The Princess & The Lord

Part 12

Nyx sat there on the ledge of mountain. He didn't want to move. He didn't want to see anyone. He didn't want to talk to anyone. Only Elena.

He wouldn't take it back. But just to spend another moment in the quiet with her. He had to say it, even though a part of him knew exactly what she was going to say. Because that's exactly who she was-putting the good of the world before herself. But Nyx couldn't hold it in, knowing what they could've been- what they should've been. But he'd risk it all to have just a moment.

She made the small moments bigger. She pushed him . She challenged him, made him laugh and met him with every witty remark.

But she was right, they couldn't work. And it made him angry. How fate could drop her into his life and rip her away so easily.

Nyx heard a loud huff. He turned around and Abraxos laid down his head with a small whine.

Nyx winnowed himself back to the River House. He looked down at his feet as he meandered down the hallway back to his room.

He stopped for a moment outside Elena's door, but he couldn't feel her presence. So he continued on.

He laid down on his bed and stared up at the ceiling wishing he'd cherished the prior weeks- knowing everything from this moment forward would be different.
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It broke a piece of her heart to say those words we can't. Elena had winnowed herself to the cliff just above.  She looked down as she watched him sit there in the silence.

She'd wanted to hear those words from him, but having her family in Prythian was a reminder of the life that was waiting for her back in Terrasen. A reminder that she and Nyx were only fleeting.

She looked down one last time at him and she winnowed herself back to the River House.

Elena landed on the balcony of her parents' room.  She sat there, arms crossed, pulling her knees to her chest looking out at the river below.

She could hear the faint footsteps.

"What's wrong, fireheart?" her father said gently. She missed that soothing voice, the smell of pine and snow.

"Nothing," she said as she wiped the tears away. "It's been overwhelming seeing everyone. It's been so long."

"Elena, tell me what happened," he said as he sat down next to her and pulled her close. She leaned her head on his shoulder.

"I've grown close with them. And I want to go home. I miss my home." Elena said. "But now, one day soon, I know I'll have to leave them."

"You'll have to leave him." Her father said firmly.

She couldn't say anything. She only nodded.

"We weren't meant for this- to travel worlds. To entwine our souls with those so very far away." Rowan said. "But you've seen this world, you know what it has to offer and you'll carry the memory with you. Even if it's fleeting, you had this time and you always will."

She closed her eyes as another tear fell. She felt the warmth as her mother wrapped her arms around her.

"It's not fair this burden fell to you." Her mother began, "it did because you are strong. But you get to make your own choices."

"And I have. I choose Terrasen. I always will." Elena said.

Elena didn't get any sleep that night. She stayed up sharing her time in Prythian with Aelin and Rowan. She showed them a small glimpse into the training and abilities she had picked up from Rhys.

"They call it winnowing here." Elena said. "The abilities Fenrys has. Many of the High Lords are capable of it here. And they can span great distances."