A Court of Blood & Mercy || Elriel Dual POV

Chapter 21 - The Fifth Rule

Elain looked across the carriage window, her eyes settling on Eris' profile as he gazed out the frosted glass, perched with his usual ramrod posture on the seat opposite and diagonal from her, his body wrapped in a burgundy and black suit coat, garnished with rabbit fur and gold embroidery. All that was missing was a crown.

She felt a wave of malice surge through her gut, sending her jaw into a tightened huff before crossing her arms over her chest and making a show of angling her body away from him as far as the small walls of the carriage would allow.

His eyes flashed to her for a second, a small smile of satisfaction curling his lip before he returned to his view, ignoring her with studied sophistication.

What a prick!

She flicked her veil over her shoulder, grateful, as she often seemed to be, for the disguise of organza as her eyes glazed over, following the far-off mountains they were leaving in the distance.

Lady Elain Archeron-Vanserra was travelling with the heir of the Autumn Court toward the Winter Court, each hoof stamp of the horses bringing her farther away from her estate and closer to destiny.

All against her will.

But what wasn't against her will these days?

She felt her teeth grind down again.

Only the day before she had been in Beron's temple, receiving a command to rest and relax during Penelope's absence, but now she was being carted away from her estate for gods-only-knew what nefarious reasons.

She felt her mind flutter toward her daughter for a breath of a moment before she caught herself, remembering with reluctance that every minute spent in emotional turmoil was another minute making her weaker in front of Eris. Which was not something she could afford.

Her eyes settled on a cluster of amber and red trees, fading in the distance as she replayed the evening before in her mind.

Elain had attended the "family" dinner, as requested by the High Lord, blandly listening as Beron and Eris parlayed thoughts about Osenya, the sister-in-laws occasionally posing a question about Penelope's birthday arrangements to Elain who smiled politely before inviting them to help her assemble decorations and invitations. She had accepted their decorating suggestions with grace and the appropriate amount of enthusiasm, as well as their requests to invite various dignitaries and courtiers from their home courts to the celebration. The Lady of Autumn and Beron had inquired after Penelope's riding trip, dismaying over her absence in a way Elain found incredibly relatable, with the High Lord declaring that the Autumn Court was without its heart now that her daughter had left its borders. Eris changed the subject before the tone became too macabre, revealing his plans to travel to Winter before the week was up, perhaps in the morning, to visit Vanessa and establish firmer mating ceremony plans with her kin.

It was a bland and uneventful dinner, which was a relief, as Elain had witnessed her fair share of violent and passive-aggressive dinners in her time in Autumn.

Her mind flashed back to dinner with the Inner Circle— the warm jabs and squealing laughter as the family shared secrets and stories. Even the few dinners she had attended during her holiday to the North had settled in her heart in such a strong fashion that it was almost unpalatable to share a dining table with Vanserras when there was an Inner Circle waiting for her in the Night Court. The thought was so dull and depressing, that Elain exised it from her mind and focused on finishing her plate.

The sooner she finished the dinner, the sooner she would be able to return to her estate, in peace and at rest, all alone, for the remainder of the forty-nine days of Penelope's absence.