meaning behind Helion's repeating his words about fostering friendship and trust. But then, why had he been so… tactile… with Elain. Lucien's eyes flickered down to look at the beaded anklet that she still wore. It wasn't uncommon, he supposed, for the Courts to bestow gifts upon other visiting important guests, but Helion had hardly needed Elain to put her foot into his lap so that he could put the jewellery on her like that in front of everyone. Perhaps he didn't know, after all, and had just wanted to flirt with a pretty female. The High Lord was known for his fondness for taking a wide array of lovers into his bed. Unable to help himself, a snarl slipped out of Lucien and Elain raised her eyebrows at him.

"What is the matter?"

"Nothing."

Securing her braid, Elain turned around to face him properly, still sitting at the vanity. "I can feel your jealousy."

"And I'm trying not to acknowledge it." He muttered, "Because I know it's unfounded and ridiculous."

"Mmm." Elain got to her feet and moved toward him, "Another male had his hands on me…" her voice was low, and Lucien's eyes locked onto her as she moved. He couldn't so much as blink let alone look away. "It's unsurprising that you weren't impressed."

His hands came up to her slim shoulders, and he drew her into himself, holding her pressed against his body. "It didn't matter that he was my father." He murmured, lips against her hair, "I didn't like it."

"Do you think he did it on purpose?"

"I have no idea." He told her, "He is known to… enjoy a wide range of lovers…"

"Feyre told me that Mor…"

"Yes…"

Elain nodded, resting her cheek against his chest. "You know I wouldn't."

"I know." He stroked a hand down her back, "I didn't think you would. My blood just heats at the thought of anyone else's hands on you."

"Really?" she looked up at him then, and his heart quickened at the look on her face. "Mine heats at the thought of your hands on me…"

"Well…" He allowed his hands to slide down Elain's back to her waist where he continued to hold her pressed into himself. "that is interesting to know."

"I haven't seen your mother or Eris…"

"Neither," Lucien said softly, resting his chin atop Elain's head, "have I…"

"You know…" Elain's voice was muffled against his shirt, "We have to go back to the Winter Court…"

"Do we?" He asked. "Why?"

"Well, once I let you have your way with me here…" she tilted her head to look up at him, "The Winter Court will be the only Court we haven't…"

"Uh…" Lucien needed a moment to understand what she had just said, surprised that she would even have thought about that, let alone noticed it. "Let me have my way with you…?"

"Maybe," Elain's smile twisted, "maybe I'll have my way with you…"

"Oh, Petal." He grinned, his hands pulling her hips against his own, "You can have me any which way you like…"

"I know."

"I'm glad." He pressed his lips to her forehead, pulling back reluctantly after a few moments, "But not right now…" He let her go, "We're free until sunset, so why don't we go and have a look at that library?"

The library was bigger than any Elain had seen before. Excitement stirred in her when Lucien walked her through the doors and the smell of books hit her. She took his hand, tugging him toward the nearby stairs. "Know where you're going, Petal?" he asked, amusement clear in his voice and Elain shook her head.

"Not really, but I feel like we should go up…"

"Good enough for me."

She let her eyes wander, taking in the golden stone that made up the place, accented with brightly coloured walls, some of which she was sure were inlaid with lapis lazuli as they went up the staircase. Huge windows lined the walls of the upper level, and golden sunshine filtered through.

"Illuminating." Lucien muttered, and Elain could hear amusement in his voice. "Is the light a metaphor?" She turned her head toward him, "… for the knowledge for which one comes to a library…" he laughed to himself and Elain raised an eyebrow at him.

"You did spend most of your childhood in a library, didn't you…?"

Lucien sent her a mock hurt look. "Is that a bad thing?"

"No…"

When they reached the top of the stairs, Elain turned left and moved down the nearby aisle. Lucien followed her, and she wondered why she was going this way. "You're looking for books on Seers?" he asked, and she nodded.

"I guess I somehow know where…"

She found the shelf she wanted without any trouble, and ran her fingers along several of the spines. This appeared to be a whole section on rare abilities. "If Amarantha hasn't taken them all…"

"Was that something she was after?"

"She wanted anything that would give her more power. Understanding how Seer abilities worked would have helped her control any seers she happened to find, and use their abilities to her own purposes…"

Taking one of the books from the shelves, Elain flipped it open and looked up at Lucien. "I don't suppose we can actually borrow anything…" She hadn't thought about that. They had only just arrived, and she didn't think that a library would allow just anyone to walk out with their books.

"We can get that sorted tomorrow." Lucien replied, his warm hand coming to settle against her back as she looked back down at the book. "We can make a list of which one's you'd like to have a closer look at…"

"Yes…" Elain began taking books down and then Lucien had taken them from her, holding the pile as she looked for more. After a few minutes they moved to a nearby table and Elain grinned when Lucien pulled some paper and a pen from his jacket.

They spent the better part of the next hour flicking through the books, reading contents pages and indexes and making note of which books they might potentially learn something from. It was almost overwhelming, the amount of titles she had written down, until she remembered that the Day Court had thousands of libraries, and this was only one, and then it became entirely overwhelming. Lucien's hand covered hers atop the paper and he smiled when she lifted her eyes to his face.

"You don't have to read them all in a day." He said softly, "You have all the time in the world."

"True." She mused, stacking the books back up. Lucien lifted them into his arms as Elain tucked the list away into her dress pocket and they went to return the books to their proper place.

"We still have some time before sunset and dinner…"

"We do…" Elain agreed.

"Do you want to have a look at the books on flowers…?"

"They would have quite a few that Rhys would not…" She found the idea very tempting.

"I would put money on that." He winked at her when she looked up at him. "… If I gambled."

They headed up the aisle again, this time Elain letting Lucien guide her. "When do you suppose Helion will want to talk to you?"

"I guess he will let me know at dinner." He replied, and Elain nodded. "Likely Eris and my mother would be there too…"

Taking his hand gently, Elain tried to reach for the bond, wanting to know how he was feeling about that. She got a faint sense of apprehension, but also eagerness. That made sense, she figured. He would clearly be eager to see his mother again, and the apprehension was likely due to whether or not she would have told Helion about him.

"Remember…" she said, her fingers stroking the back of his hand softly, "You won't have to do it alone."