Winds of Fire [ACOTAR]

CHAPTER TWENTY THREE

Returning to the Night Court had resulted in more chaos than Primrose had expected. Despite the security of the townhouse, Rhys and Feyre had instructed both her and Orion to pack their bags and stay with them, and the rest of their family, at the River Estate until everything calmed down. Orion had been hesitant at first, reluctantly agreeing that there was indeed safety in numbers. They walked together from the River Estate back to the House of Wind, silently taking in the beauty of the city. Primrose wasn't sure how she had once hated this place, once wanted to remove its entire existence from her brain.

Orion's hand brushing hers sent a rush of warmth onto the back of her palm, Prim turned to her husband who hadn't even noticed he had done it. Primrose couldn't help but smile the soft look on his face. "If someone had told me," she started, Orion looking to her as she spoke, "That one day I would be friends with Orion Archeron, not to mention his wife too, and assisting his court in a war... Well, I would have thought they were crazy."

"Is being friends with me so bad?" He asked, and despite the joking tone she had given, he seemed more serious. His lips were in a line, apart from the small curl at the sides of his mouth. The wind blew gently in his hair and Prim had to turn away, chuckling lightly.

"You know what I mean," she rolled her eyes, though she was not sure if he did. He had been acting strangely, and the way he had behaved with Apollo was just as strange. She was sensing something that had gone amiss, a piece of the puzzle that she had simply misplaced. She would find it sooner or later.

The rest of the walk was uncomfortably quiet, even the wind did not sing around them as it whipped across the city. By the time they reached the townhouse, Loysa had gotten news of their leaving and had begun packing their belongings. Prim reached her room, her wardrobe emptied and packed away, and went straight to her bedside table. Inside still laid her notebook and dagger, untouched and just how she had left them. She trusted Loysa, she truly did, but these things were her's, solely hers and hers alone. The leatherbound cover felt soft against her palm as Prim lifted it from the drawer. It was the only thing that connected her to her father, and now his own copy had been destroyed in the attack on Rosehall. Prim opened it slowly, expecting to see the last message she had sent and the few previous ones.  To her surprise, there was a scribbly scroll across the bottom of the page, very obviously in her father's writing.

Be brave, my flower.

Prim looked down at the page, wondering when it had written it. Had he written it just before the Summer Court attacked? Had he written it days before then and it was merely a coincidence? Prim hated herself for not checking sooner. Slamming the book shut, her eyes prickling, Prim took the dagger and slipped it onto her belt. She had promised her father she would keep herself safe, that she would carry it around with her. A knock at the door had Prim spinning around, her eyes still glossy as they locked with Orion's.

"Woah," he said, rushing to her side and sitting beside her on the bed, "Are you okay?"

Orion's eyebrows were furrowed as he looked to her, his eyes searching her face as if he could find whatever was bothering her upon her very skin. Chuckling slightly, Prim nodded, sniffling as she spoke, "Yes, I'm fine, I just found these things from my dad."

Orion looked down at the notebook on the bed, his eyes glancing to the dagger on her belt. It took a moment for him to register them, Prim had never shown them to him before. With a blink, Orion returned his gaze to her, "I still can't believe he left."

"Neither can I." Prim sighed, leaning her shoulder on Orion's, "There's no point dwelling on it, I suppose. We have a war to focus on now, not my daddy issues."

"Trust you to avoid your own personal worries to focus on the worries belonging to all of Prythian. That was very High Lady of you." He laughed, clasping Prim's hand as she stood before him, "Just promise me you'll come to me if you need anything. Even if it's just to talk."

High Lady, he had said. Prim dreamed of that, once upon a time. It was no longer a reality it seemed - or maybe, it never really had been. Primrose squeezed his hands within her own, smiling gently down at Orion, "I promise, even if it's just to talk."

Standing, Orion brushed a kiss to Prim's cheek as he passed toward the door, "Meet me in the foyer when you're ready."

With a nod, Prim turned back to her things, finishing her last few bits of packing. She only took important things; clothing, toiletries and necessary supplies, things that her father had given her or had once belonged to her mother. Everything else - the books, the large amounts of makeup, smelly soaps and oils that made her skin incredibly soft - would stay, in hopes that Primrose would soon return to them. The four boxes that filled her things were sent off in the weird storage space within time, eventually turning up in wherever her new room had been assigned. She was never too sure exactly how that worked, but she had never lost anything so she supposed it worked rather well.

Orion was in the foyer where he said he would be, a sad-looking smile upon his lips. Perhaps his House of Wind had been her Rosehall. As far as she knew, he hadn't spent as much time in the River Estate as the others did. Maybe, the House of Wind was more of a home than the estate could ever be. Prim didn't know why she felt so sad. They would be coming back, even if it took years, they would be back eventually. They would return home.