The High Lord of Summer

1. Summer Solstice

The soft breeze of the bay blew my hair into my face as I stood at the bow of the pleasure barge. Ever since the book had been taken from its hiding place, Tarquin had been out of sorts. I understood, he was a new high lord. Fresh. Untested. And that made the betrayal of the Night Court even more humiliating for him. Aside from the fact that he thought Rhysand was his friend.
Not that I knew much about it. Everything I knew I heard through my father, a noble in the high court, and I hadn't seen Tarquin much at all since he returned from Under the Mountain. A smile across the room here and there. Maybe the occasional eye contact was made while he was addressing the nobles. Nothing of note.
I had known Tarquin forever. We had come of age together. We spent a lot of time together at one point. But then when the high lordship was thrust upon him unexpectedly, he became caught up in learning the ways of the court. My father had put our family in hiding while the madness under the mountain was going on, and that put even more distance between us. Now we were more like old acquaintances, not the friends we once were.
It bothered me.
I pushed the flyaway strands of hair behind my ears and pushed off the railing to return to the party. One way Tarquin tried to distract the members of the court from his recent mistakes was to keep them entertained by throwing parties. He did not seem to realise that it also gave everyone an opportunity to gossip. It was the solstice though, an actual reason to throw a party.
I strode through the party, eyes scanning the crowd in search of my brother.
Through the throngs of high fae, I spotted Marin's silver braid, a stark contrast to his mahogany skin. He was pressed up against a female I half recognised, not something I wanted to interrupt.
I spun on my heel to head back outside. There was a string quartet playing an upbeat jig on the top deck, and some of the other females were starting up the dance, something I could never pass up, my favourite part of the solstice.
I took a ribbon from the vase and joined the others in the reel. I twirled on my toes and drew patterns in the air with my ribbon. The ribbon dance was tradition of the summer solstice in the Summer Court.
As we danced, the crowd from inside spilled out onto the deck to join the festivities. I spun and spun, ribbon twirling in the air, my toast to the sun.
I whirled around the circle, laughing as I threw my head back, when I collided with something tall and hard. I stopped abruptly, taking a step back. I looked up to see Tarquin staring down at me, a twinkle in his eye and an amused smile tugging at the corner of his lips.
Without missing a beat, he took me by the hand and guided me back into the dance. His left hand clasped my lower back, while his right hand held my left, and we began the final movement of the dance.
His palm was warm on my back, bunched in the fabrics of my blue gown. He gripped me tightly as he spun me around the floor. Somehow we ended up in the middle of the dance, males and females with ribbons circled around us.
The music slowed, then stopped, and we finished the dance with our hands above our heads, panting in exertion. Everyone cheered, the dance was done.
Tarquin peered down at me, his chest heaving, face flushed, before stumbling backwards a step, dazed. It was almost as if he forgot himself. He quirked an eyebrow at me in question, before staring at me more intently, like realisation was dawning.
Realisation about what, I didn't know. I smiled at him, unsure of what to do next.
"Uh, thank you kindly for the dance, Aria." Tarquin gave a quick bow. "Would you care for some refreshment? Something to eat?"
"Thank you, High Lord. But I'm fine." The spinning had made me feel off kilter, eating was the last thing I wanted to do.
"Well, will you take a turn with me?" He held out an arm and I took it.
We strolled around the perimeter of the top deck making idle conversation about the weather (hot, as always). I caught my friend Harlow staring at me from across the deck, her eyes knowing. She winked at me conspiringly before ducking down the stairs to the main floor of the barge.
Being this close to Tarquin made me nervous. Our relationship had faded so much over the last few decades, that I wasn't entirely sure how to act around him. I was generally awkward anyway, so being alone with the High Lord was not exactly a comfort for me.
The crowd thinned the closer we got to the bow of the boat. We were standing almost directly above my favourite haunt during these parties, the place I was standing not half an hour ago. The view from the top of the barge was beyond compare.
We sailed through the bay, the waves beneath us glittered as if coated with diamond dust. By the light of the setting sun, I could make out the shape of our city, Adriata. The elegant towers of the palace standing taller than the rest, strong, unbreakable. Well, now that they had been repaired. I had seen several of the courts of Prythian, but the beauty of my court, the Summer Court, never failed to render my speechless.
I must have been deep in thought, because I did not see Tarquin staring at me. He was smiling again.
I looked down at the golden skin of my hands as I wrung them together. We used to be such good friends, a few decades is nothing to a fae, how did our communication become so stilted? But even as I asked the question, I knew. I knew why we did not communicate as we once did. What he went through under that mountain, I could never understand. And those experiences built a wall around his heart and mind that I could not hope to break through.
Still, I had to attempt some form of conversation, as he looked at me expectantly.
"My father tells me your advisors are seeking a consort for you." I offered.
He chuckled, then grimaced, "I was hoping to forget about that detail of my responsibilities."
It was my turn to grimace, "sorry that I brought it up."
"It's quite alright, Aria. It must be quite a sport, figuring out who will get to marry the high lord." Although his voice spoke humour, it did not match the expression in his eyes.
"Sometimes I wish everything could go back to how it was before I had this, this... responsibility. " he sighed. "The ribbon dance, though. That was the most fun I've had in a long while."
I smiled, unsure what to say next. I was shocked when he joined me in the dance, I wasn't sure that was who he was, who he could be anymore.
Luckily, I didn't have to worry, because he continued. "I do sometimes wish that I had someone to talk to about this sort of stuff. Not an advisor. Not someone worried about what's best for the court, our territory, but what's best for me." His shoulders sagged. He was being so open. I had not noticed the goblet of faerie wine in his hand when we left the dance.
"What about your brothers?" I asked, and regretted the words as soon as they left my mouth.
He said nothing, but I swear I saw tears welling in his eyes.
No one had mentioned his brothers since the courts reconvened. I should have put two and two together.
"Well, High Lord of Summer, I hope that you can count me among your friends. I am a very good listener, and I've been told I'm fantastic company." I offered him a cheeky smile, and elbowed him in jest.
I could see Tarquin's smile slowly return, and when he turned to look me full in the face, I was blown away. His mahogany skin seemed to take in the shimmer of the ocean, and his white blonde hair flowed in the light breeze, encircling his head like a halo. Like a crown.
He brushed his finger along my cheek and planted a soft kiss on my forehead.
"That, Aria, is the best offer I've gotten all day." He winked. "I have missed our easy conversations, I find your company... calming."
"Told you I was fantastic company." I winked back.
"That you are, Aria. And I'm sorry if I haven't been easy since I returned.. as you know, things are different now."
I nodded in response.
"Well, as your first act of friendship I shall need you to meet me in my library tomorrow afternoon. The repairs are finally finished, and I shall need your expertise to help me refill it."
My heart surged. Tarquin's library? Me? Refilling it? It felt as if all my dreams were coming true. Books held my heart, and those years in hiding afforded me little opportunity to explore the world of literature. And although we had a sizeable library in our manor, the palace library would be a sight to be seen, one I had not seen since I was a youngling.
"I'd be happy to." I smiled so wide I was sure I was glowing, as Tarquin lead me back inside.