Chapter 228

He watched them from across the sitting room. Lucien leaned back in his comfortable seat, his eyes still on his mate and her sister. Elain and Nesta sat together on a long couch before one of the large roaring fires, and they leaned toward one another, heads bent together as they giggled over something or other. He'd had to check that it was Nesta to be sure, because she had been giggling for a few minutes now and, for a moment, he'd thought she may have been someone else. While he did want to know what it was that the two of them found so amusing, Lucien remained where he was instead of getting up and moving toward them to overhear or interject himself into their conversation. He wanted Elain to have her time with Nesta, because Lucien knew that the elder sister was not going to be returning to the Day Court with them.

"Did you enjoy the marketplace?"

"Yes." Lucien turned his head to see the Lady of the Winter Court sit in the seat beside him. "It was as I remembered."

"And Elain and Nesta?"

"I believe they liked it, too." He smiled at his friend. "They enjoyed the Gluhwein."

"I don't think I've met anyone who has not." Viviane grinned at him, and then folded one leg across the other. "So, tell me about how you feel being properly mated."

"Oh… I…" Lucien bit his lip and nodded. "I feel wonderful."

"Yes…" Viviane's grin stretched wide, "It is wonderful, isn't it? That connection… that certainty…"

"The certainty is…" he paused, trying to find a word good enough for what he wanted to say, "incomparable." Lifting a hand to his hair, Lucien combed his fingers through it, back from his face, "It's … invaluable." He glanced across the room at Elain again, "To know… to feel the way that she feels and then actually know… not just hope, but know… that she is mine."

Viviane was nodding her head, her pale eyes on Lucien's face. "It is beyond comparison, isn't it?"

"It was worth every second of waiting." He told her, "The centuries waiting to find her, and the agonising months waiting until she was ready…" his eyes went back to Elain across the room, still giggling with her sister. "It was all worth it."

"And now you have your Mate and you are the heir to the Day Court, and Helion has made clear that you are to be his son in more than just title…" Viviane leaned back in her seat as she tilted her chin, looking at Lucien down the length of her nose, "… who would have thought?"

"Not me." He replied, his metallic eye whirring as he looked around the room, "If you had have told me this would be my life even fifty years ago… I would have thought you were mad."

"I am no Suriel." She laughed a little, "If you had have told me that this would be my life fifty years ago, I would have thought you were mad."

Lucien eyed Viviane, "You and Kallias have always…" he stopped, knowing that it was different. She just smiled at him and he nodded, "I cannot imagine how you felt," he said gently, "When Amarantha attacked and he didn't come back…"

Viviane bit her lip, and Lucien regretted bringing it up for a moment. "His message to me," she said softly, "Was the first time he told me that he loves me…"

"And look at us now." Lucien murmured, his eyes on Viviane's face as her expression brightened.

"Look at us, indeed." She agreed.

As Nesta unwrapped the small package Elain had pressed into her hand, Elain's eyes were trained on her sister's face. She watched the curious expression there as it turned more focused, and was then replaced with delight as the topaz cloak pin was uncovered.

"It is beautiful, Elain."

"I am pleased that you like it." Elain glanced down at the pin in Nesta's hand and then looked back up to her sister's face once more. Nesta threw an arm around her, pulling her close, and Elain leaned into the hug, wrapping her own arm around Nesta's waist. "I thought that it would suit you. It goes well with your eyes as well as with the cloak that Viviane gave you."

"It does." Nesta agreed, "I even bought another wool one that is of similar hues." Nesta's hand shifted from Elain's back up to her ears, and Elain felt her sister's gentle fingers touch the earrings she wore. "These are new."

"Lucien…" Elain smiled, "From the same stall your pin came from."

"Your Mate appears to enjoy giving you jewellery."

"He does." Elain agreed, "I…" she touched the garnet necklace at her throat, "I think it serves as a visual sign of his claim on me." She said softly, thinking of the way that Lucien would always touch the necklace in public, or when there were others around.

"That would make sense." Nesta agreed, "Although anyone who sees the two of you in the same room would have no doubt that you are Mates." Elain smiled brightly at her sister, the knowledge that her bond with Lucien was so evident to others pleased her immensely. She looked at Nesta for a few more moments, wishing that he sister would someday know how that felt.

"Do you miss Cassian?"

"Uh…" Nesta blinked, her shock at the question clear on her face. "I… why would you ask that?"

"Because the two of you were practically inseparable in the Autumn Court… and you chose him at Mabon." Elain folded her arms, keeping her voice light and easy.

"Ah… I… do look forward to seeing him when I return to the Night Court."

Elain stared at her sister. She hadn't expected Nesta to be so open about it, but she was pleased nonetheless. "I'm sure he will be looking forward to that, too." The sly smirk that crossed Nesta's face then surprised Elain even more, but she said nothing about it.

"There's a reason you came here with Lucien, isn't there?" Nesta asked, her pale eyes moving around the room, "And it was more than to bring Viviane that book…"

"We have unfinished business here." Elain said, looking around until she found her mate. She watched Lucien talking with Viviane for a moment, and she knew that she had to come up with a plan for them. She had wanted to come here so that they could tick the last Court off of their list of places they had had sex. She wanted the Winter Court to be on that list, and she needed to come up with a plan of where and how they were going to do that. It had to be something memorable. Well, she supposed, it didn't, but she wanted it to be. The Winter Court was beyond beautiful, and she figured that they should make it worthy of that.

"I see." Nesta's flat tone suggested to Elain that her sister knew exactly what she had come for, and she threw her elder sister a sweet smile.

"Well, I sure hope that you won't." She grinned and Nesta's mouth dropped open.

"Elain."

Elain just smiled more widely at her sister, regretting nothing.