Briella Soleil just wanted to spend a week with her brother when she accidentally ended up in Prythian instead.
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"Hi, I'm so sorry to intrude but I was going to visit my brother and got lost on the way. Could you tell me where I am?" I asked...
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𝐜𝐡. 𝟓: 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐨
"Someone got in trouble!" Levi cackled gleefully.
"Shut up, asshole," I mumbled, not in the mood to deal with his bullshit. After Lucien had dragged me back to Rosehall, he had practically shoved me into my room so he could yell at me for talking to "dangerous individuals."
Lucien shut the door harshly before turning to me. His expression was scarily calm as he tilted his head, silently ordering me to sit. My stomach was twisted with anxiety as I took a seat on the edge of my bed. I glanced down nervously when Lucien dragged a chair over to sit in front of me and started fiddling with my ring once I realized he had taken a seat but hadn't spoken a word yet.
"Do you know who that was?" Lucien growled out finally. His tone almost made me flinch. Almost.
"The High Lord of the Night Court," I said without hesitation even though I still wasn't completely sure. Turns out I was right because Lucien gave me a slight nod before continuing.
"Briella, do you know how stupid that was?" Lucien questioned. His voice rose and it was then that I flinched. The anger in his words was expected but the worry and slight panic caught me completely off guard.
"I'm sorry," I whispered, still looking down at my ring. I glanced up at Lucien for a second before darting my gaze away and continuing, "I know I was stupid but I only told him my name and nothing else. I wasn't thinking and I- I'm really sorry Lu."
"Don't leave your room for the rest of the night," Lucien ordered. I looked up at him and my anxiety heightened when his cold and blank expression still hadn't changed. My throat tightened and cursed myself when I felt tears prick the edge of my eyes.
Lucien's face softened and he moved to tuck me into bed, something he had done every night for almost the entirety of my stay at Rosehall. Even when he was swamped with work I knew he would check on me before heading to bed.
I rolled onto my side so that my back was facing him and tugged the duvet up to my chin.
"Bri-"
"Night," I mumbled with my eyes shut.
"He doesn't hate you," Levi said with a look of understanding. Of course, he would know exactly what was going through my mind.
"I hate that you can do that," I grumbled.
"It's the Soleil sibling superpowers," he joked. I rolled my eyes at that. "Hey, c'mere."
Levi pulled me into a hug and I could've sobbed because of the familiar warmth that enveloped me. When I was around five or six years old, I would wake up almost every night in tears but didn't want to bother my father or Levi by waking them up. Once they had both found out, dad had told me that if I didn't wake them up, they wouldn't be able to give me one of their "protection hugs" that would keep me safe from all of the bad dreams.
