A VOW OF STARS ---- [ACOTAR]

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CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

villain and violent, infant and innocent

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'Elayla, my baby...'

The words were softly spoken, a hand brushing against her cheek.

Elayla looked around, the sunlight filtering through the green leaves, the soft touch on her cheek felt ethereal but still recognizable from years of broken dreams and unanswered prayers.

"Mama?" She frowned at the beaming face. "You're... You're here."

"Not really..." Elira's gaze softened, "I could be everywhere, Elayla. Out here," She gestured at the forest surrounding them, "Or in there," She pointed at Elayla's chest, where her heart almost raced out of her ribcage. "What difference would it make?"

"What are you doing here?" She frantically asked. "Where did you go? Why did you go?"

"Too many questions in too little time." Elira brushed her thumb against Layla's cheekbones. "You're the Night's Highlord's daughter, my little love, you forge the answers yourself."

"No, wait!" She tried to grab her wrist, to keep her there, her mother. That was her mother, and she was leaving again. "Not again, please not again." She pleaded, but it was too late, Elira disappeared in a misty fog, and everything around her turned into endless, starry skies...

Elayla woke up in a jolt, no sound left her as she was used to nightmares, but there was something different that night, in the way the darkness seeped out from her fingertips. Her magic was acting up.

She's always had bad dreams, that was nothing new to her, people's emotions tended to twist up in her unconscious state and turning into horrifying images. Then sometimes she'd see glimses of Rhysand's memories in her dreams, when he was asleep and too vulnerable to keep his shields up. On nights like that, she'd crawl out of her bed to the bathroom to throw her guts out then sob until she'd doze off on the cold hard ground.

The nightmares, however, haven't included Elira until now. She looked so vivid, so real, hazel eyes twinkling in the light and golden skin glowing in the sun. She looked every bit like the glorified version of her that Elayla had tucked deep in the back of her mind.

Then, she disappeared, like everyone in her life did, like Rhysand did, like Alaric did. The age-old curse that followed her wherever she went, even in her damn dreams.

She needed out, outside of the mortals' home before she unknowingly killed them all.

She all but jumped out of the window, thankfully without having to use her wings since the height was not that considerable. Dawn was breaking on the horizon, golden rays of sunshine slowly seeping through the dying night.

Her breaths were uneven, reality and illusions colliding in her tired mind as she stumbled in the Archeron family's garden, only to cross sights with one of the sisters.

She recognized Elain, the most approchable one out of the three, and for some reason, her heartbet stilled, as if the view of such peacefulness in front of her was enough to remind her of who she was and what she was supposed to do.

People like that were rare i her life, genuinely gentle people who kept to themselves and preferred the quiet life over responsibility, only Azriel was somehow like that, so the experience of meeting Elain Archeron was interesting.

"Oh," She stuttered, something that hadn't happened in ages. "I didn't mean to bother you, I'll go back to the room."

"You didn't bother at all." Elain was quick to assure, raising her brown eyes from the flowers to the young Fae once again. "I was just looking after the gardens. I love watching the moonflowers before sunrise."

"Moonflowers?" Elayla eased up. "They must be your favourite, if you sacrifice your rest for them."

"Something like that." Elain offered a small smile. 

Elayla reluctantly joined the lovely mortal, sitting on the soil without care for the state of her clothes. She refused to borrow anything from the Archerons, and so she had remained in her clothes for the night.

"Your flowers." She finally said. "They all smell lovely, look nice too."

She appreciated the scenery, relly, because unlike the gardens in the House of Wind were everything was magically taken care of, this garden was all human hands, where time and effort was invested.

"All flowers do." Elain replied. "When cared for the right way."

Elayla was certain applied to people too, that they bloomed like flowers under care and kindness, and died when the rain of affection withheld for far too long.

Maybe that was her case too, a thristy plant who was destined to fade away.

"What are your favourite?" Elayla was surprised at Elain's question. No one cared enough to ask what her favourite flower was before, they just took a look at the small scars littering her face and her callused hands to assume she didn't care about that kind of stuff.

"Daffodils." She anwered after a little while. 

"Rebirth and new beginnings." Elain mused quietly. "So you're not really the shallow fighter you let yourself look like, after all."

"It's not that deep." Elayla chuckled. "I am that shallow and superficial."

"It takes a pretender to know one, Elayla." 

Elayla scoffed bitterly. "You think you know me, Archeron? Very bold of you to assume."

"I'd say you're a jade vine." Elain said, nudging her shoulder lightly. "They look threatening, but still the rarest and most beautiful of them all."

"You do realize that you're complimenting a Fae while wearing an engagement ring made out of iron?" Layla frowned in weary confusion.

She didn't like people that tried to figure her out or see more than she was, a broken mosaic of stained glass.

"Well, you like daffodils." Elain shrugged. "So you're not that much of an ordinary Fae too."

A laugh escaped her again, or maybe it was a choke, she couldn't really tell, what she knew was that she just befriended a mortal, or at least she was beginning to.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Hello guys !

Who missed me ? Probably no one but still I love this chapter so much.

Ever since the beginning of the story I was waiting for these two to meet up, they're like Wednesday and Enid in the best way possible.

No Elaine bashing allowed in this book cause she's my baby and I love the hell out of her.

Tell me your thoughts about this little friendship that's starting up in the comments.