Embers and Ashes

Chapter 7

Melona

   After that time in the forest I spent a lot of time alone. A few days of Eris purposefully tried to ignore me before he had been sent off to the other side of the land to deal with whatever it was his father needed him for. Leaving me in my rooms dealing with Tyren’s studies of the dynamics of the Autumn Court. Being taught my place and each person’s role. My role mostly being to be the pretty female at Eris’ side at formal gatherings, being the symbol of mercy and kindness to the lesser fae, and the most important one. Making babies.

   The more I am told about my role the more it makes me want to crawl out of my skin, and run away with the wind. The more I block out the lesson’s. The more I spend time in my room and think about that little boy drowning.

   This isn’t fair to him. Thirty minutes was not good payment for him, he deserves more from me. I will not let him see me as just another female. I will one way or another show him that I am his equal. Weather he wants to or not.

   So I told Pomona to inform me as soon as Eris was back.

   The guards didn’t move to stop me as I went past the doors to his personal manor. It was a good half hour walk from my rooms to the surface, and another length ways. Still, that didn’t stop me.

   It was much more lovely a smell of old paper, and dusty leather. The walls painted a deep terracotta, with darkly stained redwood floorboards, trim, and stair rails. The chandeliers where iron forged with real candles there. Accents of gold in the ceiling trim, and grey stone in the fireplaces. With red mandala rugs and brown leather couches.

  I had to stand in the middle of it all and spin under the light of the sun that I hadn’t seen all these days he’s been away. Spin and admire the craftsmanship of ancient hands with woodwork and paintings. Spin just for the sheer joy of being out of my cage for a while.

   “What are you doing here?”, Eris asks from the top of the stairs. Looking for all the world that he had been flung against a wall. . . several times.

   “What happened to you?”, I gasp and rush for the stairs.

   “Nothing”, he answers when I’m only half way up, but I don’t stop until I can full see him in the light of day.

   “No you’re not”, I tell him. My hands reaching for his horribly bruised face. “What in Prythian did this to you?”

   “Nothing”, he answers again and dodges my touch like I had poisoned figure tips. “Why are you here Melona?”

   “I wanted to see you”, I say gently. “I - I feel like that you feel cheated by what you shared with me. That maybe you feel taken advantage of because you haven’t had anyone listen to you, really listen to you, for a long time. Then suddenly having that let you slip, and now you’re treating me like I had beaten it out of you. I don’t want you to feel that way. I want to offer you a bit of myself.”

   He looks at me blankly for a really long time before shaking his head.

   “Go back to your rooms Melona.”, he scowls as he turns to walk away.

   “No”, I tell him firmly and he pauses to look at me.

   “That wasn’t a suggestion. I am ordering you to go back to your room”, he hisses.

   I plant my feet to the floor. No.

   “I am not playing this childish game”, Eris warns.

   “Neither am I”, I tell him. “If I am going to be your Queen then I am not going to let you face anything alone. If you can’t love me, fine. I can find a way to deal with that, but I wont let you keep believing that you are alone anymore.”