A Court of Heart and Fealty | Rhysand

Chapter 4: The Exchange

Chapter 4: The Exchange

Galadriel has been all but confined to her chambers over the coming days. She had complained enough, as Helion grew busier, that he sent her a bouquet of flowers from the gardens. 'So you can touch and smell rather than look at from afar,' the note attached to them had read. She had snorted, unamused, and set the flowers and their vase to the side of her vanity.

Now she sat at that vanity with the flowers pulled out and laid in front of her. Her lethally sharpened dagger drove into their stems and petals, carving patterns and splitting the green stems in half. Practice for her precision and dexterity. It left carving marks on the wood underneath but Galadriel placed little care to it. She would either be gone and forgotten about, or dead soon enough that it wouldn't matter what marks she left on the world. And on the rarer than a shadowsinger chance that she was granted permission to stay, by both Helion and Azriel, then she would ask to stay in this chamber.

When all the flowers were mutilated and stripped, Galadriel bundled them into her arms, a flick of her finger sending one of the windows open with the magic in her blood and poured them onto the flat grass field below, dusting her hands off. It had been a better use of them than letting them sit and wilt. Just as she was doing.

As she closed the glass pane, a firm knock came at her door. It was not Helion's patterned, almost singsong knuckles, nor the maid that had only come to change her bedsheets and take her laundry. Galadriel strode across the room and placed her ear to the wood. Even breathing, only one person. Blinking slowly, she turned the knob and opened the door.

The Fae on the other side was recognisable in passing. One of Helion's personal attendants. "Lady Sahra," he greeted. She made no sound to correct her title. "Lord Helion requests your presence."

"Couldn't he come retrieve me himself?" she questioned. The attendant frowned at her abrasiveness. Galadriel pursed her lips. "My apologies, I'll slip on some shoes." Leaving the door open, she did exactly as she said and placed her feet into white sandals. The attendant led her from the chambers and along the many halls of the great Day Court Palace. They traversed to the eastern wing where Helion resided, but did not take the turn down the corridor which would lead to his private chambers or his study where they would sometimes meet. "Where are we going?"

"The Lord's private dining hall," the attendant answered flatly. Galadriel's brows perked at that information. Their evening meal was not usually for another two hours, and for the past few days always appeared in her room by the magic of another. But she was happy to sit and eat with him for the evening. "My Lady."

The attendant opened a great lightwood door with golden ornamental handles, the sound of the heavy wood in the hinges an announcement of her entrance itself. Inside was a long, firelight hall with a long table down the middle, high-backed chairs on either side. Along the middle, candles were alight with bowls of fruits marking both decoration and an offer of their delectable juices. Helion slouched in the head chair. "There she is."

Galadriel's eyes narrowed. "This a rather fancy set-up for just the two of us."

As Helion raised from the head chair, she noted the look in his eye that told her very much it wasn't an ordinary meeting for supper. "As your last night here, I thought I should make an occasion of it."

"My what?"

She could barely forget how handsome he was, donned in his pristine white robe with golden embroidery and the leaf circlet. His dark skin contrasted both perfectly, bringing out gold flecks in his eyes. Helion picked up a stray goblet already filled with wine. He extended it towards her in a gesture before bringing it to his lips, answering after a long swig. "If all goes to plan," he said. "Which is why we have the fancy dinner." He half-turned and gazed over the table. "We'll make a good impression and I'll seal a deal for your promised safety. So behave and try not to throw yourself on me once you down some wine."