by Zora Marie
Though Farin smiled, there was a hint of sadness in his gaze. She hoped it wasn’t because of her. Everything felt like her fault these days. Rina paused as she took in the place settings, there were only five this morning and the open ones were on either side of Farin.
“Please, come sit by me this morning.” Standing, Farin pulled out a chair beside him.
“Thank you,” she said, a hint of weariness threading its way through her. Without Arlen and Dorn to hide between, she felt exposed. Using the metal silverware in front of others last night had been awkward. The stuff she’d grown up with was wood her mother had carved and polished, all of them now missing prongs.
“Don’t worry, I don’t bite,” Farin said as he retook his seat.
After grabbing a plate of food off the counter, Fen walked around, putting steaming hot patties of bread-like stuff on everyone’s plates. Rina assumed this was the pancake as everything else seemed to be fruits and vegetables, which Arlen was dishing out. Once everyone had a few patties, Fen sat down and reached for a long narrow cup with the lip folded inward. After drizzling a thick brown liquid across his pancake, he passed the cup to his father. When Farin handed it to her, she copied them before passing it to Dorn.
Cutting off a small piece, she popped it into her mouth. The liquid was sweeter than the sweetest wild berries she had ever eaten, and the pancake was a soft doughy form of bread that seemed to melt in her mouth. She’d seldom had bread and this was nothing like anything she’d ever had.
“Hm, not my best pancakes,” Fen said, a cute little quirk to his smile as he glanced her way.
“Still better than anything I’ve ever made,” Rina countered.
“No, I’m sure you’re a great cook.”
She glanced around the table. There were so many foods that she had never seen before, let alone have cooked. “Who knows.” She shrugged. Cooking to make things edible had been her only goal growing up, but perhaps she could be a good cook eventually.
“Speaking of skill based things,” Dorrn said. “Fen’s sword work is improving. He might even be able to survive an encounter with a warrior.”
Fen groaned. “I still can’t beat Ash.”
Arlen snorted. “Even I can’t beat Ash.”
“You might get closer to her skill if you’d suck it up and train with her,” Farin pointed out. Fen scowled at his father, but didn’t say anything.
“His ability to translate texts has improved though. He’s probably better than many of our scholars.”
Farin nodded in approval and discussion tapered off. Or perhaps she’d just tuned them out. Rina couldn’t really be certain as she ate until her stomach began to protest. Her plate still half full, she resigned herself to nibbling on a piece of fruit.
“Are you liking it here?” Farin asked, a seriousness in his tone that had not been there before. His demeanor softened as he added, “I realize you need time to get to know all of us, as well as time to grieve, settle in, and learn about your powers, but I need to know if you want me to keep Lord Trazar and his wife away.”
Rina’s brows furrowed. “Who?”
“Your mother’s parents,” Arlen said. His eyes widened with a realization and horor buffered against Rina’s senses.
“What’s wrong?”
“You’re his heir.”
Beside her, Farin sighed. “I can’t believe you just now realized that. Projection is a Starlight Court specialty.”
Casting a worried glance between the two males, Rina pursed her lips. “What’s an heir and why are you freaking out about it?”
“An heir, when it refers to a lord, refers to the person who will inherit the power of the position. As my son, Fen is my heir. As Lord Trazar’s only living blood relative that we know of, you would be his heir. Or more accurately, your future significant other would be since females don’t generally rule.”
“But Trazar adopted Riker as his heir,” Fen said.
Farin nodded. “Blood ties come first though, unless disowned.”
Heir. Lord. Significant other. The words spun through her mind, threatening what food she’d managed to get down. “Disowned?” She asked, then shook her head. There were better things to ask before jumping to that path. He’d asked her a question. “What does this have to do with keeping them away?”
“My claim to keep you here is tenuous. Since you were born outside the courts, I don’t have a link to you like I do the rest of my subjects. Thankfully, that also means he didn’t either.”
“What’s a link?” Rina interrupted before she ended up completely lost in this conversation.
Farin gave her an apologetic glance. “Right. A bond is a mental link between a ruler and their subjections, it allows us to unify our people in times of war. They can be used for more than that, but it is considered unethical—wrong—to do so without the individual’s permission.”
Her mouth opened then closed as she realized she didn’t particularly know where to go with that information. Tension crept into her until she was taut as a bow string. “What does that mean for me?”
“If you left with them, you may not be allowed to return.”
“What?” She blinked. Arlen and Dorn were both stone faced, Fen was giving her mixed readings, leaving Farin the only one with an open expression. “You mean they would keep me there?”
Farin made a strangled noise. “It's a possibility. Here, even as young as you are, you have rights. A voice in who you stay with and what you do. There, as a female, you wouldn’t. That said, I don’t want you to make a decision based on that alone. Especially considering you’re his only blood related heir.”
Taking a deep breath, Rina sorted through everything Farin had said. One thing kept standing out to her. “What exactly involves being an heir?”
“When a Lord dies, their heir inherits both their position and power. An heir is usually trained from the moment they learn to walk so they can handle that power. Heirs are historically always male. If a line only has females, they are married off as soon as they are of age and the power is forcibly bound to the male.”
Her imagination running wild, Rina winced. “Why is it done this way?”
“Because no matter how highly we think of ourselves, fae have been antiquated in the way they view gender equality.”
“And a lot of the other lords are grumpy old bastards,” Fen grumbled, but his eyes lit up when their gazes met.
“Either way, you don’t have to answer me this morning. I want you to ask Ash about your grandparents while you’re out today. She’s less biased than the rest of us and I want this to be your decision. If you do not want to go with them, I will not let them take you. Both of your parents chose to live here. Even if you are technically their heir and did not grow up here, you are a member of my court and will have my protection should you want it.”
Rina nodded. “Thank you, Lord Farin,” she said, using his name for the first time since arriving.
“There’s no need for Lord while it is just us, though I am glad Arlen remembered to mention at least a little bit about formalities. He’s never been very good at using them himself.” Farin gave Arlen a glance that had him sitting back in mock offense.
“As though you were any better growing up.”
Farin chuckled. “At least I grew up and learned to use formality when necessary. I believe it was only last month that Lord Sadoren was complaining about your lack of etiquette in front of his council.”
“That one’s not on me. Sadoren and I were talking in private when his council walked in on us.”
“Mmhmm.” Farin sat back in his seat, his arms crossed. “Well, the girls are nearly here and breakfast is over, so I suggest you get cleaning, Arlen.”
Arlen’s eyes widened. “It’s not my week is it?”
“Your week for what?” Rina asked.
“To clean up after meals. Poor Fen has been taking care of it for him all week,” Farin said.
“It’s all right,” Fen said, “but this
sticky syrup mess is all yours.”
“Fair enough.” Standing, Arlen began stacking plates to take to the kitchen.
Rina reached for her silverware to help, but Dorn whisked it away before she had so much as a chance to touch it. With nothing to busy herself with, her mind turned over their conversation. A part of her wanted to meet her grandparents, but she didn’t want to give up what she had here, either. Dorn and Arlen, even Fen and the others, were all just so nice. It was more than that though, already they felt like family. Like people Tomilin would have loved. Given the negative energy buzzing around all four of the males, Rina had a feeling she already knew what her answer would be.
10
Fen
“Fen, how about you show Rina around the property,” Farin said as he finished the last of his morning tea.
Getting the hint that his father wanted to speak with Dorn and Arlen alone, Fen pushed his chair back and stood. “Of course.” He looked at Rina. “Come on, it’s time you had the grand tour.”
As soon as they left the dining room, Fen realized he had no idea what to show her. He had given members of royal households—mainly females only interested in him for his power—tours of the palace numerous times, but he had never given anyone a tour of his actual home before. More importantly, he’d never given a tour to someone he actually wanted to be around.
“There’s not a lot to our house.” He glanced back at Rina as she followed him down the hall. She was looking at the crown molding, which desperately needed cleaned. He couldn’t remember whose turn it was to do that. If it was his, he’d call in the favor Arlen owed him for missing his week to clean the dishes—again. Pausing, he glanced down the intersecting hallway. “Do you like to read?”
“I… love stories, if that’s what you’re asking.”
A mix of her embarrassment and longing brushed against his senses. It was oddly comforting having someone who projected around again. Lyra had always been his rock in a world he felt isolated in. Without the only mother figure he’d ever had, he felt a little adrift and lost. Even after all these years, his chest ached at the loss of her and Rye.
“You know, Lyra is the one who taught me to read,” he said as he led her down a short hall. “She used to say that I was the worst student she’d ever had. She practically had to tie me to a chair to get me to sit still long enough to pay attention. Even then, I fought her until she convinced me that reading stories of battles could help me with my knife throwing. By that point, she was at her wits’ end, having spent three years trying to teach me the basics.”
He opened the second to last door in the hallway, the one Lyra had told him Rye had carved. The entire thing was made to look like a bookshelf packed full of Dorn and Lyra’s favorite books. There were epics and romances, art and theories, all carved and stained with near lifelike quality. There was even gold leaf on a couple of the titles. It had been one of Rye’s anniversary gifts to Lyra. He hoped he’d one day have a mate he loved enough to put that sort of care and time into gifts for.
Stepping into the library, he breathed in the smell of leather, paper, and wood. The book he’d snuck in to read last night was right where he’d left it on the table by the fluffy chair in the corner. Usually he read in bed, but last night he’d needed the comfort of the towering shelves.
Fen stepped out of Rina’s way.
Her eyes widened as she stared up at the walls of books. He had always thought of their home library as small, especially compared to the one in town and the one at the palace. But the way Rina stared at the shelves in wonder made him want to teach her how to read… and then take her to every library he had ever visited.
“Mother must have loved it here,” she breathed. “She loved to read and tell stories. Every chance she got, she took me to the glade and she’d sit and read to me for hours. She always said the stories she’d told me she had read in books.”
“She kept her all-time favorites in her and Rye’s room. I believe they’re still in there if you’d like them.” He leaned back against one of the shelves. “I could help you learn from where she left off.”
Rina nodded, her gaze distant. There was pain mixed in with her quiet wonder and they filled him as though they were his own emotions. He wished he could wash the pain away. He wondered if she even knew what it was like to truly be happy. To be happy for more than a few moments at a time. To be safe.
Rina shook herself, her emotions shifting with the movement. “Sorry. I need to learn not to project.”
“It takes time.” He shrugged, not really sure what else there was for him to say, what he could say that would help.
Her gaze lingered on the trees outside the window.
“Would you like to go outside? I could show you the pond and the training field. Or…” He trailed off as Rina nodded.
“What do you think Farin wanted to talk to Arlen and Dorn about?”
He wanted to say, ‘You,’ but he didn’t want to make her worry. “It’s hard telling. Arlen and Dorn take care of a lot of things for Father.”
Rina glanced at him, and he knew she saw right through his half-truth. Just as she opened her mouth, though, Amber suddenly called from the front of the house. “You so owe me for that one, Farin!”
Gesturing toward the door, Fen grinned. “Come on, this will be fun to watch,” he said as he headed back down the hall. He could almost picture Amber stalking through the house, her head lowered in that way she sometimes did when she’d spent too much time spying in her eagle form.
“She sounds… annoyed,” Rina said as she walked beside him.
He flicked her a glance, his grin widening.
By the time they made it back to the kitchen, the two girls were already there. Ash had dropped a bundle of scrolls on the center island and was now jumping up to sit on the counter. Farin’s forehead was creased in confusion as he studied Amber, who stood with her feet spread apart and her fists clenched.
Amber pointed an accusing finger at Fairn. “You said that Selara was supposed to be running Sealar’s messages, not Watren.”
Arlen snickered and Fen struggled not to do the same. Watren had always had a thing for Amber. It had started before he was born. Every few years, Water Court’s spymaster would find an excuse to cross paths with Amber while she was out spying. Honestly, Fen thought they’d make a cute pair. Together, no secret would go unturned. On second thought, perhaps it was best they didn’t get together.
“She was supposed to be,” Farin said.
“Sure. Next time have Ash take the messages to Water Court.”
“As if you don’t like the attention,” Arlen teased, earning him a glare that would’ve sent lesser males scurrying for water. “What did he do this time?”
“The usual and when I turned him down—as usual—he thought he’d just steal a kiss.”
Now Farin was smiling. This happened nearly every time Watren saw Amber.
“Should I be sending Sealar an apology for his messenger being singed again?” Father asked.
“No. I have some self-control.” Farin raised an eyebrow. Amber shrugged. “I just helped him go for a nice warm swim in the river.”
“You know, he only continues to do it because he knows it annoys you.”
“I tried telling her that on the way here,” Ash said, “but she just won’t listen. Though I am surprised that you didn’t send him home bald this time.”
“The thought crossed my mind,” Amber said, a hint of a growl in her tone. “I don’t much care for the smell of burning hair though.”
“All right, children,” Farin said with more than a bit of sarcasm. “I believe you and Ash were planning to take Rina shopping for some clothes… Dorn will be joining you.”
“Why?” Amber asked. “Afraid we’ll scare her off or something?”
“No, but she has her mother’s projection abilities.”
Beside him, Rina’s emotions banked into forced neutrality. Amber’s mouth opened, but when she glanced at Arlen and
Dorn, her mouth closed. “All right. We’ll try not to torture Dorn too much today then.”
Ash turned, looking Rina up and down. “Hm, they fit you better than I thought they would.” She slid off the counter and patted the bundle of scrolls. “It’s all here. Forewarning, Jaren was the one running messages for Lord Sadoren this morning and he was asking about Rina and why Arlen wasn’t the one running messages.”
Fen tucked his hands in his pockets at the mention of Arlen’s cousin. Jaren hadn’t run messages in decades, not since he became heir to the Sunlight Court when Lord Sadoren’s daughter turned out to be his mate. As much as Fen liked Jaren, the fact that he ran messages for an excuse to talk with Arlen didn’t sit easily with him.
Arlen sighed. “Of course, he was.”
“What did you tell him?” Farin asked Ash.
“That Arlen was busy helping you with something this morning and that I didn’t know much about Rina, but… he mentioned that she reminded him of Lyra and Rye.”
“Did he say if he was visiting his sister today?” Arlen asked.
“Nope, but something tells me that he may stick around long enough for you to find him.”
“All right, I’ll see you all later then,” Arlen said, standing.
The warmth of Rina’s presence shifted as she watched Arlen head down the hallway.
“Well, we’d best get going if we are going to be back for dinner,” Dorn said.
“Shopping takes all day?” Rina’s brows furrowed.
“Only with Ash and Amber,” Fen said.
“I’m sorry, not everyone simply picks the first thing they come across that fits,” Amber said. “Some of us have a sense of style.”
“Yeah, it’s so hard to find things in black, green, red, and orange,” Fen said.
“Mmhmm.” Amber bumped his shoulder as she passed.
11
Arlen
Stopping at Jaren’s favorite tea shop in town, Arlen was relieved to spot his cousin sitting at the bar, facing the open balcony. The human waitress smiled at Arlen. When he nodded, she hurried off into the kitchen.
