A Storm of Flames and Deceit

XXX. Oasis

Nephele
I have an acute difficulty in slowing down. I live off whims and distractions and the next exciting thing. But I felt the world slow yesterday when I woke in Eris' arms, and I knew for certain it wasn't a fluke when it happened again this morning.
Every breath I took came a little deeper, a little longer. My blinks were sluggish as I faded awake. My bones and tendons and muscles felt slow with my ache for him.
He still sleeps, and I begin to wonder how often he lets himself sleep in. I sincerely doubt it happens often. He seems to slowly wake up though, like he could somehow sense that I was no longer asleep.
I'm not sure what I expect him to do- I never am with him, but to be completely honest, I thought he would've pushed me away or grumbled awkwardly, turning over. But he did none of those things.
No, he did... nothing. Absolutely nothing. All he did was stare right back at me, his face- as usual- impossible to read, the morning sunlight casting his cheeks in gold, flushed with sleep. I fall into a place of self consciousness. Why is he looking at me like that? What does he want from me? Why isn't he saying anything?
"Did you know you even talk when you're asleep?" He asks me, taking me off guard. I blink. "Seriously, I can't catch a break. It's like you never shut up- not even asleep."
A giggle falls from my lips before I can stop it, his chuckle harmonizing with it over the silent morning as I hit his chest in retaliation. "You're lying," I tell him, shoving his smug face. He shakes his head.
"It's true," he promises, sincere as death.
I roll my eyes, hiding my panic. "Oh really?" I retort. "Then, what did I say?" Fuck, I hope I didn't say anything embarrassing. I don't think I had a sex dream last night, but I'd be mortified if I somehow moaned his name in my sleep.
He shakes his head, laughing silently. "You must've dreamt you were eating," he smiles. "Because you kept asking for dessert under your breath."
I can't help but snort in a bit of laughter. "I'm serious!" He insists, smiling. "You wouldn't stop mumbling about Lemon Lavender Bread."
"I suppose I am a bit hungry," I admit, surprised by myself. My eyes go a bit wide. I can't remember the last time I felt casual hunger like this. I had been starved for so long, it was like I adapted not to feel that way for years. I got used to the emptiness, and now...
Now, I lay here, stomach grumbling, albeit meek and quiet, but Eris hears. He smiles. "Guess we better get some breakfast before we head out, then."
...
Day court is possibly the most jarring landscape I've ever seen. It was like an endless beach of orange sands, no water. The dunes piled and overlapped and shifted in the morning wind as I look around. For miles, there is nothing but desert and sky, surrounded my ridges and rocks of orange and red clay.
The air was strangely hot but dry, not an unpleasant feeling against my skin. I do feel grateful for the billowing nature of my ivory gown, made of chiffon and silver embellishments. I smile, but my eyes catch on a palace to our wayside.
My jaw drops a bit.
Eris had informed me that Helion was a bit... eccentric, but mother above, this is the grandest palace we've seen yet. It offsets the desert, white like a cloud against the blue sky and orange sand. It stands on columns of gold, completely open to the elements and the desert breeze.
Blindly, I let Eris drag me forward, trying to blink out of my trance. "Eris Vansera," Helion greets us at the entrance, offering my fiancé a casual handshake, his voice full of a conflicting balance of adoration and disdain. I imagine he hates saying Eris' last name, but loves his first name. The name Delia picked.
I look over the man, the man Delia loved but could never be with. He isn't disappointing. No, he's broadly handsome, sculpted and dark against his revealing white garment. A gold snake wraps around his massive bicep, his dress wrapped in gold in the same manor. He has a friendly smile, though his eyes look at Eris sharply. I suppose it's a good thing he takes more after his mother than his father.
"And this is the Fiancé, I presume?" He edges, his gaze traveling to me, his eyes scrunching in a bit more of a smile.
"Nephele," I tell him, extending my hand, letting his lips brush my knuckles. It's amusing how stiff Eris gets when I am greeted this way, his arm always tightening around me. He's so very territorial, but I try not to let it go to my head. He's just a spoiled rich boy who doesn't like other people touching his stuff. Or maybe I'm just trying to talk myself out of being flattered.
"It's nice to meet you," Helion muses flirtatiously. Eris warned me about this too. He told me Helion would flirt with a rock if he thought he could get it to blush, but allegedly, he has never flirted with one of Delia's children. That might almost indicate that he still has some feelings for Delia, though likely suppressed by his revolving door of lovers.
"And you," I smile in return, delighting in how stiff Eris is, a step behind me as Helion takes my arm, leading me through his palace. I'm not playing a game with Eris, per say. I'm not trying to accomplish anything by letting Helion do as he will. I just think it's a bit funny to fuck with him.
"Tell me- where do they hide away a woman so beautiful?" Helion asks, twisting one of my braids around his finger as we walk.
"In a very dark, very cold cellar across the ocean," I laugh, delighting in the apparent discomfort in Helion's shoulders about my casualness. He looks back at Eris like a sinking man, and Eris just shrugs, smug.
"She doesn't get out much," he says simply in answer.
I snort, rolling my eyes. "Your home really is lovely, Helion," I tell him honestly, though Dawn has still been my favorite thus far.
"Thanks," Helion's smile returns, sly and implying. "You should see my bedroom."
"She'll take your word for it, I'm sure," Eris says flatly, slipping his arm around me, casually stealing me back from Helion, a step away.
"Sorry, Big Guy," I squeeze the High Lord's hand before sinking into Eris. "We're a package deal, but I'm sure you can manage to entertain the both of us." I raise a brow. Helion cowers from my bluff then. It's one thing to flirt with Delia's future daughter in law, but he won't imply a thing about Delia's son.
"I'm never one to pass up a threesome, but I draw the line at being a third wheel," Helion smiles in recovery, dropping his voice as if Eris can't hear him. "Besides, your betrothed doesn't look quite so thrilled by the idea either."
I smirk, glancing up at Eris who rolls his eyes, his ears a bit pink to be called out. It's really fucking cute when he goes pink like that. The day after we went boating in summer court I was a stumbling mess because his nose was positively pink, kissed by the sun, his freckles shimmering.
I clear my throat, returning my attention to Helion. "Eris tells me that you have a Pegasus," I say, raising a brow. "But I thought he was just messing with me."
"I don't have a Pegasus," he says simply, and I nearly swell with the satisfaction of being right, but he speaks on. "I have several."