Chapter 133

"So what are you going to do?" Nesta asked bluntly, and Elain raised an eyebrow at her sister.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Lucien is now the heir to the Day Court." Nesta replied, her sharp eyes firmly on Elain's. "He's not going to return to the Night Court. Have you considered that yet?"

"Well…"

"You're going to stay here with him, aren't you?" Nesta's voice was louder than it had been and Elain felt herself blush slightly when faeries turned to look.

"Nes…" She breathed. "No decision has been made."

"But you would."

"I…" Elain felt her heartbeat increase slightly, as heat flushed through her. "Lucien and I want to be together." She told her sisters, and Feyre nodded while Nesta just looked at her. "The Night Court isn't our home."

"You're welcome there…" Feyre said, "Did you not feel welcome?"

"I did." Elain looked at Feyre, "It's your home, though." She went on, "You belong there… but it's not my home. It's not Lucien's home."

"You want somewhere of your own."

"Somewhere for the both of us." Elain said, "If that is here, then…" She looked at Nesta. "Do you understand?"

Nesta looked carefully at her, tilting her head slightly. "I don't want you to just disappear into some random Court to never see you…"

"The Day Court shares a border with the Night Court, and I would never disappear on you." Elain felt tears pricking at her eyes. She had never intended for Nesta to feel as if she was leaving her. "Wherever I am, you are always welcome to come and stay… for as long as you like, Nesta."

"You need to be a part of the decision." Nesta said, her voice clipped. "I hope you won't just follow him…"

Elain looked at her sister, and nodded. "Lucien wouldn't expect that of me." She said, "He has always cared about what I want."

"And what do you want?" Nesta reached a hand out, and Elain lifted her own hand to take it gently. Blinking back tears, she thought about what she wanted.

"I want a home, Nes." She breathed, "I want a home; somewhere I belong, and I know that wherever that is, it is with Lucien. I want to be with him, and I want to be healthy and happy and…" she thought about what she had read about seers in the library. "I want to be whole and sane…" She saw Nesta's eyes narrow at her, and she went on. "I want to see Lucien happy, and feeling as if he is contributing to something he feels matters, I want him to feel appreciated and wanted…"

"I want you to have that." Nesta's voice was a whisper now, and Elain felt tears welling in her eyes once again. She wanted to cry, and she held tightly to her sister's hand, hoping that that connection would help her keep those tears inside. She hardly needed to draw further attention to herself in his hall with tears, not when Lucien had just been announced before the High Lords to be Helion's son, and she was supposed to be happy. She was happy.

Feeling a flash of anger down the bond, Elain turned her head, her eyes scanning the room for Lucien. He wasn't where he had been standing with Helion the last time she had looked and, with faeries wandering around the place, she couldn't see him at all. Hurt swirled down the bond to her next, and Elain frowned, getting to her feet.

"Elain?" Feyre asked, a frown on her own face. Shaking her head, Elain released Nesta's hand.

"Something's wrong." She murmured, craning her neck to try and see past a group of Courtiers.

"What?" Nesta got up to stand beside her and Elain cast a simple glance at her sister before striding off across the hall. She could feel Nesta following her, at her back, but she didn't stop until she spotted Lucien's vibrant ruby hair.

He was sitting on a couch beside Tamlin and, the instant she spotted him, his emotions slammed into her. Anger still swirled within him, as well as shame and hurt. As she watched, several courtiers approached him on the couch and Elain's blood went cold when the blonde priestess she had met the other day slid into Lucien's lap. Panic hit Elain down the bond then and she watched Lucien lift his hands, holding them away from the priestess as the courtiers began speaking to him. He didn't know what to do, Elain could feel that as well as everything still washing over her from him. It mixed with everything that had already been warring within herself after her talk with her sisters, and Elain began to feel her control slip.

Taking a step forward, she paused when Nesta's hand came down on her shoulder. "Elain…" she heard the warning there, but Elain had no interest in heeding it. She glared over her shoulder at her sister, and Nesta retracted her hand, evidently reading something in her face that suggested that would be the best option. Free, Elain spun back around and strode across the hall toward her mate.

When Elain came around the side of the couch, Lucien looked up at her. His eyes caught on her face, at the feral look in her eyes, and his breath caught in his throat. Elain's brown eyes were hard and fierce, and locked completely on Sorcha who was still sitting on him. He wasn't entirely certain what game the priestess was playing at, but he was more than aware of the fact that she had used the approach of the courtiers as an excuse to seat herself in his lap under the guise of making room in the small space around the couch.

He had thought for a moment that Sorcha had been about to turn her attentions on Tamlin when she had asked to be introduced but, as soon as those courtiers had approached, her attention had returned to him.

"Lucien…" Elain's voice held a note that he had never heard before, and something within him yearned to crawl across the floor to her feet. He wanted to reach out to her, roll on to his back at her feet and surrender himself to her.

"Yes…" he lifted his eyes to meet her fierce gaze, and that desire only grew stronger. Elain took another step closer, and Sorcha made a high-pitched giggling sound as she slid out of his lap.

"Oops." The priestess laughed. "For a few moments, I'd forgotten where we were…"

Lucien ignored Sorcha, as did Elain. He held his mate's gaze as she strode toward him, leaning over him for a moment before she kissed him. He was more than a little surprised as Elain had never been one for public displays of affection but then, he supposed, that was not what this was. Elain's kiss was possessive, and he knew that it was entirely for the benefit of anyone whose eyes were on them, especially Sorcha. One of Elain's hands slid into his hair as she leaned over him, and her other clenched tightly at his shoulder. When she lifted her head to meet his eyes once more, her hand tightened in his hair.

"Come with me." She growled, and he nodded, lifting himself to his feet without another thought.

Faeries were already leaving the hall for the evening, and he noted that there were far fewer courtiers around than there had been earlier. It was this detail that led him to believe that hardly anybody would notice if he left with Elain now. A quick glance around the room told him that nobody was watching and he flicked a quick look at Helion who was still standing with his mother and Eris. Nobody would mind if he was gone and, judging by the storm of emotion that he could feel swirling within Elain down the bond as she held tightly to his arm, he didn't suppose there would be any arguing with her.