To My Dearest Stardust, To My Dearest Moony - Fenrys' Mate

Chapter 11 - Letters

(I'm so sorry it took so long but I've been having a massive block so just threw together a short chapter to try and get me back into the story.xx)

-e

Yrene

The days had been dark since Fenrys had woken. The darkened sky and thick air was not the only indication that a storm was brewing. A brutal harsh storm on the edge of the horizon everyone now was just beginning to see.

Fenrys had kept his distance almost so much that Chaol and Lorcan had started to notice, and that was saying something. His presence had been brief and only when completely necessary even if he seemed the same old Fenrys when he was forced to be around people. He was working non-stop. I could tell from the hollow look in his eyes and the tightness that pulled at his face. I'd barely caught him long enough to tell him we were heading back to Terrasen in a few hours, he'd said a soft thank you and scurried off back to the rooms he'd been occupying for days.

Luna had barely left her rooms either but she was still recovering from the mental haul she'd somehow managed in pulling Fenrys back out of the dark. From that endless pit of suffering but... perhaps he wasn't back at all. Sure, he finally had control over his mind, but he was more like a lost soul caught in that body than he was the fae male they'd all come to love.

"Mum, I'm going to ride back with Luna if that's ok. I offered and Aelin said it was a good idea." I was pulled out of my reverie by Henric. The resemblance between himself and Chaol were astounding. The brown tufts of hair, his loyalty and his soft brown eyes. I thought that loving someone more than Chaol would be impossible until I was blessed with Henric.

There was something different. The silence of the travel back to Orynth was heavy and unforgiving. Even as I felt the company release a long, relieving breath after they crossed into Orynth they'd all been holding since leaving the palace gates in Rifthold, barely anyone had spoken a word.

Aelin and Lyssandra's overwhelming shock and been eating away at the whole of the court for days. It wasn't supposed to be like that. Fenrys was supposed to return and everything was supposed to go back to the way it was. Happy and free without the weight of threats that had been aligning themselves for decades. Thought we had all suffered enough to be past all of the disputes between one force or another. But a Hamel... Darkness was coming. This was just the start. That day seventeen years ago had just been the first move of a pawn in a very long game of chess. The first domino to fall, if you will. Who would be the last? How many lives would have to be lost to find ourselves back on even footing? No. I couldn't think about that. 

Celeana and Aelin were different people. Clearly there were some that disagreed, but I had met Celeana in a time of need in what seemed like another life entirely. The night that changed both of our lives and forged our future into a new found world that we created for ourselves. The past, it seemed, was inescapable. A constant reminder of who we had once been in order to not create the same mistakes. Arobynn and his kin, apparently, did not share the same sentiment.

I watched from afar as Fenrys took in his lost home. He walked through the doors as if in a daze, completely unaware of me following him. Past the throne room, barely sparing it a glance. It hadn't changed at all in years. That would be why he continued. Perhaps this was what he needed. To return home as a reminder of who he was so he could at last find himself again. He'd been lost for far too long.

I knew where he'd go. His office and rooms, back to where all this had started for him. I was right.

Fenrys

Everything was exactly the way I left it, like I'd never left it at all. The slight chip in the door from where Aedion had tackled me for whatever reason. The worn patch of flooring just past the doorway where I'd scuffed dirt from my boots. Yet, there on the desk, a small box filled with letters all addressed to me. Work accounts most likely that I'd no doubt have to catch up on.