A Court of Light and Fire

Chapter 9

POV: Alina

Alina and Azriel landed with two quiet thuds in the garden outside the High Lord's estate. Rhys, now dressed head to toe in a black suit, and a beautiful fae woman Alina assumed to be his wife and High Lady, Feyre, stood near the front entrance and started to make their way down the steps. She looked like a vision in a dazzling blue dress that hugged her feminine figure and bounced off the evening light. Rhys seemed pleased to see them, and Feyre was outright beaming.

"You must be Alina!" She walked right up to where Alina was standing and threw her arms around her in a bear hug. Not at all the greeting she was expecting from a High Lady. Rhys must have seen the surprise on her face because he just shrugged his shoulders and gave her a lazy smile.

"It's an honor to meet you, High Lady," Alina said with a nod. "Oh please! Call me Feyre. No need for such formality around here," Feyre said, waving her hand as she looked over to Azriel and back to Alina. "You guys are here at the perfect time. Dinner will be ready soon. Rhys told me you'd need a change of clothes so I picked out a few dresses for you to try on. Shall we?"

"Oh, sure." She looked to Azriel, who nodded back as if to say go, it's safe.

She followed Feyre into the house and was greeted with a little boy running around the foyer with a toy boat. He had thick, black hair and bright blue eyes, and he flapped his wings as he ran around the room. Feyre noticed Alina's attention on him, and when he didn't notice her at first, she said, "He just turned five. He's starting to learn how to build strength in his wings to fly. Flapping them noisily is his new favorite pastime."

He noticed them then and stopped his running around to look up at Alina. That was when it hit her – he was the little boy she had seen in Velaris, the one that had gawked at her wings and asked how his could look like hers. He ran up to her, eyes narrowing at her suspiciously.

"I remember you! I ate broccoli but my wings still don't look like yours!" His little face scrunched up in anger. It was possibly the cutest thing she'd ever seen and she put in real effort to hide her amusement.

Feyre turned to look at her, eyebrows raised in question. "You've met my son?"

Alina smiled. "Once, on the street in Velaris." She kneeled down until she was level with him. "I had to eat broccoli for ten years before I started growing feathers."

He threw his little hands up in exasperation. "What! That's too long!" Alina laughed at his fiery spirit. "I hear you're starting to learn how to fly."

His face lit up with pure joy. "Mom and Dad said I could be flying on my own in a few months!"

"Wow, that's cool. I never flew by myself until I was seven years old." A lie, but what did the kid know. His eyes filled with wonder and he turned to Feyre. "Did you hear that mommy? Did you hear it? She didn't even fly til she was seven!"

Feyre smiled down at him and ran a hand through his hair. "Yeah I heard. That's super cool, buddy. We're going to go upstairs and do boring adult stuff now. If you need anything call Nuala or Cerridwen, okay?"

"Otay!" With a wing flap and "whoosh!" and a wave of his mighty toy vessel, he was off.

They started to make their way up the stairs, and Feyre linked her arm with Alina's. "I see you're good with kids."

"Haha. I guess. I think they're funny, in an endearing way. How their personality comes out and how passionate about everything they are. I don't see kids often."

"Well he certainly likes you." Feyre pulled her into a large guest suite and pointed her towards a rack of dresses waiting by the bed. "Choose any dress you like. Just give me a shout if you need any assistance. The bathroom is right over there in case you want to freshen up. Dinner is in 20."