Chapter 10.1

With shadows all around him, Rian slowly faced me. In his blue eyes, I saw nothing more than pure anger and, belatedly, began realising what I had done. But most importantly, whom I had made cross.

"Providing there is a cock?" he repeated quietly.

Feeling a bit scared, I somehow managed to hold his stare, yet my smile had been long gone. Just like my short-lived bravado.

"Had I known you were dreaming of seeing me unclothed," he added with a smile that didn't touch his eyes though, "I would have gladly taken off this and that." His fingers brushed the collar of his blue shirt. "All you had to do was ask."

Involuntarily, my eyes followed his movement. "Sorry to disappoint you," I said, "but I have never dreamt of it."

Unexpectedly, Rian vanished.

I frowned, turning towards the rest of the fairies who had been still sitting at the table. "Where did he–"

"Really?" he asked, appearing on the chair next to me.

I jumped a little, feeling my heart's pounding in my ears. "Shit."

Titling his head, the handsome muppet placed one hand on the table and the other on the back of my chair. "Then, why did your eyes follow my fingers? Why did they betray you, honey?"

"I don't know what you mean." I shrugged, suddenly interested in my empty cup.

He drummed his fingers on the table.

"I find it hard to believe," he said.

Glancing at him, I noticed that his shadows were gone. "Believe what you want, Rian. The world doesn't revolve around you."

Theatrically, I turned my head towards Cerys who pressed her lips together as if she wanted to hold back her smile.

Before I knew it, he got closer and ground out quietly into my ear, "Listen to me carefully."

Out of nowhere, my bravado came back.

"I'm all ears, your highness," I said loudly, moving in my chair and turning towards him.

Immediately, his shadows returned.

Hell, I knew that it was so wrong to irritate him on purpose, considering his supernatural abilities, but I couldn't resist it. He deserved it.

"You've come here out of nowhere," the handsome muppet went on, "and seem to know everything about us. But how is it possible that you have no idea how to address us? If you think you can make such remarks freely, then you're wrong. You are in no position to make them."

"Oh, but I am in such a position, mate," I interrupted him. "You insulted me, I insulted you. We're now even." To show my words off, I nodded.

With a blank face, he kept staring at me.

"And what makes you think that I would let you insult me without facing the consequences?" he asked, the shadows moving all around his body.

I swallowed hard.

"I don't know," I said frankly. "Maybe because you have a good heart like your parents? After all, you're the long-awaited son of Feyre and Rhysand, and I'm sure that the Bone Carver didn't predict that you would be a cold-hearted arsehole, did he?"

There was a slight frown on his forehead. "What if I am a cold-hearted arsehole? What then?" he asked, keeping his blue eyes right on me.

"Then I suppose that I would have to get out of here as fast as I can," I replied softly.

The room got so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.

Unexpectedly, Rian looked to the side.

"How do you know about the Bone Carver?" Feyre asked.

Quickly, I turned my head towards her and realised that she seemed quite surprised. "The Bone Carver?" I repeated.

She nodded.

"Let me guess," Rian said quickly, making me fix my eyes back on him. Once again, the shadows disappeared. "You can't tell us."

Feeling slightly guilty, I looked at my hands. "I'm sorry."

"Why am I not surprised?" he replied. Immediately, he drew away from me.

"Listen," I added, looking around the breakfast room, "there are things that I can't tell you. Things that I want to share with you, but I can't. It would be better if you didn't find out."

Cerys gave me a look.

"I'm sorry, Lexi, for saying this aloud," she chimed in, playing with her napkin, "but I can't shake the feeling that the best solution now should be for you to return home. The sooner, the better. Then, no one would ever ask you any inconvenient questions which you can't answer anyway."

I gasp, feeling a sudden pang in my chest.

The sooner, the better?

"Cerys," Feyre warned.

Frowning, Meleri added, "You do realise that it wasn't nice."

"I'm simply stating a fact." She shrugged, still playing with the napkin. "Lexi knows quite a lot about us and our Court, but she can't tell us anything, so what's the point in enquiring her? Should she go home, none of us would be tempted enough to interrogate her."

"Has anyone ever told you that you're nothing more than an ill-mannered youngling?" Conri asked, giving her a disgusted look.

Rian nodded. "I agree with you."

"Sorry. That's the truth." Cerys shrugged again.

Swallowing hard, I fixed my gaze on the plate in front of me. Full of guilt and regret, I couldn't look at the fairies. I was perfectly aware that my eyes started filling with tears and I was seconds away from breaking down. But I didn't want to put up a show there.

I needed to get out of the room.

"I'm sorry," I said, standing up and avoiding any eye contact. "I didn't mean to cause any trouble, believe me. I'm so sorry for everything."

Without saying goodbye, I left the breakfast room in a hurry.

###

As I was walking slowly towards the yellow guestroom, my head was full of thoughts I didn't want to have.

For starters, I was perfectly aware that the fairies had lots of questions about my extensive knowledge of them and the Night Court, but I couldn't answer them. I simply couldn't do it. I didn't even want to imagine telling them – a bunch of living and breathing magical people – about four books which basically contained the story of their lives.

Besides, I felt bad about Cerys's words. From the moment I arrived at their house – a stranger from another world that came out of nowhere – she seemed quite friendly towards me. True, she wasn't as enthusiastic and warm-hearted as Meleri, but her behaviour was enough for me to assume that she wasn't indifferent to me. Actually, I assumed that none of them were indifferent to me. That's why I wasn't sure what to make of the things she said in the breakfast room about me going home, and it made me really upset.

Wiping the remaining tears away, I realised that I reached the hall. I was about to put my foot on the stairs when I heard steps in the adjacent corridor. At first, I thought that I fancied it, but then I felt a blast of cold wind. Intrigued, I took a couple of steps back and looked round the corner. There, I saw Ciaran who was talking with a white-haired woman standing with her back turned.

"Spying on them?" I heard a soft whisper in my ear and I immediately shuddered.

Turning slowly around, I saw a fair-haired youngish man with brown eyes who was standing right in front of me. Dressed in blue, the man was quite handsome and had pointy ears, so he had to be a fairy.

When I shook my head, he flashed me a smile. "No? Oh my, can you speak, darling?" he asked with an accent that sounded like Rian's.

"Yhm," was my only answer. I didn't know him, so why would I talk with a complete fairy stranger?

He laughed softly. "I see. Then what are you doing here?"

Before I was able to answer, I heard footsteps. Within two seconds, Ciaran stopped next to us and asked, "Lexi?"

He was alone.

The dark-haired fairy narrowed his eyes when he saw the man. "You've got the nerve showing up here," he said. "Where were you, you bastard?"

The other fairy smiled. "Ah, if that isn't my favourite nephew then I'll be damned."

"Uncle Mel!" Ciaran gave him a big bear hug. "I haven't seen you for ages."

"Glad to see you, too, chap. I had some business to take care of. But I'm staying with you for a few days, so we can catch up." The fairy put his arm around Ciaran and went on, "And I think there's a lot to talk about, my boy." He glanced at me. "For starters, this pretty woman."

"Oh, yes. This is Lexi," Ciaran said. "Melly kidnapped her. For Rian."

"That's not entirely true," I replied, frowning. "And I'm leaving soon."

"Oh my, she can speak," the uncle whispered in awe. "Why didn't you tell me you could speak? I was trying to make you say something, but you were just muttering."

Ciaran crossed his arms. "Give her time, Uncle. She has a lot to talk about, don't you, Lexi?"

"I'm sure she does." The fairy took my hand and kissed it, saying, "Hello. I'm Merlin."

I smiled.

"Hi. It's nice to meet you, Merlin. I know a Merlin, you know."

"Please, don't mistake my name with the fish, darling. It's written quite differently though."

"Fish?" I lifted my brows. "Oh, no. In my world, Merlin was a legendary wizard. Actually, the greatest wizard in the whole history."

"Oh my, your world?" he asked, looking at Ciaran. "Where did Melly get her from?"

Ciaran shrugged. "Told you that she kidnapped her."

"I would have never thought our little Meleri would kidnap someone so pretty," Merlin said with a grin and then placed a hand over his heart. "I don't remember the last time we had a human guest in Velaris."

"I won't be staying long," I repeated. Glancing at the fair-haired fairy, I tried to recall him from the books, but I didn't remember such a man. That's why I asked, "Ciaran called you 'uncle.' Are you two related?"

Merlin flashed me a smile. "Yes, the High Lord is my cousin. In the loosest definition."

Again, I lifted my brows. I remembered there was something about the loosest definition of cousins when Morrigan was introduced. So was it possible for Merlin to be her brother? Did she really have a brother?

"Are you Morrigan's brother?" I found myself asking.

"Yes, I'm her younger brother."

"Wow. I didn't know she had siblings. Are there more of you?"

"No, just me and my beautiful face," Merlin said and regarded me carefully. "Do you know my sister?"

"Only by reputation."

"You know, Uncle, she knows everyone in our Court." Ciaran slid his hands into his pockets. "Father, Mother, Uncle Cass, Aunt Nesta… She read and heard stories about us."

"Did she?" Merlin asked.

I smiled. Knowing our conversation was going into the wrong direction, I had to do something and start talking about a safe topic. "Do you live in the house, Merlin?" I asked.

The fair-haired fairy relaxed a bit. "Occasionally. I have my own house in the south. It isn't as impressive as this one, but it's cosy."

"And there are three floors, over twenty bedrooms, and a huge orchard, so it's very cosy," Ciaran laughed.

Merlin made a bit of a pout and replied, "I should be the one who is jealous, my boy. I'm not the younger son of a High Lord. And surely, I don't have such a house."

"But you're older and more experienced." Ciaran gave him a knowing smile. "And you can be my role model."

Content, the fair-haired fairy bowed slightly and then smiled.

"Men are weird," I muttered.

"We're not men. We're males," Merlin said in a slightly offended voice.

I rolled my eyes. "That's even worse."

"Lexi, if I may," he whispered, taking my hand and kissing it once again. "I feel an overpowering grief that you think so little of males and men. Let me prove to you we are worth your while. Let me show you the incredible things we can do."

Now I blushed. "No?"

"Get away from her, you old prick," Ciaran said, pulling his arm. "She was brought for my brother, not you."

Merlin laughed. "Don't be such a spoilsport, Ciaran."

Pointing my finger at the younger fairy, I warned him, "Stop repeating that. Maybe I don't have any magic, but surely I know how to use my fists. And you," I said to Merlin, "stop doing… whatever you're doing. I'm done with flirting for now."

"A little flirt never hurt anyone." He flashed me a smile. "And besides, flirting is good for your body parts like–"

"All right!" I chimed in. "Spare me the details."

"But I've just wanted to say head and legs," he added, making an innocent face, but I didn't believe him. "And you suspected the worst of me. Shame on you, Lexi."

Ciaran burst out laughing.

"Younglings are all the same." Merlin shook his head. "You can only think about drinking, dancing and flirting."

Feeling a bit awkward, I said, "Okay. So I'll be going. Have a nice day, guys."

"Are you really leaving us?" Merlin asked. "It was such a nice conversation."

Smiling and walking backwards, I replied, "Yes, it was, but I must go."

"What about breakfast?" Ciaran shouted as I picked up the pace. "Aren't you hungry?"

"I've already eaten, thanks." I shrugged and then turned around, hoping that I could finally get to that blasted yellow guestroom.

###

Later that day, after many hours of lying on the bed and doing absolutely nothing, I decided that the time had come to change something in my life. My choice fell on inspecting a small bookcase that stood next to the window.

I started browsing through the books on the upper shelves. To my astonishment, all volumes were written in a strange language that I couldn't decipher. There were squares, triangles, circles and lots of other weird figures which made no sense to me. The symbols resembled runes, though I had never been an expert in the runic alphabet, so I couldn't tell for sure.

A bit discouraged, I decided to switch the shelves. This time, I chose the lower ones where I found mostly children's books. Flipping through the pages, I looked at the colourful illustrations and guessed the story, since I wasn't able to read the text.

When sitting on the floor began being uncomfortable, I decided to move to the armchair. With my feet tucked beneath me, I was in the middle of the fourth book when I heard a knock. The door opened and I saw Meleri who flashed me a shy smile.

"May I interrupt you?" she asked, still standing in the doorway.

I nodded, closing the book.

My little kidnapper came closer and sat on the foot of the bed. "I'm really sorry for what Cerys told you at breakfast," she said softly. "It was very rude of her. To be honest, it's not the first time that my sister did or said something unpleasant on the spur of the moment, and it made someone feel upset."

I sighed. "Usually, the one responsible for saying such unpleasant things should apologise. Not their siblings."

"I know, Lexi, but I simply feel bad. I've been thinking about our breakfast since you left, and I decided to check on you." Meleri smiled shyly. "I do hope you're not considering… a quick return to Earth."

It was my turn to smile. "No, not yet. I would like to spend more time with you, if that's all right."

My little kidnapper nodded. Then, she looked at the book that was lying on my lap. "This one's my favourite. Rian gave it to me last year. It belonged to him."

After hearing that, I wanted to toss that book out the window. But instead, I said, "Wow. How thoughtful of him." Standing up, I walked up to the bookcase and put the book away on the shelf. "I'd better stop touching it. I don't want to destroy it, do I?"

"Don't worry. I'm sure you won't." Meleri flashed me a smile.

I returned to the armchair and replied, "I know, but I still don't want to take a chance."

My little kidnapper bit her lip.

"Earlier today," she said, "Cerys proposed taking you to the House of Wind. Would you like to go there?"

I pondered over her words.

"But someone would have to fly in with me there." I made a wry face. "And you know that I'm afraid of heights."

Unexpectedly, we both heard Rian's voice, "Don't worry, lovely Alexandra."

Setting my eyes on the door, I saw him leaning against the doorway with his arms crossed. He was looking at us with a faint smile.

"All you need is a good flyer who would be able to get you safely to the House in no time," he said.

"Rin, are you spying on us?" Meleri asked, having looked over her shoulder.

"No, I'm just checking on you." Still not moving from the doorway, Rian fixed his blue eyes on me.

"Why do I have a feeling that you're referring to yourself?" I asked and he shrugged.

"Melly has never complained."

"What about your dad? He seems responsible enough."

The handsome muppet shook his head. "Out of the question. He's resting after hunting for Bryaxis with our uncles."

"Did they find it?" Meleri asked, approaching him.

"I'm afraid not."

Getting up, I sighed. "Your sister said that she would find a way that wouldn't involve flying."

"Let's ask her right now," he replied. "She's sitting in the garden with Ciaran."

I motioned towards the corridor. "Lead the way."

###

When we went outside, the fairies headed towards the garden that I saw from the windows in the breakfast room. Full of colourful flowers and blooming ornamental trees, the place seemed peaceful and entrancing. There were several metal chairs, a glass table and a white swing bench with colourful cushions.

Apart from the twins who were sitting on the bench and sipping something from their long glasses, I saw also Conri and Merlin. The two men were talking quietly, but stopped immediately after spotting us.

Really?

"Let's go to the House of Wind," Meleri said by way of greeting. She took a seat next to Conri and flashed him a smile. "Lexi hasn't been there yet."

Ciaran put the glass aside. "But I thought that you're afraid of heights."

"I still am," I replied, stopping opposite the swing bench, "but your sister said that she would think of another way of getting me there."

"Any ideas, Cerys?" Rian asked, crossing his arms and coming to a stop next to me.

Cerys shrugged. "Well, she can always climb the stairs."

"Are you out of your mind?" Ciaran protested, giving her a look. "That's ten thousand steps."

"Cerys, darling," Merlin chimed in, "you can't possibly expect a human to climb so many steps? She wouldn't make it."

Cerys shrugged again. "That was my only idea."

I frowned.

"And where exactly is that blasted House of the Wind?" I asked.

Meleri pointed a finger behind us. "Over there."

Turning around, I saw a hill towering over the city. Wait, it was more of a castle built into a hill. And we had to fly up there. I felt a shiver of fear.

"Do we really have to go up there?" I asked and then looked at all of them. "It's so freaking high." My eyes darted back to the House.

Quickly, Meleri approached me and put a hand on my shoulder. "Don't be afraid," she said, flashing me a smile. "I have an idea. You'll fly with Mother. All right? She will take care of you, Lexi. I always feel safe with her."

I shook my head several times.

I had always been afraid of heights. At the mere thought of having to go somewhere high I was starting to have shivers and feelings of warmth interchangeably. I wasn't even able to ride roundabouts or roller coasters as I was immediately feeling sick. Well, when I was a child, I had some rather interesting moments in my life which involved feeding the fish. All in all, heights weren't my faves.

"So, Lexi, what will it be?" Rian asked.

Sighing, Cerys stood up. "Fine. I will take you."

"No, I'm not flying with anyone of you." I shook my head and crossed my arms. "Especially with him." I jerked my chin towards Rian. "He will surely drop me."

Rian smiled. "Me? No, never ever."

"Come on, Lexi," Cerys said, coming to me and extending a hand. "Take my hand. I promise I won't drop you."

"No." I took a step back. "I'm not going to–"

"Oh, for fuck's sake," Conri chimed in and grabbed me so fast that I barely realised I was lifted and held in his arms. Then, he started moving his dark wings like crazy and we were quickly drawing away from the ground.

I started to scream.