Starlight of a Moonbeam

Three Is None, One - Age 3 (Fenrys POV)

AN:
This chapter is the first part of a moment in the story, so they'll be two more chapters to come in the same day, that I'll post soon!

"All's clear. Let's head back to the barracks."

Rowan and I are on patrol now. There's not much to look out for since the wars over. So far all the kingdom's or should I say queendoms (since there seem to be quite a bit more of those these days) are at peace. But that's the way it always is after a war: everyone wants to keep the peace, but we'll see what happens in a century or two. But for now, these patrols are mostly just a good excuse to clear your head. Which is something I'm in dire need of, nowadays.

Rowan and I haven't exactly been on the best terms since the birth of his and Aelin's child. He's been more distant with me, though I can tell he's trying to accept the situation. But he still doesn't relish the idea of me near Elena without someone else aware of the situation present, which only includes: Aedion (who's understanding enough), Lysandra (Who loves to glare, excessively), Lorcan (who won't show any emotion besides judgment), Elide (who smiles and gives me reassuring pats on the shoulder), Aelin (who, overall is pleased, that is after she got the chance to have it out in the training pit: just fists and feet), and Rowan (Who is trying his best to become used to the idea, particularly since Aelin keeps bugging him to, and I quote: "If you don't cool it, and stop acting like a stone hearted bastard, then you can shove it up your ass and sleep in a nest!").

~Flashback~

"She's just a child!"

"You think I don't know that!? You think I'm going to try something with her?! How discussing do you think I am?!"

"Oh, you might try to wait, but what happens when she gets older. Can you really tell me you wont try to tell her."

"Of course I'm going to tell her! Eventually!"

"You won't last past her 18th birthday! She's my child and I won't have it!"

"You think I chose this?! I never asked for any of this to happen!!"

"Are you saying you don't want my daughter!?!"

"NO! Of course not!! I've waited a lifetime to find my mate!"

"Well you'll be waiting a lifetime more! I won't have you trying to court my child!"

~End of flashback~

That was the first day. Aelin yelled at us being: territorial overbearing brutes, and made us leave the room and go far enough away that we wouldn't be heard. But I'm sure Rowan's roaring could be heard from the borders of Terrasen. Since then we've been doing better, but I can't help but feel he's worried he'll wake up one morning and find I've run away with his baby girl. Which is one of the most laughable things I can imagine because between the monstrosity of Aelin's rage, his anger, the court's of their new princess, and the fellow support of the neighboring lands, I would be hunted down and killed in the worst possible punishment.

Though she's not quite a baby anymore. By fae standards, she's still very much a newborn, but to mortals she's no longer a child, but three years old. Still, Rowan, Aelin, and practically every other member of the court still see her as the little princess. Though, just like her mother with a fiery temper. Literally.

Elena is full blooded fae, thanks to Aelin having to give up her mortality when facing the lock. We had yet to discover her animal form (despite Rowan's attempts to teach her. I still have no idea how he managed it with Aelin) but that made no difference to her. Her powers on the other hand were developing to say the least.

She, like Aelin, has fire magic. But unlike Aelin's current power, Elena's seemed unlimited. Indeed she was having trouble keeping her fire in check when she got angry or scared. Though she did not cause a problem in the royal library, she was turning out to be just like Aelin was at her age.

The Royal family. That's what they were: Perfect, happy, strong, powerful, beloved. It was hard to believe at times, to believe: we made it out, the wars over, we're at peace. Sometimes I'll walk into the music room to find Aelin and Elena side by side on the piano bench, as Aelin teaches her child how to play the grand instrument, and Rowan casually leaning against the piano, watching the two golden haired females play the evening away.

"Father!!" a young shout was heard as we neared the castle walls. I lifted my nose and inhaled the calming scent of nutmeg and sunbeams, when Elena came bounding around the side of the stone passage. "Father!" she cried again and leapt up into Rowan's waiting arms. "Starlight!" he said and hugged her close.

I originally came up with the name. It was one late spring evening when Aelin was nursing Elena out on the balcony of her room. I was at the time lying beside my queen's feet in wolf form when a howl pierced the silence of the night. "Call back to your friends." The queen teased. Just for fun I sat up and howled back at them. But then Elena started laughing happily and clapped. I howled again and she started squirming reaching for me, so I walked over and let her run her fingers through my white coat. On the third howl she whooped, herself up at the sky then her skin started glowing. Burning almost, but with no heat. I shifted and looked down at her as her skin continued to glow and shimmer like an ember. "Starlight" I called her.

"How are you my little king's flame?" Rowan asks her, snapping me out of my thoughts. "Father, Father, Auntie Lysandra and Uncle Aedion are coming with Evangeline!" the small child shook her father's arms in excitement. "They'll be here for dinner!! We're having chocolate cake!!" Always the chocolate cake!

"It's too bad you don't like chocolate cake!" I tease her, and she turns to me with a disapproving frown but a twinkle in her eyes. "Of course I like chocolate cake! I love chocolate cake! I could eat a whole cake in one sitting!"

"Is that so?" I raise an eyebrow, and hers lower but her chin lifts in defiance. "Yes! I'll eat a whole cake tonight! You'll see! I could eat a hundred cakes!" she announces proudly with an evil grin. One that looks almost identical to Aelin's.

"Woah, woah! Don't you go get sick from eating all that cake!" Rowan says sternly, but Elena isn't taking any notice. "Where did you go Father?"

"We went to patrol the borders." Rowan tells her. "Can I go with you next time?! Please???!!!!!" she pouts at him with her big eyes: one blue and gold, one a matching green to his.

"It's a big task. Patrolling the borders means scouting for danger, it means protecting all the people in Orynth. Can you do that?" I ask in a serious tone that I know she likes. Elena likes it when grown ups talk to her with importance, and I can see by the way her eyes light up, that she's not going to let this go.

"I swear to try my very hardest in protecting Orynth and all its peoples!" she states with her chin held high and a determined smile. But then she turns back to Rowan. She, like me, knows he's the one to convince if she really wants to come. Indeed she's now batting her little eyelashes at him.

"If your mother says it fine then it's alright with me." Rowan relents, and she squeals and kisses his cheek before hopping out of his arms and bounding away. "Thanks for that." He says to me exasperatedly.

"I heard her asking Ren about it last week. She wasn't about to give up. Besides, you didn't have to say yes."

"I didn't. I said she had to get Aelin's permission."

"Please. If Aelin gave her a tour of the royal arsenal, then she'll let her go on a patrol." I smile at the memory of seeing Elena's face light up when her mother was showing her around the great room filled with every kind of weapon imaginable.

"True." Rowan sighs. He doesn't quite remember it with the same fondness as I do, as he was the one who found her a day later throwing daggers around in a old, dusty, unused room in the castle, surrounded by broken bits of furniture, and broken vases, cuts on several of her arms, and having the best time of her life.

"It's not like there's much to be worried about out there anyway. We're at peace." I say as we make our way through the barracks. "I just.. I can't let anything happen to her." He says, and I suddenly find it hard not to look at the side of his face, where the tattoo of Lyra and their unborn child is permanently inked. "If something happened to her, if she was hurt." He continues. "You wouldn't understand."

"I wouldn't understand?! Gods Rowan, I know. Just the very thought alone.." I shudder. "But, the wars over, we're at peace. We, we have to find a way to put all of that behind us now. We can't go on living in fear."

Rowan turns to me and smiles, grasping my shoulder with his hand. "If she has to end up with a mate," he sighs, "You're not the worst choice." And with that he turns for the room he and Aelin share, leaving me alone in the corridor. I take a breath and nod my head. Someday, someday I'll tell her, but for now I have to get ready for dinner.

AN:
Ok. A lot of you were wondering how they would all react to them being mates, so I tried my best to clear that up a bit, but this chapter is really only a set up of the next two, so I hope you'll stick with me, even though this wasn't the best chapter!

-Leia 😅😊