A Court of Love and Devotion

XI

ARIA

Her mother had gone down to the private library as the party wore off. Aria came from behind her and circled her arms around her mother's waist.

The female's hands came on top of her daughter's, savoring the moment. It was rare that Aria accepted to cuddle with anyone. Her parents had had to plead with her as a child for even a goodnight's kiss. Cuddles and kisses had always felt so trivial to Aria.

But as she had laid on the ground dying the day before, as she had started to cry for her mother as soon as she saw her, she'd realized how proud she had been.

She'd realized how much she wanted to hold her mother the moment she saw her old broken self at the river house. How much she missed when her father would put his hand on her shoulders casually as she took a break to breathe during training. How much she missed when Hazel nudged her teasingly, when Elia hooked their arms together when they strolled through Velaris and when Sage kissed her cheeks before going to school each morning.

She realized all the small things she had taken for granted.

"I wanted to see this room whole again," her mother said. "You still owe me bookshelves, by the way."

Aria snorted but didn't break her hold. Instead, she lowered her head to her mother's shoulders. "I'll do that as soon as we get back. I promise."

"And you're still forbidden from entering this room until further notice."

"Understood."

"Exception for the building of the shelves, of course."

"Of course."

The two females swayed lightly on the spot. Her mother gently put her hand on Aria's cheek. "My baby," she whispered.

"Mommy," Aria's voice had never sounded so soft before.

Steps scuffed from the other end of the hallway. Aria looked up briefly to see her father...no, it was the old Cassian.

He walked over to them hesitantly and stopped before Nesta. Aria straightened behind her mother but kept her arms around her waist.

"You look beautiful," he said to Nesta and looked ready to get hit.

But she only smiled at him. "Thank you," she replied. "I hope this one has given you too much of a hard time," she added with a chuckle and a nod to her daughter.

Aria smirked. "Just a little bit for good measure. And with you, he was already well-trained anyway."

Her mother snorted, "Indeed."

Cassian bunched his brows at them but smiled. "I have so many questions."

"Questions that will find their answers in the future," Nesta said. "We'll be opening our portal back home in a few moments. And Rhys will erase your memories." She looked at his face, saddened by the news, and placed her palm on his cheek. He looked taken aback at first before nuzzling against her hand. "This will happen very soon, don't worry. I will give you hell for a little bit longer, but after that..."

"Disgusting," Aria mouthed to him. Her mother looked at her and smiled.

"Are you ready?" Her father came into the hallway and stopped short. He angled her head at the scene. Aria cuddling up with her mother who had her hand on his old self's cheek. "Gods, this is fucking with my head. I think I'll have nightmares about this for the rest of my life."

Aria finally let her mother go and walked to him. "Well, this was definitely a learning experience for me," she crossed her arms.

"I'm sure it was. You now know for sure that your father has always been handsome," he grinned.

His daughter rolled her eyes. "And arrogant as all hell," she muttered. Her mother gave a grunt of approval. Her father pretended not to have heard her so she continued, "I think we need a big family talk when we get home."

His face turned stern. His old self looked down and bit the inside of his cheek. "I believe I should get back to the dining room." He left without another word.

"Is my daughter going to scold me?" Her father asked, one brow raised.

"Scold is a bit intense," Aria replied. "But I sure would love an explanation. Nyx and Catrin would agree, I'm sure."

In truth, Aria feared that something might have been broken. That she wouldn't be able to see her family the same way. Internally, she prayed that things could go back to normal.

Her father studied her and simply nodded. His mate joined him and took his hand in hers as she walked them along the hallway and back to the dining room. Aria watched them and stood there in silence for a bit, her thoughts warring inside her head.

***

CATRIN

She was happy to go home and yet, a bit of melancholy washed over her.

Aunt Nesta opened a portal with the Harp. The former Inner Circle, Amren in particular, gaped at her but the General paid them no mind. She plucked a string and a circle of light appeared before her. Similar to the one that had brought them here.

Uncle Rhysand approached the group from this time. They had all gathered together, all but Nesta, who stood further away, watching her future daughters.

She'd danced all night. Had even smiled and laughed. And now, she looked truly sad to let everyone go. Elia approached her, and Catrin found herself doing the same.

"I guess I'll see you in a few years, then," Nesta said and paused before she added : "Get home safe."

Elia smiled and hugged her. The female hesitated before she put her arms around her future daughter and squeezed hard.

"Elia," her mother called from the portal, making her turn. Aunt Nesta opened her arms wide. "Come."

Elia turned back to the former Nesta one last time with tears in her eyes. "Goodbye."

As she left, Catrin remained there, unsure of what to say.

It was Nesta who broke the silence, "Thank you. For all the trouble you went through to save me. I'm not sure how I could ever repay you."

Catrin smiled. "It was me repaying you, Aunt Nesta." She took her hands and squeezed before whirling on her feet and joining her family.

Her mother took her hand as she reached her. Nesta had been the one that got her out of the library. That got her to train and leave the mountain altogether. That helped her meet her mate again.

In the end, Aunt Nesta was the reason Callum and her were even here today.

Uncle Rhysand erased the memory of everyone. The old Inner Circle looked bleak as they left the House of Wind.

"I replaced their memories and they should be fully awake in five minutes," he informed his family. "We need to go."

"Let's not waste anymore time, then," Aunt Feyre added. She took her daughter's hand and stepped through, her mate right behind her.

Catrin took a step back as her parents left, then her brother with Sage. Mor and Emerie, Elia and Hazel, Cassian and Nesta all walked hand in hand until only Catrin, Nyx and Aria were left.

The male put himself between his two cousins and offered his hands, palms up. Catrin grabbed one, Aria the other.

The three of them looked at each other and smiled sadly.

"Let's go home," Nyx rasped.

And together, they stepped through the portal.