Chapter 501

Wondering how she had lived without honeyed pears for so many years, Elain delicately licked the end of her finger. She was fairly sure that she would never grow tired of the sweetness of honeyed pears for however many centuries she would now live as High Fae, and she was so very okay with that.

"You really like those…" Nesta sounded almost amused, and Elain slid her gaze to her sister as she licked her finger again.

"You've tried them, right?"

"I have."

"Then you should understand…" Elain eyed the dish in the centre of the table which contained the rest of the pears, and wondered if it would be rude for her to take more. She had already taken two.

"There's another dish of them further up the table." Nesta told her, and Elain grinned and reached for the dish. If there was another, nobody would miss out if she took this one. "So, Eris left…"

"A day or so ago." Elain nodded, spearing a pear with a fork and transferring it to her plate. "I… feel bad. I didn't see him before he left. I was too distracted with Feyre." She glanced at Nesta who had not said anything further. Her sister looked thoughtful. "Did you want to see him?"

Tilting her head a little, Nesta nodded. "Yes."

"Why?" Elain narrowed her eyes, "You like Eris, don't you?"

"I might." Nesta replied then, upon seeing Elain's expression, went on, "He's intelligent and doesn't just… blather on."

"I've heard him do exactly that." Elain grinned and Nesta made a face.

"I already know that I'm free to visit the Autumn Court." Nesta told her, "I wanted to see if I might do that when I leave here… and then from there I could head to Winter…"

"You're going to go see the Courts when you leave here?"

"Yes."

"Not return to the Night Court?"

"I'll wind up back there for a time, I suppose." Nesta said, pulling a small dish of berries toward herself, "But I'm already here… I'm already out… Why not just continue on to see what I want to see?"

"Fair enough." Elain's eyes followed Lucien and Tamlin as they entered the dining room. "What about the Spring Court?"

"Hmm." Nesta made a sound that Elain couldn't really identify. "I'd like to see it, obviously. Perhaps, however, I could go at a time that others might also be visiting."

"You don't want to visit Tamlin alone?"

"I'd really rather not."

"You think he'd hurt you?"

"I'd like to see him try." Nesta replied, "More… he'd probably say something and I'd murder him, and then think of the fuss that would cause with the Courts…"

Elain laughed. She didn't actually think Nesta would murder Tamlin, but she could definitely see something dramatic happening, and she could definitely imagine whatever it was causing all kinds of trouble. "He's not that bad."

"You don't think so?"

"No…" Elain watched Tamlin sit nearby, and she kept her voice low. "Despite what he did… what he was involved with… I think he found himself in an impossible situation and tried to do what he thought was best. It may not have been, but he tried.

"I suppose." Nesta murmured, "It's not his fault he's so…" Nesta made a face and a gesture, and Elain got the gist.

"It'll change." Elain said, and something in her voice made Nesta frown, brows knitting together. Reading the question in her sister's eyes, Elain smiled. "When we were in the Spring Court… a while ago now… I saw."

"What did you see?"

"Tamlin." Elain replied, "Happier… not alone…"

"Oh." Nesta's silvery-blue eyes shifted back to the High Lord of the Spring Court. "I hope it's soon."

"Do you?"

"Yes. Not least because of how many issues that would solve."

Eyeing Tamlin herself, Elain nodded. "You're not wrong." She said quietly, knowing that when Tamlin was happier, it would be much easier to deal with the Spring Court, to get things done. When the seat beside her scraped against the floor, she smiled when Sheera bounced down into the seat.

"They all sold."

"Already?" Elain blinked, thinking that it had barely been two hours since Sheera had left with the bouquets. "They're all gone already?"

Her friend winked at her, grinning hugely. "Didn't I tell you that there was a lot of interest?"

"You did."

"Yes, so I closed up and decided to come and see to the gardens here for the afternoon…" Sheera broke off and Elain followed her friend's gaze toward Tamlin.

"Has he been back to your store?" She asked, nudging her friend to get her attention back. Sheera's gaze flicked to Elain.

"No, although he did say he would. Also, he agreed to ship me Spring Court flowers when trading is happening again, and I was thinking that I'd stock all the ones from your book." Sheera smiled at her, "So anyone who has been going through it can at least get their favourites… I should do it for all the Courts."

"Like a living version of the book?" Elain asked, thinking that it was a wonderful idea. She could practically see her friend thinking, see the excitement building within her, and then Sheera clapped her hands loudly, drawing attention from those around them.

"Oh! It's going to be wonderful!"

"I'm sure it will be."

"When is that meant to be happening, anyway?" Sheera asked, eyes wide as she looked at Elain. Shaking her head, Elain gave a half-shrug. She hadn't known anything new about the trade routes in a while.

"I could ask Lucien…"

"Ask me what?" her mate was smiling at her, having turned from his conversation with Tamlin.

"Sheera was asking about the trade routes…"

Nodding, Lucien's eyes slid to Sheera, that golden eye clicking and whirring as he focused on her. "Plans still in motion." He said, "When all the High Lords are here soon the next steps will be agreed upon."

"So nothing yet?"

A laugh slipped out of Lucien. "Organising High Lords is more difficult than I think anyone realises." He said.

"Probably would be when each of them is likely accustomed to getting what they like on their own schedule." Sheera murmured, pulling a dish toward herself hopefully.

"I'd say you're exactly right." Lucien agreed, still chuckling a little. Behind him, Tamlin shook his head.