Nightfully ;Azriel

9

"Be serious for one second." 

Althea made a face at her older sister who didn't even blink back. Reptile, she thought swaying lazily on her feet. Yes. That's what she looked like, a reptile. Happy at her new nickname for Nesta a lazy smile slipped on her face. It was scorching hot outside, and Althea swears she could see the heatwaves simmering up from the ground from a distance, and yet here she was in layers of clothes waiting outside a store in a very long queue just to buy a dessert for the Dolan's family.

"We can always bake them a cake." Althea fanned her face furiously, gods she was going to faint. 

Nesta looked down at her, she always had a few inches on her but with the pumps she was wearing she looked taller than usual. "You try baking in this heat."

Touche.

Elain was currently at home fussing over the kitchen staff and them aswell. Neither one was willing to admit but they didn't blame her. Elain's future father in law was one scary man. If Althea wasn't so adamant about not getting married, he would've scared her away anyways. 

"Poor Elain." She shook her head. "If i had that as my in-laws i'd be scared too. Don't look at me like tha-"

With a furious hush from Nesta which finally shut Althea up, she turned her attention to the centre of town square. She thought of the children of the blessed, their screams. A frown slipped onto her lips, she hoped they were okay. She doubted the man from town square was lenient with them, he also harmed Althea without knowing who she was. Deep down Althea hoped they weaselled their way out and that they were hiding until it all blew over.  

"-make sure you wear the dress i picked out for you- Are you listening, Thea?" 

She ignored her. "I want to swim." Althea whined changing the subject, she tugged Nesta's hand while fluttering her eyes as innocently as she could. "Can I swim in the lake behind our house? Pretty please?" 

"No." She ripped her hand away from Althea's grip making the latter click her tongue in distaste. "You will wear the dress, come down for lunch and converse with Lord Dolan until he leaves, understood?" 

Althea did not want to have any conversation with that old man whatsoever. "What if Ms.Robins needs my help at the shop."

"No."

"What if I have to save the town from a dragon?" 

"No."

Althea rolled her eyes once again. She still felt empty, like a part of her was missing but she tried not to show it around her sisters. After the conversation she had with Nesta, Althea felt it necessary to try and keep anyone close to her in the dark about what she felt. So she tried to start conversations to try to stop herself from thinking, joking around and taking longer at the shop than usual. But even after doing all that her thoughts still kept her up at night.

Her two older sisters always mentioned her eye bags that have gotten worse ever since that day a couple of weeks ago and yet Althea always manages to dodge the question. Althea also wasn't eating. Anything she ate always ended up out of her body one way or another, so in the past few weeks she's lost quite a bit of weight. Nesta's been worrying over her as well. 

Even if she doesn't admit it Althea could tell what she thought. The same as their mothers illness. Althea was sure it wasn't though but she couldn't voice it to Nesta just in case.

It took even longer to finally reach the inside of the store and much to their distaste the cake they wanted was sold out so they had to settle on a blueberry pie, which they both weren't happy about. But Elain liked blueberries so they got it for her. 

She wasn't keen to listen to the old man's complaining about the faes anytime soon, especially seeing as her sister was with one at the moment. Madly in love. 

Even so, right before they came, she was forced to wear as much iron jewellery as she could to the point where she looked as if she could be an ornament herself and placed on the wall for decoration. Althea was placed to sit at the end of the table farthest away from the old man, she inwardly thanked Nesta for listening to her little request. 

And much to her joy, the dinner ended very quickly, and the three Dolan men had to be whisked away to duty. Leaving the three Acheron sisters to their lonesome. 

She hoped they were away on duty for some time. 

***

Althea felt sick again. 

She was on the way home from a long day at the shop, the sun was setting and the winter air was pierce and cool, she couldn't feel the coolness anymore but yet she couldn't hold back the dizziness and the nauseousness that lingered with her on the way home. She made some medicine at the shop earlier that day to help with her insomnia and now Althea was wondering if she should've made something for her upset stomach as well. 

how she missed the blazing sun with its fiery summer heat,  when she felt suffocated more than usual, her dress as thin and short as she could wear with Nesta breathing down her neck but it still did nothing to help. With a sour look she looked up the hill that awaited for her and realised she made a dumb choice not taking the carriage to the shop, if only she knew she was going to finish her job earlier than expected. 

Now she has all this extra exercise, much to her disdain. 

It took her another good ten minutes to make it up the hill and right at the top she was met with an unfamiliar carriage sitting right at the entrance. The first thought was of her father.

A frown slipped onto her face, as she stood there for a couple of minutes catching her breath with her hands resting on her hips. She felt flushed, and she was certain she looked just as bad.

She should've gone out hunting more often. 

"I'm home!" 

Silence then hushed whispers erupted from the living room as she shut the front door carefully. There were no workers around which confused her more than it should have to be honest, she wasn't used to the quietness. There was always some chattering in the house that made Althea feel welcomed. 

Elain opened the dining room door before closing it right behind her, throwing Althea a thin smile. She approached the pink haired girl with a tentative stance, looping her arm with the younger sister.

"You're home early." Elain hummed, tugging her towards the kitchen gently pushing her into the chair. 

Althea narrowed her eyes. "Why are you suspicious."

Elain avoided eye contact as she poured Althea a cup of hot lemon tea. "I'm not."

"Who's here?" 

"Another suitor." 

"Why are you not letting me see him?"

Elain sighed. "It's not as if you want to marry." 

"It could be love at first sight."

Elain looked exaggerated as she plopped in the chair besides her. "Nesta said not to tell you." She looked at Althea with desperate eyes but even she knew it wouldn't stop her.

If anything it made her want to barge into that room and demand answers. "Who is it?" She demanded more sternly. 

Elain fiddled with her fingers remaining silent. Althea clenched her jaw standing up from her chair. "Wait." Elain wrapped her slender fingers around her wrist, the ring leaving a cool sensation on her arm. "It's...Feyre- Wait- but it's not at the same time."

A scowl slipped onto her face. "What do you mean?"

"She's returned fae."