Page 130 of A Court of Fire and Frost

I think I’m settling into my role.

* * *

Six Le BabaMorgaine designer suitcases line the walls. Five of them are mine. Elva rolls her eyes.

Her hair is down, and she’s dressed in a flowery blue summer dress. I didn’t even know she owned such a gown.

“Hey, I have to meet with the Summer Fae government. They will take you at face value, but if I’m not dressed my absolute best, they might as well skin me alive. With words.”

Elva laughs. “Yes, well, I have a feeling I will spend most of this trip wearing next to nothing.”

I quirk up an eyebrow, and she swats my arm. It actually hurts, but I keep a straight face. “No, I mean the heat. My coronation is in three weeks, on the Winter Solstice. How in the hell will I adjust from tundra to muggy heat?”

“Permanent snow cloud over your head?”

“Right, Nathan, because that will make such a good impression on your family.”

I smile and squeeze her hand. I’m not entirely sure how to use the Iter Dust to get all the luggage, so I just… sort of… half-lay on it and hug the rest. Elva is laughing so hard tears stream down her face. She picks up the powder and throws it at me. I smile weakly.

The next moment, we are in the Summer Court pickup station. Elva is facing the opposite direction, and she stiffens at my side. I whip around to see the perceived threat and find my mother sobbing. Next to her are Cherie and her son-of-a-scholar husband. I smile. I’m going to have a conversation with him about the university.

I squeeze Elva’s hand, and between us, we roll our suitcases across the ground. My mother bolts past me and pulls Elva into the tightest hug I’ve ever seen.

Elva hesitates for a moment and then wraps her arms around her as well.

Lucinda keeps slobbering over Elva’s bare shoulder, and I try to pull her away. She’s hysterical, going on and on about how she “feared it would never happen.”

“Mom,shut up. You’re being ridiculous,” Cherie hisses at her.

Lucinda wipes her eyes viciously, smearing her cosmetics further. “I’m only concerned about your happiness. You tell me what you worry about when you have younglings.”

I laugh and cough at the same time. “Mom, calm down.”

Having children is not exactly our number one priority right now. We have things to work on. Elva would be an excellent mother, but she needs to sort out her own feelings about her mother before we can get there. I do too.

The advertising screens are flashing through different images around us, and I find myself disoriented. Too much time in the Winter Court, I guess.

When ‘the carriage’—electric car—takes us back to my mother’s house, the vividly happy and wild memories are way more prevalent in my mind.

The thing about love is that it makes you want to bring out the best in everything around you. I don’t think that’s a bad thing at all.

When we walk through the door, I’m touched to see that they decorated for the Winter Solstice. My mom pauses. “Dinner tonight?”

“Look, I have to go meet with the Summer Embassy with Elva, and I just really don’t know what time it will be —”

“Flesh of my flesh,”Lucinda starts, her eyes narrowed. I already feel my body starting to tense.

Elva notices immediately. “What do you think you’re doing?” she interjects.

Lucinda breaks her focus, the intense expression melting away. “I… I’m his mother. I want to spend time with both of you.”

Truth.

“By compelling him?” All the softness is gone from Elva’s face, and my mother shrinks back. “It’s abusive. You don’t compel your adult children to do anything; I will not stand by and watch. If you want us to be a part of your life, and we desperately want to, you will have to learn new ways to treat your children.”

Cherie’s mouth hangs open, and my mother looks as though she’s been slapped.

Lucinda slowly nods.

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