A Storm of Flames and Deceit

III. Corruption

Nephele

Delia Vansera was an absolute sunflower.
I had stayed up all night last night, trying to expel the storm. I think being alone helped because once I put my mind to it, I could feel the part of my body that brewed such conditions. I could put my bones to rest if I just focused my breathing.
Now Delia turned towards the sun, smiling softly as I strode into the garden. It was saturated, yes, but the stone ground was hard beneath my shoes.
Eris' mother sat at a rot iron table with two chairs. I had been quite delighted to learn that my mother hadn't been invited to dine with Lady Autumn, but she was sure to fuss over me enough that it nearly didn't matter. My gown today, while conservative, was better. It was lilac and had sheer cap sleeves, the bodice embroidered in silver.
Eris' mother had been so broken at dinner, but I could tell being away from her husband improved her mood. "Hello, Nephele," she greets me brightly as a servant pulls my seat out.
"Good morning," I reply back. Mother would be impressed. When I liked someone, I could manage politeness quite well, actually. And I like Delia- she seems kind.
She smirks, looking skyward. She was so much younger than Beron- it was sickening. At least Eris and I are roughly the same age. "I take it you rested well," she gestures to the remarkable weather.
I laugh softly. "I suppose I'm feeling less cloudy today," I joke.
She smiles in return. " I bet a nice breakfast wouldn't hurt."
I wince. Actually, it might, but I fake a smile. "It never hurts," I agree, shedding my gloves and picking up a biscuit.
A mistake.
Her eyes go wide when she sees my wrists, and I wince again. When I had been injected with faebane everyday, my veins had become vibrant and lavender, stark against my brown skin. They ran like a brute of lightning from the inside of my elbow to my finger tips. In fact, I had hidden them so carefully from everyone last night with my long sleeves, making my palms face downwards.
"Healer says she can't do anything for them," I tell Delia. "Says if I'm lucky they might go away with time." Apparently my veins had been coated in faebane too. It had stained the tissue permanently from the inside.
Pity crosses Delia's face, but I can tell she understands. I wonder how many scars she has that cannot be healed. Internal or external.
"Strangely they suit you," she replies, and I can tell she means it.
I smile in agreement, admiring my arms. "There are worse scars," I reply, and she smiles, taking a blueberry muffin for herself.
She laughs fondly to herself. "Funny enough, Eris actually has a scar that can't be healed too," she smiles reflectively. Strange. You didn't come across those too much in fae. Especially fae as vain as Eris, with his suave disposition, his fancy wardrobe. "He was just a boy, but he had slipped on a river rock and cut behind his ear. There was a massive gash on there that looked like a flame, but he had refused to go to the healer because he thought it looked cool."
I'm surprised to find myself laughing. I hardly know Eris, but that feels entirely like something a more boyish version of him might do. He was all about looking cool I could already tell by the way he dresses and takes care of himself. His hygiene rivaled that of some women.
"He looks a lot like you," I tell her, nibbling on my biscuit. "It's striking."
She smiles down at her muffin. "I like to think so," she agrees. "Though we are quite different."
I frown. "How so?" I had figured they were quite similar, considering they were the only Vansera's that I found bearable.
She looks away. "You'll come to find that Eris is quite brave- braver than I've ever been," she says. I want to object, though I hardly know either of them, but she goes on. "And he's always been better at pretending than me."
I smile awkwardly. "Well, he is a politician," I joke, and she laughs, returning her attention to me.
"That he is," she agrees. "He'll make a fine High Lord one day."
It's hard to say if I agree. I hardly know him. I want to say that there's no way he could be any worse than his father, but that's ill advised. A look passes between us and I can tell that she might agree. She clears her throat. "So what do you like to do in your free time, Nephele? Tell me more about yourself."
I smile, nibbling a bit more of my biscuit. "When I was a girl I used to love hiking," I tell her. "It actually became quite a problem for my nannies. I would sneak off everyday and they used to find me climbing things I absolutely shouldn't. I used to come home everyday with bloody knees and sticks in my hair. I was always seeking the high ground."
Delia chuckles. "You're braver than me too then," she grins. "My sisters used to always climb trees when I was a girl, and I used to always wait as lookout at the bottom- but really I was just too scared."
"I didn't realize you have sisters," I smile in return, and she winces.
Fuck.
"They passed during the war," she says quietly, and it's not hard to guess what happened to them. I know what Hybern's soldiers did to Prynthian women. I know what a few of them tried to do to me when I was just a girl, just the General's daughter. I know that I fried them all to a crisp, and I never felt bad for it.
"I always wanted sisters," I tell her, trying to lighten the mood. I won't let her feel obligated to explain. "I grew up thinking that if I had an older sister, I'd have a built in best friend. That we'd never argue and we could share clothes. I imagine it's not always like that."
Delia chuckles, and I could breathe a sigh of relief. "No, definitely not," she confirms. "Love eachother as we did, there was constant arguing. But then the next minute, we'd go back to being best friends."
I chuckle. "And now, you only have boys, and I imagine they hold much longer grudges?"
She shakes her head, a smile dusting her lips. "You have no idea," she swears. "I'll be thankful to have a daughter around if only to find solidarity in someone besides Eris." And by daughter she means me. In filled with equal parts horror and warmness, feeling a bit gushy. It's very plain that my mother doesn't love me, not even in her own way.
But here Delia was, suggesting that she might appreciate having me around if only to save her from being surrounded by men all the time, and I'm absolutely fawning. I'm fawning over Eris' mother. It's foolish. And yet...
"I can't promise I'll be as good at shopping as your son," I joke to her, recalling how finely Eris dressed.
She waves me off fondly. "You'll be a better model," she points out. "Eris buys me too many clothes. I'll be glad if you take the brunt of it now."
I snort. "I can't say I'd complain to have a new wardrobe anyway."
So what if Eris isn't attracted to me. I was right when I said life only goes up from after the cellar. Here I am with the prospect of a new wardrobe and Delia. It's strange, but in the distance, I see a rainbow form over the autumn leaves.
...
Delia and I talked for hours, her telling me stories about Eris' youth that she probably wasn't supposed to tell, but to be fair, we were both a bit drunk off mimosas- something I strangely can stomach. Eris shows up around lunch, his ears probably bleeding from how much we've been speaking about him.
"Good morning!" His mother calls to him from across the courtyard, a bit giggly. I hiccup, both of us very evidently drunk. I've never been drunk before, and honestly, I didn't expect day drinking mimosas with my future mother in law to be the first time. But we take opportunities as they come to us.
We both react into a fit of giggles at the face of disapproval he makes, but there's a fondness when he gazed upon his mother. His gaze turns to me, hardening.
"What did you do?" He accuses.
I scoff, affronted. "She's the one who poured the mimosas, the heavy-handed witch," I smirk at Delia who hiccups.
"Yeah, blame the in-law," Delia jokes, and I elbow her.
Eris for the life of him looks like he stumbled in on another dimension, his gaze darting between his mother and I. "Alright," he says, decisively dragging us to our feet. "Off to bed."
I frown. "It's noon," I point out, taking his arm. Delia takes the other.
"Which means you both have exactly six hours to get less giggly before dinner," he says, leading us inside. I roll my eyes.
"If anything, I think we should ride this out so that it makes dinner more tolerable, right Delia?"
"Stop corrupting my mother," Eris snaps, but there's a light of humor in his eyes.
"Get used to it, Neph," Delia groans, dropping her voice to a whisper. "This one will mother you worse than I will." She subtly nods her head towards Eris as if he isn't standing right between us, listening to every word we're saying.
I roll my eyes. "I could've told you that," I agree quietly. "I think he needs a mimosa." Delia and I share a laugh.
"Cauldron take me," Eris swears under his breath, stopping and letting his mother into her bedroom- I presume.
"If you're half the gentleman I raised you to be, you'll walk her the whole way back to her chambers, Eris Vansera," his mother says sternly, refusing to close the door. Her face softens as she gazes upon me. "And Neph, sweetie, I had a lovely time. We must do it again."
"Cauldron, no," Eris swears, and his mother swats at him.
"Anytime," I smile at Delia in return, ignoring how Eris pulls me away impatiently. "You know where I live."
Eris pulls me around the corner, and I start walking again, snickering at his fowl mood. "I see you made it stop raining," he observes.
I look around as if checking, then I shrug. "I just kind of... set my mind to it," I reply. "I'm not sure what I did."
"Right," he murmurs. "That'd be the problem."
I furrow my brow. "Clearly not everyone is sunshine and rainbows this morning," I frown.
He glances at me, looking irritated. "Have you received even the slightest training on magical theory? On how to control your powers?"
I tilt my head. "What do you think?"
He shakes his head. "That's a problem. There's too much power in that boney body of yours, and you don't know how to use it."
I snort. "You have a way with words, hot stuff."
"I'm just saying," he leads me past my door, and I blink. "You need to learn to control."
I look back at my room. "Where are we going?"
He looks over at me, summoning a glass of water for me to drink. "To train," he answers.