Daylight

Chapter 28

His mother was here. In the Night Court. In Velaris. In Rhysand's townhouse. By the Cauldron...

Lucien stood frozen in place, hand still clutching Elain's, with his mouth hanging open.

"Hello, son," the Lady of Autumn said with a strong voice. Though she appeared nervous and anxious, her voice never quavered or broke.

All other conversation stopped dead as the rest of the Circle whipped around to see the newcomer.

"How in the Cauldron's murky depths did they get her out of the Autumn Court without raising suspicion?" Amren hissed. She glanced at Elain appreciatively. "You, girl, are not to be underestimated."

Lucien took a tentative step toward his mother. Elain loosened her grip on his hand, no doubt to let him greet her on his own, but he squeezed her hand and tugged her with him.

"Mother," Lucien said, his throat bobbing. "Why are— What did— How are you here?"

Lucien tried to do a mental tally of how long it had been since he'd seen her. The brief encounter Under the Mountain barely counted, since their every move had been watched and scrutinized for traces of treason. Fifty years since the masquerade and nearly two hundred since Jesminda... too fucking long.

He released Elain's hand to wrap his mother into a tight embrace. She let out a tiny sob as she hugged her youngest son fiercely. He was over a foot taller than her, but she still hugged him as a mother hugs her son—arms wrapped around his neck and pulling him down onto her own shoulder. She wiped her eyes and sniffled once he let her go.

"How?" He asked again.

She gestured to the group of people in the sitting room. His friends. "Well, I don't know all the specifics, but Rhysand's spymaster came to me with a note from Feyre explaining it all."

"Won't he notice you're gone?" Lucien's voice was suddenly laced with worry. If Beron discovered her missing, he would beat her to within an inch of her life when she returned. Lucien knew would never forgive himself if that happened. Every time Beron raised a hand to his mother, Lucien wanted to end him.

"Not for a few hours. Rhysand helped put on a very convincing glamour."

"How did they even get into Autumn without him knowing?"

"Eris," his mother said gently.

Mor's eyes grew wide and even Lucien scoffed with disbelief.

"Azriel reached out to Eris," Rhys stepped in to explain. "Told him what we wanted to do. Turns out the alliance we made with him at the Court of Nightmares paid off. So long as he has our support when he needs it, he's willing to help us here and there. He went to your mother and explained our plan and she agreed to it."

"The glamour will only hold for a few hours," Azriel warned. "I'll have to take her back before it wears off."

Lucien didn't care if it was five minutes or five hours. He glanced around at his friends and swallowed thickly before saying, "Thank you. All of you."

"Don't thank us," Rhys said with a shrug. He pointed at Elain. "This whole thing was her idea."

Lucien's head snapped around to Elain. She had her hands folded in front of her and was looking down shyly. He barely registered his mother letting go of him as he stepped back over to Elain, slowly and deliberately.

"You said you didn't care about your birthday," she rushed to explain, "so I didn't want to make you tolerate a party with gifts and all of that nonsense if you didn't want it, but... I remembered you saying you wished you could see your mother again and... I just thought—"