A Court of Stars and Memories

31. Days Gone By

The next few weeks passed much quicker than Mitsi expected. Now that she'd settled into her routine in the Night Court, her days were busy from the moment she woke until she went to bed. Mornings at the orphanage were now spent either taking the children out for walks or teaching one of their lessons.

Mina and Micah had accompanied her a few times as well. Micah had taught a lesson to the eldest group of children while Mina took the measurements of the younger ones. She and Mitsi had been overseeing several of the girls' sewing lessons and, with the Mistress' permission, were using those lessons to help make some new clothes for all of the children.

Mitsi had mentioned that in one of her letters to Colette and soon after received a box full of some of Eliana's frilliest dresses. The young girl had written explicit orders as to how the dresses should be worn and what type of hair ribbons matched each gown.

Mitsi tried to send the dresses back, having a sneaking suspicion that Eliana had sent them without permission. She'd likely persuaded Natalia to help her send them after overhearing Colette discuss the letter with Ellie, but Mitsi's efforts were to no avail. Colette informed her that Eliana and Ellie were present when she read the letter, and Eliana had been insistent on sending the dresses.

Mitsi finally agreed to keep them when Ellie wrote to her herself, promising that she was fine with the dresses being given away and swore Eliana didn't really like or wear them anyway. They would serve a better purpose being redistributed at the orphanage. The girls were overjoyed when Mitsi and Mina handed out the gowns, and every time she visited, each dress was being worn by a different girl than last time.

On the mornings when she wasn't at the orphanage, Mitsi continued to trail Eira throughout Windhaven. She'd grown used to Aramis' presence as well, although she found herself missing Orion, as she was certain Eira did too. Aramis had taken it upon himself to try to persuade her to spar with them after Eira explained that Lysander, and now Nyx, were training her, but Mitsi continued to refuse.

Training in public still seemed unnerving to her, although it her siblings appeared to be overcoming that issue. Mitsi had noticed Micah training with a few of the Peregryn and Illyrian novices several times, and she'd even seen him wandering around Windhaven with them during their leisure time. She couldn't help but wonder if Devlon had arranged their meeting, or if Micah had gone out of his way to meet them himself.

She couldn't quite bring herself to believe that though, and when she discussed it with Mina, her sister agreed. Micah had never been interested in making friends. He kept to himself and stayed busy with work back home. But perhaps here, he was finally letting down some of the walls he surrounded himself with.

Mina certainly was, at least around Nesta and the other Valkyries. Her sister was almost a whole other person when she was with the females. Mitsi had never seen her smile quite so much, and it was evident that her respect for Nesta was continuously growing.

She was treating Seren and Azriel with more respect as well, which brought Mitsi a new sense of relief. They all seemed a little more at ease within the house, and Mitsi had found Mina and Micah casually conversing with their hosts numerous times in the past several days.

As for Corbin, Mina's attitude towards him could be described only as tolerant. Still, Mitsi considered it a step up from what it had been. She couldn't help but wonder if her sister's new acceptance of the male came from what had happened between them.

Mina was carrying the dagger he'd given her every day, and when they spoke, Corbin kept a respectful distance from her. Their conversations remained consistent with taunts and teasing, but ended in more begrudging laughter and less vulgar shouting.