Winds of Fire [ACOTAR]

CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR

Prim's new room had ended up being in the same hallway as Orion's. Feyre and Rhysand, along with the other adults, all shared the same hall, Orion, Primrose and Nova sharing the other. To reach her room, she had to pass Orion's, and would often find herself looking inside to see him. Sometimes he wouldn't be there and something in Prim would feel cold and empty. Though often, she would find him upon the bed and it took everything inside her not to stop and join him. Sitting in her own room, she could often hear the others. Hear Orion pacing around and Nova giggling to herself as she played with her dolls. It wasn't until that night when everyone had gone to bed that it finally went quiet. That was, until it wasn't anymore.

The library in the River Estate was small but heavily packed with novels - no doubt due to Nesta. Prim had taken a selection of a few she thought she would enjoy and brought them back to her room with her, deciding to read them by candlelight, knowing she would not get much sleep anyway. It was around midnight - she was half a novel down and rather invested in the romance between Prince Isaac and Princess Sabine - when she heard something a few rooms away. Prim bookmarked her page immediately, walking to the door and peeking her head down the corridor. There was light coming from Nova's room, a soft sobbing sound drifting down the hall. Turning to her wardrobe, Prim quickly pulled a pair of shorts on beneath her nightgown and moved to leave the room. Nova's bedroom door creaked as Prim pressed it gently open, her eyes widening once she met the brightness of candles. There was one on each bedside table, illuminating the bed and surrounding areas. Prim's eyes focused on the bed, the people within it and Nova's small figured curled up against someone else's.

Tear marks stained her cheeks as she leant into Orion, him holding his little sister tightly and whispering gently to her. Nova was shaking slightly, most likely having woken up from a nightmare. Prim's room was closer to her's than Orion's was. Why hadn't she heard Nova's cries?

Orion had noticed Prim's lurking, giving her a gentle smile but not alerting Nova to her presence. She had planned to back out silently, planned to leave Nova with Orion, with her big brother, one of the people she trusted most in this world. Moving to back away, Prim's foot creaked on the floorboard and Nova's little head shot up, meeting Prim's eyes with slight shock and confusion. Prim knew that if she was Nova, she wouldn't have wanted some strange girl to comfort her, wouldn't have wanted her brother's fake wife to see her like this. But Prim was not Nova, and Nova saw Prim as more than that.

Pulling slightly away from Orion, Nova reached her hands up toward Prim and Prim crossed the room in an instant. She moved around the bed, on the opposite side of Orion, and sat beside Nova, engulfing the girl in a tight hug. Nova adjusted until she was in Prim's lap, her hands around Prim's neck and her legs wrapped around her waist. Her small body was shaking as she hiccuped lightly into Prim's chest, Prim rubbing her back soothingly. "Did you have a nightmare, sweetheart?" Prim whispered against Nova's hair.

Nova nodded against Prim, sniffling as she did so, "I don't what there to be a war. I heard Mommy and Daddy talking about it earlier."

Feyre and Rhysand were normally careful about what the spoke about when Nova was around. They didn't want to blind her of everything that was going on but they also didn't want to scare her or upset her. War was scary for adults, Prim couldn't imagine how bad it was for children.

"I don't want there to be one either," Prim replied truthfully, "But you know nothing bad will happen to you right?"

"I know, but what about everyone else? They could get hurt, couldn't they?" she cried, not bringing her face out from where it was pressed against Prim's chest. Prim cradled her gently as though she was a baby.

"You're right, they could. But your family? Your daddy, your uncles, your cousins? They're strong, stronger than you know, sweetie. They're going to be okay." Prim told her, hoping it was the truth.

Nova had quietened now, her breathing slowly returning to normal as she laid against Prim. Prim rested her head delicately against Nova's, watching as Orion reached out and stroked the back of his sister's back lovingly. "Do you want to go back to sleep, baby girl?" Orion asked softly, "I can stay with you if you want."

Nodding sadly, Nova pulled out of Prim's hold, but took her hand instead, "Yes, please. Can Prim stay too?"

Nova's eyes were glossy and wide as she looked up at Prim, her fist rubbing away the tears on her cheeks. "I can stay if you want me to," Prim smiled, squeezing Nova's hand gently.

Nova smiled for the first time that night, sliding beneath the covers and pulling Prim to prompt her to join. Orion moved on the other side of the bed, crawling beneath the covers and laying on his side so he could properly see Nova. Prim followed his movement, laying next to Nova and twisting so she was on her side. Nova's hand gripped Prim's as she moved closer to her brother, snuggling up beside him. She had never imagined herself in this position, comforting Nova as Orion did a few feet away. She imagined this is what Nova would do with Feyre and Rhysand, not with her and Orion.

Nova's eyes had fluttered shut within a few moments, the light from the candles caressing her skin against the dark of the night. Moving slowly, Prim pulled her hand from Nova's and sat up against the headboard, "Do you want me to blow out the candles?"

Orion nodded gently, "Yes, just in case we fall asleep and they burn the house down."

Prim chuckled lightly, not wanting to wake Nova, and slipped out of bed. She moved to each bedside table, softly blowing the candles out. Prim hovered at her side of the bed, not quite knowing whether she should get back in or not. Having noticed, Orion looked up at her with confusion, "What are you doing?"

Prim shrugged, sitting down on the mattress but not climbing beneath the duvet, "Do you want me to leave?"

"Why would I want you to leave?" He breathed, gently arranging the duvet around Nova as she shifted slightly.

Prim just smiled at Orion as she slid back in beside Nova, curling in against her. Luckily for the three of them, Nova already had a double bed despite her small size. The room was bathed in darkness and the warmth from Nova drifting into Prim was making her incredibly sleepy. As her head hit the pillow, Prim allowed her eyes to close, the gentle breathing of Nova and Orion like music to her ears as she drifted into sleep.