Chapter 69

I find Lucia trailing her fingers along my book shelf, inspecting my room with a curious eye. She looks even more exhausted than she had outside, like all the adrenaline has finally worn off, leaving her bone- tired.

"This is your room?" Lucia asks as I shut the door clicks closed behind me, "It suits you."

I walk over to where my sister stands, "It does," I agree and meet her gaze with a smile, "Damion actually set it up for me."

"The Shifter King?" Lucia asks skeptically, "That was the shifter king who just escorted us here? We're talking about the same person right?"

I shake my head, somewhat amused at her skepticism, "Yes, *that* Damion."

"Well, I can't argue with his taste," she admits though it sounds like it pains her, "He obviously knows you pretty well if this is what he chose."

I grin looking around the happy, light colored space again. He really had done a good job with it. The creamy shades of white and blues, the bookshelves, the fresh wildflowers that someone must have replaced while I'd been gone, the harp in the corner. The way that the sunlight filters into the room, hitting the stone walls in such a way that it causes the imbedded crystals to sparkle, giving everything an ethereal and dreamlike quality. Beautiful and comfortable and bright. I've loved it from the moment I got here.

"And you two" Lucia hesitates, running a tired hand down her face, as if unable to find the right words, "You're, *together*?"

I nod, leaning against the shelf beside her, "Yeah, we are."

She lets out a heavy breath, "Wow."

I nod again, chewing on the inside of my cheek. *Wow* was right. I watch my sister, carefully, waiting to see what her reaction will be. She doesn't seem angry or upset. Just like she's processing everything. She studies the room again, chewing on the nail of her thumb.

"Alright," she sighs, throwing herself into the armed chair near the fire place, "you're going to have to start from the beginning. And don't leave out any details."

So I do.

I spend the next few hours telling Lucia everything that had happened over the last few months after I'd been taken away from the Seelie Court. From the way that the Unseelie treated me and the way that Damion had saved me from them. How he'd brought me back to his home. She lets me talk without interruptions up until I get to the part about our family. About what I learned about not being full fae, but half elf as well.

When I tell about what I've learned and how Damion and my friends had helped me get a cure she stands from her chair, pacing around the room.

"Holy fuck," she breathes, tugging on the ends of her hair, "That's huge, Lily."

"I know," I twist a strand of hair around my fingers to as I watch her pace, "Do you think that father knew? About mother and Calden?"

She loops her hands around her neck pausing to face me, "I mean if he did, I can't imagine he'd let her live."

"You don't think" I start to say, trailing off.

"*No*, no way. Father wouldn't have I mean I don't think he would have kept you alive if he'd known. He's not exactly the forgiving type."

I cringe, "Yeah, I guess that's true."

"Gods," she groans, "our family is a mess."

I finish telling her everything about my time with the elves and my newfound connection to Damion. She takes the rest of the information surprisingly well. And we end up plopped down on the bed together, flipping through the diaries Elandorr had given me. It isn't as intimidating or overwhelming to read through the diaries with my sister helping me for emotional support.

We're pulled out of our deep dive into our parents when there's a knock on my bedroom door.

"Come in," I call out, not bothering to get up from where I'm sprawled out next to Lucia, knowing that whoever is outside will be able to hear me.

The door creaks open and Arden and Xavier peek their heads in. They're toting trays of food. Distantly, I notice that Lucia stiffens beside me. Xavier hesitates by the door but Arden pushes her way into the room like she owns the place the way she always does and it makes me grin.

"We got stopped before we could make it to lunch," Arden says to me, "so we figured you might want an early dinner. We knew you'd be starving since you didn't have your usual *second* round of breakfast. Not to mention we skipped snack, and your typical first and second lunches."

A loud laugh bursts out of me at the reminder of how much I'd been eating when we were at Elfhame together. While my energy had been recovering and I'd been spending a lot of time recharging it left me with an overwhelming appetite. It felt like we'd spent more time in the dining area than anywhere else. Arden and Xavier had even taken to carrying snacks in their pockets for me.

I'd been so immersed in my conversation with Lucia that I hadn't even noticed the growing pit in my stomach. I really was getting hungry.

"You guys are starting to know me a little *too* well," I grin and they both snicker when my stomach growls confirming that fact. My stomach pulls me up from my sprawled position on the bed and over to the table, my mouth watering as the smells of fresh baked bread and cheese and meat waft into my face.

Lucia follows me to the table and lowers herself into the seat next to me, and there's a strained moment when my sister and my two guards blatantly eye one another as if sizing one another up.

The tension breaks when I snort a laugh, saying around a mouthful of food, "The way you three are looking at each other, you'd think you were about to step into a fighting ring instead of eating dinner." The words come out garbled with the amount of bread I'd just shoved into my mouth.

Arden and Lucia break into hesitant grins, though Xavier keeps his stony expression, still standing a few paces away with us arms crossed over his chest.

"I mean," Arden says before picking up a piece of fruit and shoving it into her mouth, "she did just hold someone hostage a few hours ago, so it's not totally uncalled for-"

Lucia tips her head in challenge, "I did, and I'd do it again if I needed to. Lily's my baby sister. Though," her face twists uncomfortably for a moment like she has to choke her next words out, "She did tell me how you helped her get healed. That you stayed with her, protected her when I didn't. So I wanted to thank you. For everything you did for my sister."

"We didn't do it for you." Xavier grumbles, "we did it because she's our friend. But we appreciate the sentiment."

"Awww that was sweet Xay," I grin up at him, "I always knew you liked me." I waggle my eyebrows teasingly.

Xavier grunts, like he's annoyed, "I've already told you not to call me that."

My grin widens, "Stop, you love it. Now are you going to sit down or are you going to keep hovering over there like a weirdo?"

Arden full laughs at that and kicks out the chair beside her for him to take. He only hesitates for a moment before lowering himself into the chair almost as stiffly as Lucia had and I have to stifle another laugh at his surly expression.

And just like that, the mood between them evens out to something resembling friendly. Almost all of my favorite people in the same room without killing each other. Two crazy worlds colliding in a way that was unreal but amazing all the same.

I can't stop smiling so hard my cheeks hurt.

I accidentally fall asleep on the bed next to Lucia sometime after Xavier and Arden leave to go back to their rooms. I'd left my bedroom door cracked so I could hear when the one across the hall opened. I'd been listening for it, so when the door across the hall softly creaks open, I blink awake.

Damion had left for another meeting and then went along with a patrol group scouting the borders for signs of another attack. I'd wondered when he would get back, a part of me worried he'd get caught up in something while he was gone - that he'd get hurt and I wouldn't know.

Hearing that simple sound of his door loosens my knotted stomach, and eases my frayed nerves. Checking to make sure that Lucia is still sleeping, I slide out of bed and patter quietly across the hall.