A Court of Stars and Memories

16. Advice and Ideas

The remainder of the week passed no faster than usual, despite the extra work on Lysander's agenda. He'd expected the Rohese's to take up more of his time than they had. Much to his surprise though, Mina and Micah had made a schedule for themselves and stuck to it every day, making things much easier for him, Corbin, and Nyx.

Mina was visiting the House of Wind every morning and training with the Valkyries until noon. In the afternoon, Nesta had reported that she spent a good amount of time lingering in one of the House's accessible libraries, simply reading or sketching.

She only returned to his parents' house when he and Corbin brought Micah home. The male accompanied them to Windhaven every day and as soon as they arrived, he set off in search of Devlon.

Lysander had no idea what the two males did together and Devlon had never bothered to answer when he asked. Micah didn't seem any worse for wear by the time they left though, so eventually, he and Corbin ceased worrying.

Seren reported that he and Mina spent a lot of time together in the evenings, discussing new clothing lines and looking over the sketches Mina had made. Apparently the Night Court's fashion was inspiring to them, especially Illyrian leathers.

As for Mitsi, on the days she wasn't specifically asked for by Eira, she tended to linger at the house. His mother mentioned she was usually quilting or reading, and kept to her room most of the time. Lysander was trying to think of ways to coax her out more often and perhaps find activities the siblings could do together, but so far, he hadn't thought of much.

Today, he hadn't thought of anything at all. He hadn't even bothered to go to Windhaven and help plan for the Exchange coming up in a few days. Last night had not been a good one, and Lysander wasn't sure he could keep that from showing.

It had been a long day in Windhaven beforehand, dealing with several troublesome novices, and Lysander had gone to bed anxious, resulting in a terrible nightmare which he couldn't even remember now.

He just felt the lingering anxiety and terror of it, and didn't know how to work it out of his system. He blew a heavy sigh and ran his fingers through his hair, then down his face, tipping his head back slightly.

The mid-morning sunlight was warm enough today that he'd forgone a shirt when he decided to do some stretches in the courtyard. It streamed down onto his face and wings, and Lysander closed his eyes, soaking up as much of the light as he could, as if it might purge the darkness lingering inside his mind. Lysander shifted his wings and opened his eyes, ready to resume stretching.

He spread his legs wider and doubled over, pressing his palms flat against the stony ground. He winced slightly as the stretch tugged against the backs of his knees and spread to his inner thighs. They hadn't healed yet and remained particularly tender. He guessed it would be another hour or two before the thin cuts vanished.

Lysander perked up when his wards alerted him of someone's arrival. He straightened as Azalea entered the courtyard. "I wasn't expecting to see you today," he remarked.

Azalea merely tossed a braid over her shoulder and sat down on the lip of the fountain. She dipped her hand into the water and swirled her fingers through it. "I had some time to kill and thought I'd stop by. I haven't seen you in a little while. I wanted to make sure everything is going all right."

"It's fine. I've just been busy." Lysander shifted into another stretch, this time loosening his sides.

"And that's why I'm surprised you're here. Honestly, I figured you would be at Windhaven like usual."

"Not today. I decided to take the day off. Corbin can handle things there for a while and I don't have to keep an eye on the Rohese's. They're supposed to be meeting Rhys and Feyre this afternoon."