Page 108 of Fate

Afraid.

Of him? His reaction?

They had not quarrelled. And yet she looked at him as if she was uncertain if he might eject her from the house.

Lucian took a step forward. His arm fell, and she wasn’t sorry about it. He should greet his mother properly, and she would not be foolish and jealous about his familial ties.

If she was patient, she could also be generous of his person.

Pretty lies at the moment. But they might be true someday.

“Any tea left for me?” he asked, tilting his head down to Firen. Because she was the hostess. And then she would be the one to leave him, rather than force him to pull away first.

“No. Gluttons, the lot of us. But I suppose I could be persuaded to make more.”

He hummed and pressed his lips briefly to her temple, and it did not feel awful after all to leave him with his mother for a moment. To share a look with hers while she refilled the kettle and settled it back onto the heat, before taking her seat again.

And didn’t stare.

She didn’t.

She just couldn’t help that her seat was angled so, and it would have been rude to shut the door to the kitchen when they would come through again in just a moment.

And it certainly wasn’t her fault when she did look, because it was only because Lucian lost control of the tight hold he kept on his emotions through the bond. It was just a moment, just a slip as his arms went about Ellena and he held her, whispering something too low for Firen to hear.

But that was all right. More than all right. Because she felt his relief, felt something in him settle for the first time in ages, and this was right, and they could do this. Could build something even with people that were... more of a challenge than Firen had previously encountered.

“Stop spying,” Mama urged, poking at Firen’s shoulder as she took another pastry.

“I wasn’t!” Firen objected, but she averted her gaze and simply revelled in what the bond granted her. “I’m happy for him. That’s all. Which isn’t a bad thing.”

“No,” Mama agreed. “But those are private folk. And it wouldn’t hurt you to allow them to stay that way.”

Firen opened her mouth. Not to argue—certainly not. But to remind her that Firen had accomplished a great deal by being a bit too forward, and complaints usually gave way to thankfulness when she could add another friend to her ever-growing list.

Ellena would be one of them.

Mama gave her a look, and she closed her mouth again.

“I suppose I could work on that,” she said instead, and Mama gave a silent laugh, shaking her head as she ignored Firen’s look of outrage by taking another sip of her tea. “You do not think I can?”

“I think you can do much when you set your mind to it,” Mama soothed. “And you can be beautifully stubborn about those you’ve determined to care for.”

Firen got up to fuss with the teapot, dumping out the old leaves and exchanging them for new. “I feel your compliments are at an end.”

“But,” Mama finished with a rueful smile. “Sometimes people need to be cared for in ways that aren’t your preference, and that’s hard for you. That’s all.” Firen’s eyes narrowed, andMama held up her hands. “Honest. No more comments on your character. Just tea and more of these lovely pastries.”

Firen snorted, shaking her head and wishing she felt brave enough to ignore her mother and peer down the hallway again.

But she wasn’t, and it did not matter anyway, because Lucian and Ellena joined them soon enough.

And when she sat, Ellena had to dab lightly at the corners of her eyes with a cloth, and Lucian swallowed down his first cup of tea a little too quickly before asking for another.

Firen did not comment that he must have scalded himself and that it was for sipping and not for guzzling. But she thought it.

Also that it was rather wonderful to have him so happy, but she did not say that either.

Instead, she sat. And let Lucian guide the conversation while she ensured the teapot was never empty and the plate of pastries did not run out.

---