Chapter 217

The smell was the first thing that hit Elain when she and Lucien were strolling up the corridor the next morning. An instant later, Lucien had flung an arm out in front of her, stopping her going any further, and she had noticed how rigid he had gone. Elain could tell just how alert Lucien was, and she was surprised that it could happen so instantly, and yet she also wasn't. "Stop…" he breathed, and Elain looked up at him, watching as he scented the air, his head tilting and that metallic eye clicking and whirring as he looked around them.

"What is that smell?" she asked, and he flicked a glance her way.

"Burned flesh."

"… what?"

"Let me go first…" Lucien murmured, moving in front of her, and Elain allowed him to go ahead.

"Okay…" Following him, Elain held her breath, not wanting to breathe any more of the awful smell filling the hallways. Burned flesh? Why would there be burned flesh here? "… ohh." Elain froze on the spot when she and Lucien came around the corner and saw the horror before them.

Nera was crouched by the wall, her hands over her face, and her dark eyes wide and peeking out from between her fingers. Eris stood nearby, looking agitated, and before them all on the floor in the centre of the hallway was a large black charred mess.

"… what happened here?" Lucien asked, his voice sharp. Eris's amber eyes flicked toward his brother and Elain watched as he straightened his back.

"I…"

Her gaze sliding to Nera on the floor, Elain took several steps forward, bending to the other female. "Are you alright?" The second she touched Nera's arm, Elain's ears began to ring.

She was late. Elain looked down at her pale brown hands, and realised that she was seeing this through Nera's eyes, hearing her thoughts and, judging by the anxiety about being late, feeling what the other female was feeling. Her gaze lifting back to the corridor, Nera quickened her step. She didn't want to be late. She knew that if she wasn't there before the others then she wouldn't be able to claim the serving platters that had been put together for Eris. Nera had taken to being first to arrive because it gave her the opportunity to be the one to serve him at meals, and she enjoyed getting to see him and speak to him even if for a moment during the day when they're not sequestered away in the dark tower .

Passing the training square, Nera gave a small gasp when a large arm suddenly came down in front of her, blocking her path, and she skid to a halt, looking up at the male standing in her way. She didn't know his name, but she recognised him from some of the meals she had served in the dining room.

"Hello, pretty." He smirked, and Nera tried to step back and away from him.

"… Hello."

"Where are you off to in such a hurry?"

"… I have to serve breakfast."

"Ah…" He didn't move or get out of her way. His hand suddenly came down, sliding around her wrist and tightening, and Nera felt her pulse quicken in fear.

"I… have to go."

"Surely you can spare a few minutes."

"I… no…" She tried not to bite her lip, tried not to look uncertain. He just smiled at her.

"They can find someone else to carry trays…" he grinned, "I'd like to have a little conversation with you."

"No… I… really have to go." Trying to pull her wrist free from his grip, Nera fought down panic. She gasped then when he used that grip on her to pull her around and press her back up against the wall, blocking her with his own body. "Please…"

"No need to be afraid," he grinned, "I just want to talk…"

"I need to go…"

"Don't be rude." The grin was gone now, and in its place an indignant frown. "We're going to have a pleasant chat."

"I…" Nera tried to duck around him, only to be blocked and pushed back against the wall again. She gave a startled squeak, tucking her wings in tightly to avoid damage, and she swallowed the small scream of panic. He pressed closer, and Nera tried to shrink away, make herself small, but she was trapped against the wall. Suddenly, he was pulled back away from her and he hit the opposite wall with such force that she was sure she heard bones break.

"Don't fucking touch her." Eris' voice held barely controlled rage, but Nera had never been more pleased to hear it.

"I… wasn't doing anything wrong."

"That's not what it looked like to me." Eris snarled.

"She's just a servant." The reply was petulant, "She's meant to do what she's told."

Nera shrieked then when the large male, who had only moments ago been pressing her back against the wall, was suddenly consumed by flames. They engulfed him within seconds and he barely had time to give a scream of his own before he collapsed in a charred and smoking heap in the middle of the hallway. She looked at Eris then, flames alive in his amber eyes, and she couldn't help a step back away from him when he turned those eyes on her. Hurt flashed in those eyes then, and Nera turned away as a sob escaped her. She found herself instead sliding down the wall, her hands coming up to her face as she tried to hold in further sobs. She had known who and what Eris was, but she hadn't seen any of that kind of violence within him before. Tales half whispered around the Court had always seemed as if they had been about someone else, not the gentle Lord she'd spent countless nights with now, talking about any topic they could come up with, and sharing hopes for the future.

"Nera…" his voice was gentle now, but she found herself unable to move. "Nera, please… I… I'm sorry…"

She just nodded, unable to even look up at him. Footsteps echoed up the hallway then, and they both remained where they were as those footsteps drew closer and closer.

Elain knew that her jaw had dropped, seeing what had happened in this hallway not five minutes before. She looked at Nera carefully, touching her shoulder with a gentle hand, and then lifting her gaze to Eris who stood nearby, watching them both with wary eyes. "Ah…" Elain pushed what she had found out to Lucien who glanced at her to let her know that he'd seen and understood. "Why don't you come with me…" Elain said to Nera who didn't so much as blink by way of response. "Eris can talk to his brother… but you and I might find somewhere nicer to talk. Perhaps a garden…"

Nera nodded then and Elain resisted a relieved sigh. She slid her hand under the other female's elbow and helped her to her feet.