A Court of Shadow and Flames

Chapter 4: Aides | Velaris

He was surprised to find that he was able to winnow into the estate with such ease. It made sense the night all shit broke loose because of Velaris breaking through the barriers, and there might have been fewer defenses in place with the anticipated arrival of their children. Too bad it had not gone how anyone envisioned it other than the Bone Carver. He had known that Velaris would kill him, and to provide us a safe home and make good on his deal with Feyre and Rhysand, he winnowed here despite knowing Velaris would kill him the moment he stood still.

The nursery was where he found himself at. It was probably due to the memory of being there just weeks before. Knowing where you're going makes winnowing much easier. Looking up at the ceiling, he found the night stars had been hand-painted. The room was clean now, with only the absent bassinet and canvas to remind him of that night. Perhaps they don't want anything to do with us anymore. The thought bothered him more than he thought it would. The sound of a voice set his feet into motion as he followed the sound.

In a spacious living area were six high faes. He recognized four of them as the ones in the room that night; then, there were two females with similar facial features and hair colors to the woman with tattoos going up her arms. The one with sharp features and her hair braided back sat on the lap of a male with wings that reminded him of his own. He was laughing at something the red-haired high fae - and something else, he smelled the other species - had said to him.

"Hi." Aides said, removing his hands from his tailored suit pants to signify that he meant no harm.

The woman, with eyes similar to his own, eyed him with great curiosity. "Hi." She spoke, her voice was tired, and something about that greatly bothered Aides.

"I'm Aideoneus." He offered, noticing how the male who protected the woman that night started to relax as Aides continued talking.

"Apologies for the scene. Some unforeseen circumstances warranted those reactions." He looked at the woman who felt familiar to him. "Our intentions weren't to hurt you in any medium of the word." He added at the end because although she wasn't hurt physically, Aides could see how much pain she was in that night, even in that brief moment where he had stopped his sister from killing them all.

She moved across the room with grace before wrapping her arms around him. He hesitated, simultaneously processing how her warm embrace felt unfamiliar and familiar. An emotion he fought back crashed against him as he pulled her in and memorized her scent.

"I'm Feyre, your mother." She pulled back with deep sadness in her eyes while holding his face in her hands. "You're quite a mixture of us both." She laughed through the tears, and Aides gave her an awkward smile. In truth, he didn't know what to say, but he knew that Feyre needed this moment to process the time that had been stolen from her.

"Yes, well, I suppose that's a good thing." He pulled back, gently taking her hands in his own to remove them from his face. Aides wasn't sure why, but he held them momentarily before letting go.

"Rhysand." The male with eyes similar to Aris' approached after a moment. He looked tired, much like everyone else in the room.

Aides nodded once in acknowledgment. Rhysand stood about two inches taller than himself, but they had a nearly identical build. He wasn't sure what he was expecting, but when the male he now knew to be his father embraced him, he welcomed it. Though he wasn't as familiar as Feyre, Aides felt at peace in their presence.

"Where is your sister?" Rhysand asked, and Aides could feel his face drop at the mention of her.

"She needs time." Of course, her pain wasn't his to share, but after the event, he barely managed to restrain her long enough for her to let down her guard and feel the emotions running through her system.