A Court of Love and Healing {ACOTAR}

Losing Control

Hi all! Just a little FYI, I am taking a 10-day break to focus on my OG book. But have no fear, this story is far from over! ~Mel

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Landing at the border of Dawn, Lucien and Nuan run towards the palace. Nuan can't help the tears that are spilling for the male she was falling for. Eris had grown on her since the coronation ball, and he has visited Dawn on 'business' quite a few times since. They have had some lovely conversations and flirted, but she hadn't gotten the chance to tell him how she was truly feeling, and now worries that she may never be able to.

Nuan grabs Lucien's arm and can see the tears on his face as well, as much as he tries to shield his expression from her. "Lucien. Winnow us. We're past the border now. I'm with you so it's okay."

He nods and sniffs, linking her arm in his and winnowing into the heart of the Dawn Court city, where all the healers reside.

"Who...where...um...", he looks around wildly.

"Most likely Dahlia. She's the best and tends to the most wounded of soldiers in battle. This way, I'll take you to her infirmary."

Nuan grabs his hand and weaves through the streets, bustling with people. Reaching the building where Dahlia resides, she pulls him inside. The long hall is eerily quiet except for low voices coming from the end of it.

"They're in the critical room", she, glancing over at her friend. Nuan has seen many injured soldiers when she once trained with Dahlia, a friend of the Night Court's favorite healer Madja, so she is calm and collected in the face of near-death, even if her insides are twisted at the notion of it being her crush. A male who had a good heart under all his metaphorical armor.

Lucien, however, is quiet and stony, but storms rage in his russet eye, full of pain and fear for his brother—even if he claims they have more bad blood than good blood between them. She notices a slight tremor to his hands that he keeps slackened at his sides as they make their way down the hallway that seems to never end.

She reaches and gives his hand a squeeze as he glances over at her, his face paled with either sadness or fear, it's hard to decipher. Possibly both.

"We have the best healers here. You know that. And we are making groundbreaking revelations at least once a week. He has to be alright. He—he has to", her voice lowers into a shaky whisper.

Lucien's brow furrows and he takes a steadying breath. "You like him."

"What?"

"My broth—Eris. Were you two...?"

Nuan blushes and wring her hands in front of her. "Just flirting. We formally met at the Coronation Ball. I wasn't expecting to grow feelings for him, but I think he may have felt the same way. He would come here for business slightly more often, always making some silly excuse to have to speak to me."

Something moved within Lucien's eyes and he chews his lip. "How was he? I mean...all I ever get from him is either being attacked physically or verbally. I know I'm not much better but honestly, he's more of a shifty fox than I am. It's really hard to know if I can actually trust him. I know he hates our father, and I know that he's been tainted by being stuck there. But I never know just how tainted."

As they reach the room, Lucien's fire magic seems to spark along his skin, sensing its kin; just as it had at the Ball. Like prickles of power and unease.

She looks at him and clasps his arms. "I can tell you with certainty that he wasn't using me. It wasn't business talk. It was deeper than that. He has to act how your father expects him to act. For his life." She glances at the door. "Maybe letting it slip just a tiny bit was too much of a risk that he took for me."