A Court of Heart and Fealty | Rhysand

Chapter 47: Don't Let Go

Chapter 47: Don't Let Go

Amren had gone home for the night. Mor's bedroom door remained open, spilling golden light into the otherwise dark hallway but it was quiet from inside. Both Cassian and Azriel's bedroom doors were closed, but Galadriel could hear the low murmurs from inside Cassian's when she passed it. "What are they talking about?" she asked Rhysand back in the kitchen.

Rhys braced himself on the marble bench. "Prying, are we?" he taunted. "How many of my private conversations have you listened to?"

"Only a few." With a trained smile as she passed him, she added, "You put wards around the ones that are really private. Though I never see you with anybody and your bedroom is a strange place to have meetings."

She had meant to get a reaction out of him, but when he smirked at her and said, "Are you looking for an invitation to join? Because you have it," it was her that blushed and stammered. Chuckling, he poured her another glass of wine. She'd taken drinking steady and even now on her fifth of the night she barely felt the effects. Although, with a glance at the clock, it was more like a very early morning. "To answer your question, Cassian is telling Azriel that he might teach you how to wrap your own weapons next time you train."

"As long as it's not in the morning. He'll have to drag me."

"I think he's probably going to wake after you. He's dragging his own feet around," Rhys muttered with a glare up at the ceiling. "You don't seem particularly tired."

"I'm not," she admitted. "Today was long, but it was...easy." Everything fit in place. She hadn't spent a moment worrying or in dizzying confusion. She wasn't thinking over her every interaction with Azriel or Rhys. Even thoughts of her new power had been shoved to the back of her mind. "Is there really more presents in my bedroom?" she inquired.

Rhys arched a brow. "Would you like to find out?"

Taking that as a positive, Galadriel huffed and pushed off the bench, striding upstairs for her bedroom. Rhysand trailed behind her, resting against the threshold of her doorway when she went in. There it was. A pile of small presents on the foot of her bed, all wrapped in that same black and silver packaging.

"All jewellery?" she asked, leering back over her shoulder.

"Some pieces I've seen you stare at when we pass them, others that I know will look beautiful on you." Another veiled confirmation, like not outright admitting it would save him from her lashing of his spending on her. "Don't think of them as presents, if it helps. I'm just helping you fill your jewels stands and boxes."

But Galadriel shook her head. "No. Presents make it easier. Amoise gave me gifts. It's when it's not for special occasions that I—" Not knowing what she was even saying, she cut herself off.

Rhys kicked off the door, slowly edging towards the bed she sat on, perching on the edge of the mattress. "Luxury can be hard for people that didn't grow up with it," he said softly. "Some go overboard, spend money on things they don't need. Others still feel like that luxury is above them and refuse to buy things they are now allowed to. Let me buy these things for you if you won't buy them for yourself. I know what I can afford. And I can afford to adorn you in every jewel that you lay eyes on," he said, hooking hair away from her face so she could see his smile. "Truthfully it's a mark of pride for me to see you wear things that I've given you."

"Like a label screaming that I belong to you?" she deadpanned.

"Not at all," he defended with a sudden roughness. Galadriel laughed, telling him that she was teasing. He brushed his nose against her temple. "Open them. Anything you don't like Amren can have. A firedrake, she is."