Chapter Six Fenlia
CHAPTER SIX
Fenlia
As a junior council member, Fen does not have to be the one to wake Elician up in the mornings.
As his sister, she decides it is her prerogative anyway.
She relishes the chance to bother him, and in the month since they first arrived in Himmelsheim, she has taken it as her solemn duty to do just that.
Each day she checks to see if he ever made it to the King’s suite, but when she discovers his absence, she fetches the ceremonial clothes that were delivered there the day before and relocates to Elician’s office.
Lio is standing in position at the door already, and he gives her a short nod as she approaches.
He almost looks like he did when she saw him in Kreuzfurt last. He has regained much of his muscle, no doubt assisted by Zinnitzia, and his many days of training with the palace guard seem to have done wonders for his posture.
He is a picturesque statue blocking her entrance with no clear indication that he will let her pass.
It is always a challenge to move him. She much prefers when someone else is on morning rotations.
‘Lio,’ she starts, holding up the clothes as evidence of her purpose. ‘I’m to fetch them for breakfast.’
‘There’s time yet, still,’ he says without even batting an eye. He probably has all his rebuttals memorized. They probably teach rebuttals in guard school or whatever specialty training classes he went through growing up. She’s never asked. She’s never cared. Until now.
‘Adalei told me to get them there before sixth bell.’
‘The crown princess will have to learn to live with the disappointment, won’t she?
’ Lio says with no small amount of cheek.
‘Unless, of course, Her Grace knows full well that breakfast starts at seventh bell and would only be expecting them at that time and not a moment earlier, because even she herself will not have entered the room to notice their absence at the sixth.’ Fen winces, caught in the lie.
It was a stretch. A hope that Lio may not wish to disappoint Adalei and let Fen through just to satisfy his allegiance to her.
But it had one very obvious flaw in retrospect: Lio knows Adalei’s schedule almost as well as he knows Elician’s.
‘When will you let me in?’ Fen mutters, hugging the clothes close and probably wrinkling them in the process.
She wants to talk to them. Spend time with them.
Do something that isn’t constant running back and forth from an endless list of tasks that never seems close to completion.
The early morning is the only time she has for that.
Everyone else will be clamouring for their attention afterwards, and she knows full well she is not their priority.
Lio lowers his voice, bleeding the tension from each place a barb might have hurt the worst. ‘Give it an hour, Fen. It was a late night.’ He motions for a bench down the hall, and she takes it, thoughts spinning in ever-increasing swells of anxiety and concern in the process.
It’s been a month. A month, and Elician still spends every night in his office with Cat almost always there at his side.
She’s walked in on them in any number of positions.
Slumped on their desks, curled up on the couch.
More than a few times they were even on the floor, surrounded by paperwork that had been spread out in endless stacks that seemed to hold no logic or understanding except to them.
She’s heard every single excuse on why their efforts are so incredibly necessary.
And she’s heard nearly twice as many rumours amongst the people at court as to what is so important that Elician spends every night trying to put it right.
By the time Lio actually steps aside and lets her knock on the office door, she wishes she could see some kind of clear explanation for herself. But she sees and knows nothing more than all the people whispering in the palace corners.
Elician and Cat are sprawled on the couch, Elician’s body covering most of Cat’s, his head to Cat’s chest, his arms holding Cat close. Their bare skin is touching. They could be far more protected in the King’s suite. But sometimes, Fen thinks he wants to be discovered.
‘Good morning,’ Fen calls out as loud as she can without screaming. She keeps her tone bright and cheery. Both flinch at the sound, and she presses onwards. ‘It’s another busy day today!’
‘Fen, for gods’ sakes…’ Elician mutters, leveraging himself off Cat’s hip so he can stand.
‘Breakfast in the great hall,’ she says.
‘The culinary crew want to test the timing for their dinner service later, so we’ll have the whole room just for family this time, but it truly is in the great hall this morning, and while I know you love skipping meals to work, work, work, your presence is required.
’ Elician spits out a few uncharitable comments, but she presses on.
‘Then we have the meeting with parliament…Adalei had these dropped off for you both in your chambers, in case you weren’t aware.
’ She lays the clothes out on Cat’s desk.
‘I wasn’t,’ Elician concedes, pressing his hands to his face. Cat hunts down his gloves, pats down his hair. ‘I’ll meet you outside. Ten minutes, please!’
She whirls about and closes the door behind her. Lio stares straight ahead, not even bothering to try to peer into the room and see how things are going for himself. ‘How late of a night was it?’ she whispers to him.
‘Last shift said near dawn.’ She wonders if the whole of the King’s Guard knows just how unwell Elician has been since his return…
She cannot help but wonder how they feel about Elician still choosing to marry the heir to Alelune anyway.
It’s not the guards’ place to talk or spread rumours.
Lio would have them flogged for even considering such a thing.
But rumours are spreading. And someone is doing the talking.
‘Have you tried getting through to him?’
‘Leave it, Fen,’ Lio replies.
‘You know what people are saying—’
‘You take care of them, and I’ll take care of him.’
‘Great job you’re doing so far,’ Fen mutters, cross and unthinking.
The rebuttal comes too fast to disarm. ‘One day, Princess,’ Lio says, not flinching or moving even an inch from his spot, ‘you’re going to push someone hard enough and get slapped right across that pretty mouth of yours.
And when it happens? Not a single person will come to your defence because you’ll have alienated yourself from anyone who might have considered caring about you more than you ever deserved. ’
‘I didn’t mean it like that,’ she snaps. ‘I wasn’t…I didn’t mean about what happened with Alelune, I just meant—’
‘Elician is my brother, Princess. But you have never been my sister.’ It may as well have been a blow. She staggers back from the force of it, mouth straining to find words and excuses. ‘If you have issue with my conduct, you may discuss it with the King or his heir.’
‘That’s not—Lio, I didn’t mean it like that.
I’m sorry, I—’ The door to the King’s office opens.
Cat is there, dressed in a fine blue jacket that brings out the green in his eyes.
The circlet Adalei got for him is settled perfectly in place.
He blinks at them both, a hiss sliding through his teeth seemingly more out of surprise than anything else.
It’s been ages since Fen has heard him make that sound, but then Lio copies it exactly, and she feels more out of place when Cat’s attention snaps to him like a strike of lightning. Another hiss, another response.
‘All good?’ Elician asks from just behind his betrothed. He’s buttoning up the final clasps on his sleeves, and Fen’s stomach twists itself into knots as she waits for Lio to repeat the fatal words she just conveyed.
But Lio merely steps to one side and bows in a perfect manoeuvre that is so familiar it is rote.
‘Your Majesty.’ Cat’s frowning still, not moving from the door.
Fen’s heart races. But Lio merely says: ‘Shall we?’ and takes one step back.
Cat follows without comment. Elician shuts and locks the door behind them all and asks Fen for his calendar for the day.
She barely manages to get the order straight in her head, too tongue-tied as she watches Cat watch Lio lead them away.
Breakfast is a family affair.
Queen Mother Calissia sits at the far end of the table, out of mourning clothes for the late king and equally out of contact with the rest of the group.
Adalei provides quiet updates of matters of state around eggs and bread.
Cat delicately cuts his meat into pieces and eats in slow bites, listening without speaking as is his wont, with Elician poking at the smallest portions of things as if willing the food to disappear is enough to make it happen on its own.
Lio is on duty. It is not his place to eat with them, and he doesn’t move from behind Elician’s chair.
Not even to cast a stray glance towards his beloved. Adalei equally pays him no mind.
It is torture.
Adalei will find out. Lio will definitely tell her as soon as they’re alone.
Or he’ll tell Elician. Or maybe even Cat.
Maybe he’s already told Cat. Fen can barely stomach her food.
And there is so much of it. There’s always so much of it.
Apologies and excuses burn the taste of every mouthful into ash on her tongue.
She can’t stop looking at Lio, and Lio is duty bound to not even once look at her.
She’s going to be in so much trouble. And she deserves it.
She deserves it. It was a needlessly cruel thing to say.