Chapter 595

The place was busy, and the noise and conversation around them constant. Nobody had bothered them, though. Nobody had so much as approached the table or spoken to them, and if this was the norm for Helion then Elain rather thought she understood why the High Lord sometimes came here. It would be a respite from the responsibilities and the constant requests that came with being the High Lord. She could picture it now; Helion sitting at one of these little booths just able to be himself and have a meal in peace without anyone asking him for things or complaining of problems they wished him to solve. He would not need to smile or be constantly on show, even though Elain was pretty certain he enjoyed being on show. Even so, nobody would enjoy it every hour of the day. Here, he would be able to escape from all of that.

"Is it good?" Kaii was looking at her, and it took Elain a moment to regain her thoughts and realise that he meant the bowl of stew sitting on the table before her.

"Oh, yes." She took another spoonful. It was a little saltier than she would have liked it, but it was tasty. "Better than I expected."

"Right?" Kaii laughed and smiled at the both of them before returning his eyes to the rest of the room.

"There is something in here that I cannot place." Nera said, lifting a spoonful of the stew and staring at the liquid as though expecting it to give up its secrets. "It's like rosemary… but…" She frowned again.

"Perhaps it is a Day Court herb that you do not have at home." Elain suggested, putting another spoonful of her own stew into her mouth. She could taste what Nera was talking about. A flavour similar to rosemary, but different. She did not know what it was either.

"You might be right." Nera smiled at her, "Maybe your next book could be herbs from different Courts, or a recipe book from different Courts so that we could make dishes from the Sumner Court in Autumn…"

"I think you can already do that." Elain laughed, "Providing you have access to the ingredients."

"Yes, and there were already books on the flowers from the Courts, but yours compiled together and chosen by High Lords was something special. You could do something similar for a range of things… like a book Series."

"I suppose I could." Elain nodded. She would like to visit the Courts again, as she had very much enjoyed travelling them with Lucien. Part of that had been enjoying her developing relationship with her mate as she had gotten to know him better and understand the bond between them, but she had also enjoyed the Courts themselves and enjoyed her developing understanding of this new world in which she had found herself.

Something made Elain glance toward the door then, just as it opened. Nobody in the room so much as batted an eyelid as Helion walked in. Nobody said anything to him, or looked his way as he made directly for a table in the back corner. Elain watched as he sat down and a moment later the barkeep placed a large mug of golden liquid before him. Helion thanked him and then the High Lord was left alone. This must have been quite a frequent thing for the other fae in the place who would normally have no contact with their High Lord to not so much as glance his way.

"He's not with Vassa…" Nera murmured to Elain who nodded. She had known that as Helion had not been in her vision of the redheaded mortal woman. That led to the question; where was Vassa now?