A Court of Flame & Shadow - Eris x OC

The Courtyard

That night, Eris kept watch in the hallway leading to the dungeons. He glamoured himself into the shadows, still as a stone in the Forest House walls. The guards returned to their posts and, a few moments later, Beron emerged from the stairwell. His hands were clean but Eris could still scent Vel's blood clinging to his father. Eris held his breath as his father, too caught up in his fury to look twice, hurried off towards his study. Even after he was gone, Eris didn't dare check the brand on his arm.

He spent hours there, watching, counting, determined, unmoving. He noted the times when the guards changed, once in the heart of the night, when the moon was at its peak, and once more before it was time for breakfast, as the first rays of sun started drifting into the hallway. The High Lord came back later, by the time the morning was in full swing, and only when Eris knew his father had descended all the steps did he dare move out of his spot.

Back in his room, Eris took a much-needed bath and massaged his stiff muscles. He had pretended to sleep in and requested a late breakfast before sending all the servants away. He wondered if they were looking for Nyoka – she must have had friends amongst them. But she was ash in the wind and he was sitting amongst the luxurious oils and creams, thinking of how much more blood he'd have to spill before the day was over. He didn't dwell over the justification of his action. There was no fairness in life and there would be no absolution for him one way or another.

He thought of his father, how perhaps they weren't so different from one another. They would both kill and torture to reach their goals – no matter, how many bodies were left in their wake. The water in the tub boiled.

Naked and dripping water on the carpet, Eris packed most of the breakfast spread into three pouches – bread and hard-boiled eggs, dried meats and nuts, fruit and hard cheese. His stomach growled but he left the rest of the food untouched – clearing a buffet that could feed a small family would undoubtedly raise some suspicion. As he put the pouches away he turned over the thoughts in his head. There were no favors he could call in, no ruse he could plan to get Beron away from the Forest House, not quickly enough anyway. After what he'd seen ... it would have to be tonight. He stashed the pouches in one of the locked cabinets. Lunch was only ever served in the dining halls, he wouldn't be able to pinch anything else with the servants or his brothers watching.

Despite the stiff muscles and weary mind, Eris decided to get dressed and head to the courtyard to train with the others. The more he would be seen today, the better.

His brothers were all in the courtyard, even Lysander, who was sitting with Lucien atop the parapets. Eris made his way to them. The sun was shining brightly, a relatively rare sight in the Autumn Court. He wondered if Beron had been so pleased with how well his plan worked out that his moods had affected the weather.

Eris went to sit on Lucien's other side. He was watching Theron, one sword in each hand, fending off the twins. Roderic was across the yard, a bow in hand, shooting at a handful of dummies spread out towards the edge of the forest. Lysander was leaning back against the stone, his face towards the sun.

"Isn't this lovely? Just like the good old days." Lysander crooned, basking in the sunlight, his eyes still closed. Back when they were just youths running around barefoot. Before they had to prove their worth and compete with each other or they risked being lashed. Before their father became a tyrant and their mother a shadow of her former self. Lysander didn't need to add all that. They each bore their scars differently and dealt with them separately.

Eris himself would run off into the forest, with his hounds and his horse, deep into the heart of the Autumn Court, chasing some unlucky prey. Lysander would find comfort in books, and more often than not, in some male or female embrace. Theron would let it out right here, in the sparring ring, against whatever unfortunate opponent he could find. Late at night, from his room, Eris could sometimes hear the clanging of steel and the splintering of wood as Theron would destroy yet another training dummy. He couldn't see the courtyard but he wondered if his brother's shirt was bloody and clinging to his back as he went through the steps. Roderic drowned his sorrows with liquor and gold. He would winnow as far away as possible from the Forest House to drink himself stupid and lose their father's money. Eris used to forbid the gambler's dens from accepting Roderic, but when his brother started traveling to other courts for his fix, Eris quickly realized it was better to keep the problem contained at home. The twins passed their scars onto others in the dungeons, for each drop of blood their father took from them, they spilled a dozen more. Eris could only be happy about them not being allowed into the deepest levels.