A Court of Golden Shadow || Elain x Azriel

Chapter 43 - Save the Lullaby

Elain smiled, pulling the squirming babe up higher on her hip, taking careful steps across the frosted clipped grass. Leaning her face back, she closed her eyes, the warm winter sun heating her cheeks as the snowflakes began to gather on her lashes. Laughing, she twirled, Nyx letting out a delighted shriek as he clapped his chubby hands together, the snowflakes landing on his soft skin and wings.

Shaking out her hair, she beamed toward the winged babe. "I think we might want to get warm!" She cooed, glowing in the cheeky grin Nyx offered his aunt as she strode toward the back door of the river mansion, Nyx balanced on her hip still trying to reach for the gently falling snowflakes.

Stepping into the river mansion, Elain stamped her feet and brushed her red velvet skirts with her free hand, smiling toward Feyre who was coming toward them with a tray filled with a teapot and matching cups.

"You read my mind!" Elain smiled, leading Feyre into the small sitting room and setting Nyx down on the cushioned oriental rug.

"No! I didn't, I just know you like tea in the afternoons and I thought because it's getting colder out—" Feyre was on the defensive, setting down the tray on the coffee table, her hands gesticulating wildly as Elain interrupted her with a laugh.

"I just meant you knew exactly what I wanted." She reached over to pat her younger sister's arm before reaching for the teapot. "I didn't think you ACTUALLY read my mind."

Laughing, Feyre poured herself some tea as well and settled next to Elain on the upholstered loveseat, her sparkling navy blue skirts folding all around her. "I guess I'm a little sensitive about my gifts sometimes..." the admission slipped from her lips as Feyre's cheeks flushed. "It's all so new still and it feels strange."

"Honestly, we're all just figuring it out around here I swear." Elain rolled her eyes, shaking her head as she took a sip, watching Nyx crawling to the chairs on the opposite side of the room, pulling up on the edge of the cushioned seat to bring himself into a standing position, presumably to get a better look at the still-falling snowflakes.

"So much has changed over the past few years." Feyre sighed, relaxing into the sofa. "Think about it—two years ago you were a human woman engaged to Graysen and now you're here in Velaris, a freaking goddess of life mated to a shadowsinging Illyrian..." she shook her head, smiling warmly toward Elain. "I still can't believe it. I had no idea that a false mating bond could even be replicated."

Elain glanced down at her hands holding the golden teacup on her red velvet skirts, a grin curling her lips as she shook her head. "I can't believe it either." Looking up toward Feyre, she raised her brows. "I mean... the bond never felt quite... right? With Lucien. It felt like, I don't know... like you had found some sort of long-lost biological sibling. An unpleasant relative that you were suddenly tethered to. And now that I know what a true mating bond feels like— there's absolutely no way I would have ever thought the false one was real."

"And Rhys... Elain, I'm so sorry. I had no idea he prevented Azriel from pursuing you." Feyre shook her head, her sad expression curling across her shoulders.

"Fey, come on. You were about to give birth! It was a wild time. It's not your fault, and I don't even blame Rhys either. We all make wrong moves sometimes."

"Well that's for fucking sure." A twinkling voice sprang out from the entryway of the sitting room, and the sisters turned to face their elder sister, a catlike grin curling her lips as Nesta sauntered over to the coffee table, swooping up a teacup in her slender hands as she arched a brow toward Elain. "But I'd still like it to go on record that I supported you two from the beginning."