Chapter 121

Making sure to keep his smile firmly in place, Lucien strode into the sitting room with his shoulders back and his head held high. He heard Eris' choked sound before his brother had managed to cut it off, and he saw the High Lord of the Autumn Court turn away with a hand over his mouth to face the fireplace. Lucien ignored him, keeping his smile firmly in place as his eyes slid to his mother who slowly got to her feet, a bright smile spreading across her face.

"Oh…" She moved closer, her eyes shifting from Lucien to Helion who had entered the room just behind him. "I never thought I'd see…" her russet eyes met Lucien's again and she smiled even more widely. Lucien stopped when she reached him, and his smile turned genuine when she lifted a hand to his cheek, her eyes still moving over him. "You look wonderful."

"Thank you."

His mother's hand slid from his cheek, and he watched as she looked back to Helion, her eyes alight. Lucien let his own gaze move around the rest of the room, keenly aware that all eyes were on him. A priestess nearby was smiling at him and, as she took a step his way, Lucien spotted Elain. Walking past the priestess, Lucien strode across the room as Elain closed her little book, setting it on the table at which she was sitting, as she pushed her chair back and got to her feet. He watched her dark eyes move over him as her mouth opened in shock and then she grinned at him, her eyes lifting back up to meet his own.

"Lucien…" She sounded thoroughly pleased, and he could hear the utter joy in her voice. "You look…so good."

"Oh?" he raised an eyebrow as he reached her. He hadn't been sure what her reaction would be, but he had to admit he didn't mind this one. She looked him over again, reaching a hand out to touch him carefully.

"Yes…" She tilted her head, taking him in. "I like it…"

"I'm glad." Lucien tucked a piece of her hair that had fallen out of her braid back in, smiling again when he felt the rush of desire and appreciation coming from her. She truly did like what she saw, he knew. "If you like it that much, I might have to keep it."

"Oh, do." She grinned up at him, and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, drawing her in until he had her pressed against himself. He shuddered at the feel of her lips against the bitemark on his shoulder, and he felt her laugh in response.

"What do you think, Elain?" Helion's voice asked from behind him, and Lucien released Elain so that they could both turn to look at the High Lord. "Do you think it's appropriate for Lucien?"

"Very much." She replied, her hand sliding into his again. "He looks…" she paused and when he slanted a glance at her, he found her eyes moving over him again. "… powerful." She finished and he raised an eyebrow at her.

Helion was nodding his agreement, and Lucien noticed everyone else present now looking him over again. Elain squeezed his hand, and he was grateful. It hadn't completely occurred to him that being announced as Helion's son would put him straight back into the political game he had escaped so long ago when he'd fled the Autumn Court. Sure, he had been a part of it as Tamlin's Emissary and, he supposed, Rhys' as well, but being someone who played that game on behalf of others was completely different to being a part of it because of who you were. Now that he was the son of the High Lord of the Day Court, there was no escaping the games he would have to play, and no escaping the games others would play with him. He could just about see the calculating looks in the eyes of several of the courtiers, and he knew that he was being assessed. How he presented himself now would determine the way that he would be approached and treated from here on out.

Lucien had worn so many different kinds of masks in his lifetime, and he knew that this would be no different. He arranged his face into his familiar courtly smile and he lifted Elain's hand to himself, brushing his lips across her knuckles. "If my Lady likes it, it must be good…" he said brightly. He would establish himself as having no qualms about this, and he would establish himself as taking Elain's opinion into consideration. He had seen the looks that he had been given at dinner, even as he'd attempted to calm Elain down and dismiss it as mere curiosity. He knew that anyone who thought they might use him to get any kind of power would come for him, and he hoped that seeing him with Elain, a happy and united couple, might dissuade as much of that as possible.

As Ashk sat in an armchair, Helion sank into the one beside her. Lucien slid his hand up Elain's arm, drawing her with him as he lowered himself into the chair she had vacated before. He grinned at her, making space for her in his lap, and his grin widened when she adjusted herself on him, leaning back against his shoulder as he wrapped his arms around her waist. Elain adjusted herself again, tugging the short Day Court dress down over her thighs, and Lucien let one of his hands slip down to trace his fingertips over her skin.

She cast a glance at him and he smiled, before shifting his eyes to his mother who leaned forward to speak to them. "Have you completed your collection of flowers for the Day Court, Elain?"

"I have not." Elain replied, her hands still smoothing her dress down.

"When you have time," his mother went on, "I have one I think you will like. I would like to show you."

"I would like that." Elain reached forward and picked her book up from the table sitting between them. Lucien let her stretch a little further, loosening his arm around her waist, as she reached for her pencil. "I only have three or four so far." She leaned back against him then, her back against his chest, and he let his hand slide up her thigh once more. She turned her head to look at him again, and Lucien grinned, thankful for the table at which they were sitting, and that his mother couldn't see what he had done. "Lucien…" Elain's voice was barely a whisper, and he read her lips more than heard her. He smiled at her, pressing his lips to hers as he stroked her thigh again. She narrowed her eyes at him.

Settling his hand firmly against her thigh, no longer stroking her, Lucien gave her an innocent smile. Elain settled against him again, and they both turned their attention on the conversation Eris was now having with Helion. Lucien noted that it was about Helion's proposed trade route down to the Winter Court. Eris was suggesting that it might continue even further down into the Autumn Court, and Helion was nodding his agreement. Making a mental note to send that information to Rhys before he went to bed, Lucien tightened his arm around Elain's waist.

"They're all still looking at you." Elain had turned her head once more to whisper to him, and Lucien met her eyes.

"I know." He murmured, "I think they probably will for a little while."

She pouted a little, and Lucien slid his hand up her thigh a little more, his fingers slipping beneath the hem of the dress. Elain sat straight, looking at him again, her eyes wide. Lucien watched as a dark blush spread across her cheeks and down her throat as she stared at him, and he felt one of her own hands come down on his, stopping him.

"Lucien…"

He froze, trying to read the expression on her face. It wasn't just shyness he saw there; she looked kind of scandalised. "I am sorry, Petal." He replied, feeling stupid. He shouldn't have done that, he knew that Elain would never have been okay with doing something like that in a room full of people. "I didn't think."

"Hmm." The corner of her lips quirked slightly in a smile and she pressed a quick kiss to his cheek before getting to her feet. "I'll be back soon." Lucien watched as she moved around the table to his mother and bent to say something quietly to her. His mother got to her own feet a moment later and Lucien could do nothing but watch silently as they both strode from the room.