The artwork above is not mine.

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"What about this one?" Sienna asked, lifting a large green book.

Mikael eyed the title and nodded. "Add it to the pile. There could be something in it."

Celeste dropped her head onto a book, her hazelnut blonde curls bouncing with the impact. "Please tell me we don't have to put all of these away just to find them again tomorrow."

"We'll put away the ones we've gone through and leave the others stacked on tables," Mikael replied with a chuckle.

Truthfully, he was getting tired of searching for the same books daily too, although he knew every inch of the Palace library like the back of his hand. It never took him long to find what he was looking for. The process just seemed to grow repetitive.

It had been that way the first time Mikael began researching necromancy. There was little information available on the subject. It was a form of Black Magic, deemed unnatural and disastrous by scholars and magical practitioners of old. Mikael had only found a few books that even so much as hinted at the forbidden art.

"Is Estelle making any progress?" Calden asked, leafing through another book.

"I don't know," Mikael replied. "She told me she was waiting for Rhysand to dig up his old reports and papers from the original investigation. She wants to review them before anything else."

Celeste lifted her head. "How's Lysander?"

Mikael shrugged and flew over to another bookshelf, pulling down several thick volumes. It was an effort to hide the way he was bristling at her question. Estelle had told him some of what Lysander said when he and Celeste called off...whatever it was that had been going on between them.

He was finding it hard to forgive his friend for so carelessly toying with Estelle's brother's, his brother's, emotions. Mikael could only imagine how Lysander would feel when he found out that Celeste was already seeing someone new. He was just grateful that Seren Marzena wasn't quite as hot headed as Azriel, otherwise Celeste would've found herself burnt to a crisp already. It was a wonder Azriel hadn't confronted her either.

Maybe that would make her consider her actions, Mikael couldn't help but think. He shoved his frustration aside and flew down to the floor. He set his books on the table and selected one to begin searching through.

"This is so boring," Celeste groaned.

"I thought you liked to read," Sienna said with a smirk.

"I like to read novels, not boring texts on the history of magic and varieties of spells."

"This is quality reading material," Mikael protested.

Calden leaned towards him with a broad grin. "Yeah, you've probably read all of these books five times each. That means you can tell us which ones aren't even worth opening, right?"

Mikael rolled his eyes. "If I knew that, these books would still be on the shelves and not on this table. Anyway, we'll never get any work done if you all don't stop complaining. You're the ones who volunteered to help in the first place."

"We volunteered because we're good friends, not because we actually wanted to help," Celeste retorted.

"Yeah, that definitely adds to your good friend credibility."

Mikael returned his focus to his book. He ran a finger beneath the sentence he was reading, so that he wouldn't lose his place. He stroked the Mating Bond gently. Estelle returned the gesture, but didn't speak. He guessed she was busy with something.

"We should make this more interesting," Celeste said at last. "How about a truth or dare game?"

"It's always truth or dare with you," Sienna laughed.

"How would we tie that into research?" Calden asked.

Celeste thought for a moment. "How about this? Whenever we come across the instructions for a spell, we have to answer a truth. When we find something pertaining to necromancy, we do a dare. Here. I'll go first."

Celeste held up her book and pointed to the list of instructions pertaining to a wind manipulation spell. "Ask me a question. Any of you."

"I've got one." Calden crossed his arms. "How long have you known this mysterious male you're going out with?"

Celeste returned his shrewd blue gaze. "About six months."

She knew him before she and Lysander ended their relationship? Mikael wondered to himself. From the looks on Calden and Sienna's faces, they were thinking the same thing. Celeste had already resumed reading.

Mikael busied himself with his book and soon stumbled across a spell of his own. "I'm due for a truth," he said.

"Did you ever consider having a male lover?" Sienna asked. "Before Estelle, of course."

"Not really."

Celeste raised an eyebrow. "But you've said you found certain males attractive?"

"Because they were, but that doesn't mean I wanted to sleep with them. You've said Estelle is beautiful, but you've never acted like you wanted to sleep with her. I think Nyx is handsome, but I don't want to sleep with him."

"I would," Calden admitted. "With both of them. Estelle and Nyx. Probably at the same time too." Mikael tilted his head, staring at Calden. Possessive instincts rose, but Mikael stamped them down. Calden merely shrugged as he continued. "I'm just being honest. And it wouldn't be the strangest thing I've done. We all know that."

"But they're cousins," Sienna laughed, almost nervously.

I can't believe I'm about to say this, Mikael thought. "Well, not biologically."

Calden clapped his hands together, barking a laugh. "Ha! You understand the appeal, don't you?"

Mikael massaged his temples, smothering a laugh. "I'm not even going to answer that. I just said I didn't want to sleep with Nyx."

"You're questioning yourself now, aren't you?" Calden slung an arm over his shoulders. "There's no shame in changing your mind. The more the merrier."

"This is your fault," Mikael chuckled, pointing at Sienna.

Her mouth fell open. "How is it my fault? Celeste suggested the game in the first place!"

"I'll consider it a team effort, then."

Celeste and Sienna laughed and Mikael couldn't hide his grin. He had a feeling they weren't going to get much work done this afternoon, but it was nice to be with his friends again, like old times. It relieved him of his concerns, if only temporarily.

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Estelle lounged in a chair across from Venelia, tucked into a corner of the library at Rhys and Feyre's estate. Her uncle had said he was nearly done compiling all of the reports she needed, so Venelia was helping her look through the ones from Devlon while they waited for Rhys.

"How is work at the bakery going?" Estelle asked presently.

"It's good," Venelia replied. "We've had to fill several orders for a few parties, which has kept us busy. I can't get your grandmother to sit more than eight minutes at a time. She is always trying to keep herself occupied."

Venelia had been working for Estelle's grandmother, Azriel's mother, at her bakery for the past two years. Estelle was grateful that her grandmother had someone in the bakery with her besides customers, even though Venelia only worked three days a week.

Her grandmother rarely left the bakery, except on special occasions. She preferred to stay where she felt safe and comfortable. Where she knew the people and her surroundings. Estelle knew why. She knew her grandmother's seclusion and need for constant work stemmed from her dark past.

Estelle's father, Azriel, had been born the bastard of an Illyrian lord. He was kept locked up in a dark cell and released for just an hour each day. He only saw his mother one hour a week. His step mother and two half brothers delighted in being cruel to him and his mother. His half brothers were the ones who had doused his hands in oil and lit them on fire when Azriel was only eight. His hands still carried the scars, and always would.

He had escaped the horror of that life at the age of eleven, when he was sent to Windhaven to train. Estelle knew he'd faced another set of entirely different horrors there, but nothing compared to what his life at home had been like. As for Estelle's grandmother, she didn't find escape until much later.

531 years later, to be precise. She had never spoken of what terrible things she endured after Azriel was sent to Windhaven, but the brutal scars on her body, and her behavior told Estelle enough. Her grandmother kept herself busy both to fill her time, and to keep herself from remembering everything she'd gone through.

"Can I tell you something?" Venelia asked, drawing Estelle out of her thoughts.

"Of course," Estelle replied. "What is it?"

Venelia bit her lip, her green eyes shining, then said, "I want to have a baby."

"Really?"

Venelia nodded. "And I've told Nyx, but he's worried that the child will have wings. I'm High Fae, so I couldn't safely give birth to a winged baby. I wish there was a way I could be given an Illyrian reproductive anatomy, like Feyre, Nesta, and your mother, but Feyre said Nesta used the Dread Trove to accomplish that. She doesn't think the process could be replicated."

"Oh." Estelle frowned. "That's an issue. Wings do seem to be a fairly dominant trait."

Venelia nodded. "I think I'm going to talk to Madja soon and find out what my options are. Will you come with me when I do?"

"Don't you want Nyx to go?"

"Yes, but I think it'd be easier without him there, in case Madja only has bad news to give me. I don't want him to feel guilty or upset if it turns out it's best we don't have a baby."

"He'll find out either way," Estelle said.

"I know." Venelia's smile faded. "But if he's not there when Madja tells me, I'll feel free to cry without upsetting him too, and when I do tell him, hopefully I'll be composed."

"You want a baby that badly?"

Venelia nodded. "I hardly knew my own mother. She died when I was young. I've always hoped that I'll be able to know my children, and that they'll know me."

"Mikael didn't know his mother at all. She died when he was born."

"Do you want a baby sometime soon?"

"Maybe when all of this," Estelle gestured to the reports strewn around them, "is taken care of. Just tell me when you want to go see Madja and I'll be ready."

"Thank you." Venelia smiled brightly.

The library doors creaked open and Rhys appeared, carrying several reports. "Here you go." He set them beside Estelle. "Good luck." Rhys spun on his heel, heading back towards the door. He paused briefly. "Oh, Ven, Nuala asked me to let you know a letter has arrived for you from the Spring Court." He flashed her a wry grin. "Be sure to tell your father I said hello."

Venelia rolled her eyes as Rhys closed the library door behind him. "It's very hard to have two fathers who hate each other but love me so they pretend to be civil."

"I can only imagine," Estelle giggled.