Chapter 201

The drums could be heard all the way inside. Elain first noticed them when she came out of the bathroom, wrapped in a towel and looked at the dress that she had chosen for the evening. The burnt orange velvet suited the trees outside her window perfectly, and she knew that it would be very appropriate when outside under those trees by the fires. Listening to the echoing beat which was summoning all the fae down to the feast, Elain slipped the dress over her head and began fastening the laces down the front.

As she moved toward the mirror, sitting down at the vanity and picking up her comb, Elain listened to Lucien's heartbeat. He was still in the bathroom, and she smiled when she realised that his heart had begun to beat in time with the drums she could still hear from outside. A moment later she realised that her heart had begun to beat to match his. She could feel the pull of the drums, feel the tug in her blood. She needed to get outside and go down there.

"Petal?" Lucien came out of the bathroom and Elain turned to look at him. He was fastening his pants, tucking his linen shirt in as he looked at her. "Can you feel it?" he asked, and Elain noticed the fire in his russet eye. He was alight.

"Yes." She replied, her own voice gentle. "I can feel it." Lucien was looking at her with such heat that Elain found it extremely difficult to turn back around to face the mirror and begin pulling the comb through her hair. She focused intently on the task at hand, braiding the hair up off of her neck and into a crown atop her head. Only when she had secured it firmly did she chance a look at Lucien in the mirror. He was now standing by the bed, pulling a coat of claret velvet on, and she smiled as she turned in her seat to watch him. "That coat makes you look extremely dashing."

"Does it, my love?" his eyes, both russet and gold, shifted her way, and he gave her a lazy arrogant smile that heated Elain's blood.

"Very much." Elain set her comb aside and got to her feet. She watched as her mate's eyes moved over her and an appreciative gleam appeared in that russet eye.

"You look magical."

"I…" she took a few steps toward Lucien, stopping herself when she realised that if they intended to actually leave the room, she would have to keep her hands off of him. "We should go…" she breathed, and Lucien nodded.

"I very much need you out by the fire…" He swept toward her then, his large, warm hand wrapping around one of Elain's as he led her to the door.

"Lucien…" As they strode the hallways of the Forest House, Elain began to think "When was the last Mabon celebration you went to?"

"The year before I left, I suppose…"

"And… have you participated?" she asked, "In the Mabon Rite?"

"Yes." His eyes flicked her way and Elain met them silently. "It was nothing like Calanmai and Ianthe." He added after several moments in which Elain had said nothing.

"Was it Jesminda?"

"…No." Lucien shook his head, "I… I was young." He murmured, squeezing her hand, "The High Lord's son… and … excited to be allowed to participate, and even more excited to be chosen by a beautiful female…"

"Did you know her?"

"No more than by sight around the Court sometimes…"

"Is she still here?" Jealousy flashed through Elain and she swallowed it quickly.

"I don't believe so…" As they exited the last door, coming out into the cool air, Lucien wrapped his arm around Elain's shoulders and tugged her into himself. Elain allowed him to pull her close, and she smiled when his lips found her cheek. "The only female I want tonight is you." He told her, and her heart beat enthusiastically in her chest in response.

"Only tonight?" she asked, teasing.

"Tonight and for all of eternity." He replied. Elain looked up at him and went up on her toes to press her lips to his jaw. She felt his happiness an instant before the drums seemed to increase in intensity, and Elain's heartbeat soared to match them.

Lucien led Elain through the mass of faeries and toward the banquet tables on the other side of several bonfires which had already been lit. Fae were milling all around the place, small plates and cups in their hands as the sun began to set and twilight seemed to fill the trees. Elain couldn't help but notice the majesty of the place. Leaves every colour of red, orange and gold seemed to fall around them, and she was sure she could hear tiny bells sound as they did so. She could feel Lucien's adoration of this place, and she watched her mate carefully. Several leaves fluttered down around them, and Elain reached up to pluck a yellow leaf from Lucien's vibrant hair.

"I am glad you are here with me." He told her, and she nodded, her eyes on his face. She could feel the truth of those words as she met Lucien's gaze even hotter now that they had come out here.

"I am too, love." Elain smiled and then allowed her eyes to move around. "What does one do at a Mabon festivity?" she asked, smiling at little when Lucien's eyes seemed to widen momentarily.

Lucien's hand on her was comforting as he took her up and down the feast table. Elain selected a fig to eat as she watched the faeries slowly trickle out of the house and down to surround the several bonfires. The drums only grew louder, summoning all who could hear them, and then they would mingle with one another offering greetings and chatter. "Feasting…" Lucien told her, "And when the sun sinks and it grows more dark, there is dancing by the firelight…"

"Have you seen Nesta and Cassian yet?" She asked, craning to see over and around nearby fae. This proved almost impossible though, as they were all much taller than she was, and there were far too many. This was going to be a crowded event, Elain could feel it already.

"Not yet, Petal."

"…what about your mother?" she ventured, glancing up at his face quickly to gauge that reaction. Lucien merely shook his head, his eyes sweeping the area. Elain could hear his golden eye clicking and whirring as he surveyed the space around them, and then his arm wrapped around his waist and he slipped the both of them into the moving crowd. "What are you doing?" she asked, unable to help the laugh in her voice as she wrapped her arms around Lucien's shoulders.

She didn't need to have asked, however, as when she noticed her own heartbeat once again in synch with his and with the powerful drums now reverberating around them, Elain knew exactly what he was doing. Fae moved around them, seemingly in time with the heavy beat of those drums, and Elain allowed herself to move with the flow of it all. She and Lucien seemed to be as one, swaying and stepping in time to the beat which seemed to encompass all the world. This was Mabon, Elain thought.