Previously on "A Court of Fear and Ice"

Having defeated the creature, Lexi wakes up in her bedroom in the Adriata Palace. She's sore and tired but alive. Rian informs her that Tarquin's healer took care of her and gave her a sleeping potion to numb the pain. After returning to Velaris, Lexi and the Night Court fairies discuss Torianna's involvement in trapping her in the wood meadow. Unexpectedly, Rhysand decides to invite Tarquin and his family for dinner.

Chapter 39

Luckily, the uncomfortable conversation in the living room ended soon after Rhysand proposed inviting the Summer Court to dinner. Though Cerys kept whining about Torianna and having to see her hideous face once again, her father just gave her a look and extended the invitation anyway.

The Night Court fairies wanted to winnow to their mountain residence right after sunset, but I chickened out a bit. I didn't want to face someone who had – even potentially – intended to hurt me without a reason, and eat dinner with them as if nothing had happened. That was too much for me.

Somehow, I worked up the nerve to approach Rhysand and tell him that I wasn't going to join them. But before I was able to set my plan in motion, Zareen walked up to me, asking about my uneasy facial expression. As I was trying to explain vaguely the reason behind my current concern, we were joined by Cerys who repeated her cousin's question about my well-being.

Willy-nilly, I told them about my reluctance to dine with Torianna tonight.

Well, I just couldn't bring myself to admit that I was too afraid of having to face the mean green-eyed fairy again, especially after hearing their suspicions. I was sure as hell that none of the Night Court fairies really knew what she was capable of. Besides, all signs in the sky and the ground clearly indicated that I shouldn't take part in the dinner, and I was going to take their advice for once.

Both fairies were quiet for a couple of seconds, mulling over my explanation. I suspected they would try to convince me to come to the mountain residence anyway, but I had no intention of changing my mind. I didn't want to go and that's that.

"Lexi," Cerys said softly.

Here we go, I thought but didn't say anything. At least not yet.

"I do understand that you don't wish to see that old cow again," she went on. "I feel the same about her, trust me… But let me ask you this. Do you really want to spend the whole night in the townhouse at your own?"

"We are all going to the residence," Zareen added. "Even Meleri is coming with us."

I frowned. "Is she?"

The red-headed fairy nodded. "She's currently at the House with Aunt Nesta."

"Mother told me they were going to help the priestesses in the library," Cerys said, "but they would finish before dinner and then join us in the residence."

Zareen flashed me a smile. "I'm sure Meleri will be more than happy to see you tonight."

"You must know that she was really upset when she found out what happened yesterday." Cerys looked at me expectantly. "If you come tonight, you can show her that you're feeling much better."

My frown deepened.

It was true that I hadn't seen Meleri in a while. Honestly, I wasn't entirely sure when was the last time I saw her. I knew it was in the mountain residence when she called on me with Cerys and Zareen, and we played a game similar to dominoes. But it was days before our visit to the Summer Court. Besides, I really wanted to see her as I had grown quite fond of my little kidnapper, and wanted to spend some time with her.

"Actually, I do feel better," I admitted.

Cerys smiled. "Will you come with us?"

"Let me think about it, all right?"

They both nodded.

###

After a delicious lunch which we ate in the wood-panelled dining room, Cerys and Zareen took me for a walk around the neighbourhood. They showed me rows of tall and well-maintained townhouses similar to theirs, and then four oaks that Rhysand planted after the birth of each of his children. Obviously, the biggest of them was named in honour of the heir to the Night Court.

"Why am I not surprised that this is Rian's tree?" I asked, crossing my arms and eyeing the oak. "Everything that belongs to him is the biggest or the best. The biggest bedroom in Adriata, the best flier in Prythian, the biggest oak in Velaris," I started enumerating. "Damn it. Everything's the."

Standing next to me and fixing her eyes on the oak as well, Zareen added, "Well, it's a shame that he tends to be the stupidest male in the world since his brain sometimes seems smaller than it's supposed to be."

Cerys laughed. "Sometimes? I would say that it's usually smaller than it's supposed to be." She looked at the oak and cocked her head. "Besides, after a thorough examination, I have to say that it's only slightly bigger than mine."

Zareen sighed. "It's just a tree."

"Of course, it is, but just think about it," she added. "If I tell him that my oak seems to grow faster than usually, it might cut him down to size. Don't forget, my dearest cousin, that I take pleasure in making him feel insecure. From time to time, of course."

I laughed quietly and then said, "Do it. It should be forbidden to feel so cocky all the time."

"Consider it done, Lexi." Cerys smiled mischievously.

Having given a glance in the direction of the four oaks, the three of us continued the rest of our walk.

Soon, we wandered into another part of Velaris – the one I had already visited over a month ago. Thanks to the shining sun, my eyes almost immediately spotted the same beige walls, big blue windows and a greenish roof which witnessed everything that happened on the night of Bryaxis's attack. Yet this time, there were lots of fairies walking around the library, some carrying huge books, some just talking with each other.

When we came closer to the building, the smell of flowers flooded my nostrils. Again, I came to realise that this place didn't even look like a proper library.

"Is it really haunted?" I asked, motioning towards it.

Cerys shrugged. "Honestly, I don't know. Rian keeps talking about ghosts he has seen there over the years, but we've never witnessed anything strange." She fixed her violet eyes on the building. "And believe me, we sneaked inside this place after midnight several times and nothing happened."

"Maybe he's just making it up," I said. "Just to scare the shit out of you."

Zareen laughed. "Don't you dare say that out loud. He might get offended."

"Oh my, what a delicate flower." I rolled my eyes. "Rian's a grown-up man who can surely take criticism well, especially when it comes to supernatural beings like ghosts."

Since he's one of those supernatural beings, I thought.

"Speaking of which, you said yesterday that you saw a ghost. What did it look like?" Cerys asked. "Was it scary?"

"Yes, it was a ghost of a very beautiful woman whose name was Halimede," I replied, recalling the meeting.

Although everything happened yesterday, I couldn't quite shake the feeling of still being there. Of still being trapped in the wood-meadow with the creature, running around its prison and dodging flying rocks and tree trunks. A couple of times today, I had to squash the need to escape, even though I was aware that I was safe now and that I managed to get out of the wood-meadow.

Thanks to Rian.

I exhaled quite loudly, and then went on, "At first, I was really afraid when I saw a transparent hand wrapped around my wrist." I lifted my left hand and glanced at it. "But then, I realised that my fear turned first into curiosity and after that into annoyance when she started avoiding answering my questions about the creature."

I peeked at my hand again and frowned.

"Did Rian see her too?" Zareen asked.

I shook my head, this time fixing my eyes on my right hand.

Having sighed, the Night Court princess said, "So now you can both boast about your encounters with ghosts."

"Encounters that can't be proven in any way." Zareen laughed quietly.

Not taking my eyes off my hands, I came to realise that something wasn't right.

Tattooed on both of my wrists, the little stars were the outcome of a challenge between Paula, Ty and me. On my twentieth birthday, we got really drunk and decided to visit the nearest tattoo parlour. There, we dared one another to get a tattoo, but only Paula and I ended up with small drawings on our skin as Ty chickened out and fled from the parlour.

For the last three years, I had had three stars on each wrist and I wasn't going to change that. I simply didn't want to. That's why discovering some strange triangles beneath the stars was a huge shock to me. Especially, when the triangles looked like mountains.

"Cerys, is it possible for my tattoos to change?" I asked, showing her my hands. "I swear that I didn't have such weird triangles here yesterday."

Drawing near me, Cerys whistled.

"What is it?" I asked again, feeling a bit panicked.

"Lexi, my dear," she said, placing her index finger on my wrist and tracing along the triangles, "I do believe that these adjustments to your stars are the tattoos of the blood bargain between you and my brother."

Zareen took a glance at my tattoos. "Has Uncle Rhys seen them yet?"

I shook my head. "I've just found them."

"Once we're back home, you really need to show them to Father." Cerys let go of my hand and looked at me. "Unfortunately, I don't know as much as he does about tattoos, so it would be wiser to ask an expert, don't you think?"

"Don't worry," Zareen added. "Uncle Rhys will surely dispel your doubts."

I fixed my eyes on the so-called adjustments. "I wonder if Rian got them as well."

"Most probably," she said. "It's a good thing that he's still in the townhouse, so we can ask him."

We started the trip back home.

"Tell me, Lexi, why did you choose stars?" Cerys asked.

"Because they seemed cute," I replied, smiling and looking at my hands. "It was my twentieth birthday and I got drunk with my friends, Paula and Tyler. We came up with a challenge and went to a tattoo parlour. Paula and I got tattoos, but Ty was too afraid to get one. I remember I thought that my mum wouldn't notice such little stars."

Zareen smiled. "Did she notice them?"

"Of course. But she wasn't angry with me."

"Why would she be angry with you?" Cerys asked, frowning.

"Because parents in my world can be sometimes overprotective of their children, even those who are already adults, and feel the need to defend them against all kinds of evil."

The Night Court princess's frown deepened. "Tattoos are considered evil in your world?"

I shrugged. "By some people."

"That's odd. Here, they are considered a part of becoming an adult male or female. I got my first when I turned seventeen." Cerys pointed her finger to a black arrow on her neck, right beside her right ear. "Ciaran and I have identical ones."

"Rian said they were holding each other's hands and sobbing like wee babies because of the pain," Zareen whispered.

"That's not true!" Cerys exclaimed. "Rian exaggerated the whole situation. It's true that we were holding our hands and offering each other moral support, but we didn't cry. Crying is for the weak."

Amused, I exchanged a look with Zareen who covered her mouth with a hand, obviously trying to hide her smile.

"I'm sure that our dearest Rian will shed some light on the whole situation," I added. "His expertise in his siblings' feelings is much needed."

"I will tell you where your handsome muppet can put his expertise," Cerys said angrily.

I groaned.

"Cerys, please." Zareen made a face and glanced around. "We're in public."

Coming to a stop, the Night Court princess crossed her arms and muttered, "We didn't cry and that's that."

"All right, have it your way." Zareen gave her a small smile. "We aren't accusing you of anything, are we, Lexi?"

"Of course not."

Having frowned, Cerys looked between us and then said quietly, "I'm sorry. I just… got carried away. That's all."

She even sighed.

That's new, I thought.

With a smile, the red-headed fairy stretched out her hand towards her cousin and placed it near her wrist as Cerys was still crossing her arms. "Forever and ever," she whispered.

Immediately, Cerys relaxed. The frown disappeared from her face and she was no longer crossing her arms but grabbing Zareen's hand. It was plain to see that their magical words did the trick again and helped to get rid of her anger.

"Forever and ever," the Night Court princess repeated, flashing Zareen a genuine smile. After that, not letting go of her hand, she turned towards me, saying, "I know that the last time we did this with Marella, we didn't include you. I now realise that you might have felt left out and unwanted, but that was never our purpose."

Cerys glanced at Zareen who smiled brightly. Then, they did something I wasn't expecting.

Slowly, both fairies turned in my direction and reached their hands out. With smiles on their faces, they waited for me to join them.

Moved, I blinked a couple of times in an attempt to get rid of tears. Then, shyly, I touched their hands and repeated softly, "Forever and ever."

###

Tracing the shape of the mountains on my wrist with his index finger, Rhysand hadn't said anything for what seemed like eternity. He was sitting with me on a sofa opposite the fireplace and holding my left hand. When he finally looked at me with those violet eyes of his, I realised that my racing heart had to be the loudest sound in the living room. It surely outshouted the fire burning in the fireplace and distant voices outside in the street.

"Did you feel the change yesterday?" Rhysand asked quietly, still touching the tattoo. "Did you feel any itching? Any tingling? Anything at all?"

I shook my head, a bit nervous. "I don't think I had time to feel it."

"To be honest," Rian broke in, perching on the edge of the coffee table in front of us, "there was so much going on after the blood bargain that I didn't notice anything as well." He looked at both his hands and went on, "I only saw them late at night when I went to your bedroom to see if you were fine. To see if you needed anything. But I didn't want to cause panic, so I kept it to myself."

When our eyes met, he flashed me a small smile. "And then, I fell asleep on the sofa and completely forgot about it," he added.

I smiled too.

Out of the blue, I realised that I was extremely pleased with his words. I would have never suspected that Rian might one day feel the need to check on me in the dead of the night. That he might want to sleep on the sofa in my bedroom just to make sure I was all right. That he might simply care about me.

"From what I can tell," Rhysand said, startling me a bit, "there is nothing odd about your new tattoos. I have neither noticed any irregularities or hidden parts of the mountains, nor sensed traces of unknown magic." He let go of my hand and looked between me and his son. "I suspect they will disappear once you return the three favours. The sooner, the better."

I glanced at Rian's mouth.

What is your price?

A kiss.

A what?!

Rian rolled his eyes, surely unaware of my thoughts. "I have never taken you as a spoilsport, Father."

Fixing his eyes at him, the High Lord lifted one eyebrow. "You do realise that the two remaining requests may keep Lexi trapped in our world. That they may not let her return when we find a way to send her home."

"I do realise," Rian said, fixing his eyes on Rhysand. "And I will do everything to prevent that from happening."

"Good."

Both fairies kept staring at each other.

Feeling a bit uneasy, I decided to end their staring contest.

"Maybe we should also ask Helion to have a look at them?" I asked and the two fairies set their eyes upon me. Now, I started feeling really uneasy. "You know… He's good at enchantments and all sorts of… magic."

Rian shrugged. "It wouldn't hurt to try."

At first, Rhysand didn't say anything and started looking at the burning fireplace. I glanced at Rian who frowned and shrugged again as if telling me that he didn't know what his father was thinking about, either.

"Fine," the High Lord finally said, fixing his eyes on us. "We're going to pay Helion a visit."