𝐄𝐋𝐘𝐒𝐈𝐀𝐍 ━━━ ✧ ⋆ （ acotar ）

✧ ˚ 𝐢𝐯. 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐥

✧ ˚ 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐎𝐋𝐃𝐄𝐍-𝐇𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐄𝐃 𝐌𝐀𝐋𝐄'𝐒 𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐊 𝐆𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐃 with the last rays of the afternoon sunlight as Alis returned them to the dining room. Asteria felt her eyes catch on the gold cutlery that rested upon embroidered napkins, forehead nearly slamming into Feyre's shoulder blades as she stopped suddenly.

"Before you ask again," their captor began, "the food is safe for you to eat."

Asteria kept her eyes on the rows of food as her mouth began to salivate once more, before accidentally meeting the gaze of Lucien. He was watching her with some degree of amusement, his left eyebrow quirked as he took in her reluctance to eat despite her obvious hunger.

When neither sister said anything, again, the golden-haired male sighed. "What do you want, then?"

Asteria blinked, finally meeting his jade eyes and forcing herself not to flinch. Her voice was timid as she answered, "Your name would be a good place to start."

He gave her a baffled look as Lucien suddenly snorted. "You still have yet to tell them your name? I was jesting when I'd said it, but your skills with females really have become rusty in recent decades."

Decades. Asteria was suddenly reminded that these males were likely several hundreds of years old.

Their captor glowered at his fox-masked companion, not looking in their direction as he grumbled, "Tamlin."

"Well," Lucien pinned them in place with his half-russet gaze, "you two don't look half bad now. A relief, I suppose, since you are to live with us. Though, the tunic isn't as pretty as your sister's dress."

He'd addressed Feyre with the last part, who gritted her teeth as she regarded him with narrowed eyes. "I prefer not to wear a dress."

"And why not?" Lucien crooned.

Tamlin smirked without amusement, "Because it's easier to kill us in pants."

Asteria bit her lower lip anxiously, glancing at Feyre, whose face, to her credit, didn't give anything away. "Now that we're here, what do you plan to do with us?"

Lucien snorted again as Tamlin snarled in annoyance. "Just sit down."

Two empty seats had been pulled out at the end of the table. The subtle movement of Feyre's fists clenching caused Asteria to reach down and grab her right hand.

"We're not going to bite." Lucien's teeth glinted dangerously as he grinned at them, indicating otherwise.

Swallowing down her nerves, Asteria was the first to take a step forward, forcing Feyre to follow as they reluctantly sat down.