All Things Wild and Beautiful

11. Friendly Outreach

The artwork above is not mine.

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Over the course of three days, Nascha found herself being hauled around Orynth by Fenrys. They visited merchants, ambassadors, delegates, and numerous acquaintances. They ran errands for Aelin, and the ambassadors and delegates they met with. They spent hours at the palace. Nascha usually just sat there in a state of utter boredom while Aelin and Fenrys poured over letters and official documents.

The only time Nascha was left alone was when she went to the bathroom. After spending the past nine years by herself, she was finding it hard to adjust to constant companionship. It didn't help that Fenrys was unnaturally irritating. She'd thought Vandran and Zeno were the most annoying people she would ever know, but she was sadly mistaken. It was a miracle Maeve herself hadn't killed Fenrys.

And the male never stopped talking. Nascha had taken to muffling his voice by filling her ears with thick wads of darkness. It served as an outlet for her magic and a brief sense of relief from Fenrys' rambling. Now that she thought about it though, the cabin was unusually quiet.

    Nascha opened her eyes and sat up, glancing around Fenrys' room. There was no sign of the male. Her gaze darted towards the window. "Don't even think about it." Fenrys' words were slurred by drowsiness. Nascha knit her brows and crawled to the edge of the bed, peering down at the floor. Fenrys lay on his stomach, curly blonde hair shrouding his face.

    "What are you doing?" She asked.

    "Sleeping."

    "I wasn't aware that was something you were capable of. You've dragged me out of bed before sunrise for the past three days and we've hardly had five idle minutes in that time."

    "I have a lot to do," Fenrys muttered. "And I generally don't sleep well, so I just get up when I wake up."

    "And you can't fall back asleep when you wake up at such early hours?"

    "No, your Ladyship."

    Nascha rolled her eyes. "Why are you on the floor?"

    "You were sprawled across the entire bed."

    "You could have asked me to move."

    "I didn't think you'd feel the need to oblige me."

    "You're right. I wouldn't. I'm not taking up the whole bed now, though."

    Fenrys sat up just as a knock sounded on the door. He groaned and heaved himself to his feet. Nascha trailed after him. He opened the door, revealing Aelin, Lysandra, Evangeline, and Elide.

    "What do you want?" Fenrys asked, raising an eyebrow.

    "So blunt," Lysandra chuckled. "Have you eaten recently?"

    "Fenrys gets cranky when he hasn't eaten," Aelin explained, catching Nascha's confused look.

    Fenrys rolled his eyes and sighed. "I'm not cranky. Just...tired and busy." Aelin's attention shifted back to him. She blinked three times, holding Fenrys' gaze. Nascha narrowed her eyes when he blinked once, as though offering a response to some unspoken message.

    "We thought we'd take Nascha out this afternoon and find her a few necessities," Lysandra said.

    "Oh, thank goodness."

    Nascha crossed her arms, glaring at the male. "Yeah, thank goodness. It will be nice to hear some different voices for a change. I never knew a male who talked so much."