"What's going on between you and Evren?" Celosia asked, sitting down beside Eris. He scooted away, increasing the distance between the two of them.

Eris continued playing through a song as he answered. "She's mad at me for something I did a few days ago."

"What did you do?" He didn't answer. Celosia cocked her head. "Did you kiss her?"

"No, of course not," Eris replied. "And it's none of your concern anyway."

"I'm just wondering if I can help."

"You can't."

A door banged shut. They both looked up as Evren stalked past the room. Eris stood and followed her, leaving Celosia alone in the sitting room. Evren didn't look back at him, but he was sure she knew he was there.

"What do you want?" She snapped as they drew closer to her room.

"How did it go?"

"Your target is dead, as always."

"Are you hurt?"

"No." She turned into her room. Evren moved to close the door, but Eris stopped it with his foot. "What?"

"I'm sorry," he said. Evren crossed her arms. "I'm sorry I pushed you. I'm sorry if you felt threatened."

She glared at him and slammed the door into his foot. Eris yelped and staggered back. He heard the lock click. He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, waiting. Dull pain thudded through his foot.

He heard the sound of running water presently. Eris tuned it out, mulling over his apology. He would apologize again for making her feel threatened. He knew she had. He'd seen the fear and panic in her eyes. He would apologize for making her see him as someone who would hurt her. But he would not apologize for making her feel something, anything, besides that terrible empty numbness. He'd rather see hot anger in her eyes than cold nothingness.

Footsteps approached the door. The lock clicked and Evren tugged it open. Her hair hung in damp ringlets down her back. She wore a loose shirt and a pair of pants. "You aren't leaving until I listen to you?" She asked.

"I'm not."

Evren sighed and jerked her head. He followed her inside and she closed the door once more. Evren dropped onto a bench at the foot of her bed. Eris stared at the barren mattress curiously.

"You still don't sleep with blankets. Why?"

"I can't stand the way they feel."

"Like cloaks?" She nodded. Eris ran his fingers through his hair. "I'm not the best with apologies. I am sorry, though. I'm sorry if I made you feel threatened. I'm sorry I touched you like that."

"Why did you?" Evren lifted her chin.

"You sounded so...gone...when you talked about that butterfly. I saw the look in your eyes. You really were feeling nothing. You were empty and numb. I was afr...worried. I was worried that if you didn't feel something, anything, other than emptiness, I would wake up the next morning and find that you had decided to leave this world."

"Why would you care if I had? Because you still have a use for me?"

"That's one reason."

"What are the others?"

Eris hesitated. Truthfully, he couldn't put words to the other reasons. He didn't understand the way he felt when he thought about her dark plans for herself. He didn't really understand why he'd decided to care in the first place.

"I was worried and I didn't know what to do, so I did the only thing I could think of. I made you angry with me. I made you scared of me. I just wanted the look in your eyes to change. I wanted to see something there, even if it had to be hatred. I'm sorry."

Evren met his gaze. "I would have. If you hadn't broken my mood, I would have gone back to my parents' grave that night. I'm angry with you for making me feel afraid in a place that had begun to feel safe to me, but I'm not angry with you for making me feel something."

Safe. The Forest House was beginning to feel safe to her? Eris doubted the word had ever been familiar to her. He doubted it had ever been familiar to this house. Evren held out a hand. He swallowed and took it. She turned his hand over and began to trace the lines in his palm. Eris sat down beside her, careful not to disturb her. Her fingers were gentle as she touched the scars on his wrist.

"Are they solely from your father?" She asked.

Eris stiffened. "Yes."

She lifted his wrist. "Manacle scars are wider. These scars have wide bases, but thin ridges towards the center." Evren's sea green eyes met his. "Manacles created the wider scars, but something else injured them towards the middle."

"What will you tell me if I explain this?" He asked warily.

"What do you want to know?"

Eris leaned over and lifted her hair, draping it over one of her shoulders. She didn't protest as he slid a hand down her back, over the whip scars. "Tell me about these."

Evren closed her eyes. "I can't tell you the full story surrounding them, but I can tell you part of it." Her breath shook and he pulled his hand away. She kept hold of his other one and went back to tracing his palm.

"I gained these the night my parents died," she said. "I followed them to the border of the Autumn and Spring Courts. I saw your father kill them. I...I was stupid and I came out of my hiding place. I attacked your father. He shook me off and had his warriors whip me for the fun of it. He laughed." Her eyes were still closed as she recalled the memory. "He laughed when they whipped me. I was screaming and crying and trying to fight. It didn't matter, just like with Cadoc."

Eris' chest tightened at the thought. Anger burned hot in his stomach. If he'd known her when his father was still alive...Beron's death would have been that much slower and that much more painful.

"Your wrists," she whispered.

"I told you about my father and the manacles," Eris said. "But...I suppose I did leave out a few things." She gave him a prompting look. "Sometimes..." Eris sucked down a breath, forcing his voice to remain steady. "Sometimes seeing myself bleed was the only way I knew I was High Fae and not an actual monster. True monsters bleed black, no matter what their species. I bleed red."

Eris couldn't quite interpret the look that spread across her features. It was a mixture of horror, sorrow, and understanding. Eris' breath caught as she held his wrist to her lips. She lifted his other hand and kissed that wrist too.

"When was the last time you did that?" She asked.

He thought for a moment. "Six months ago, just before I killed my father."

"Promise me you will never do it again."

Eris tilted his head. "Promise me that you will never punish yourself again, and I will make that promise to you."

"I don't punish myself," Evren protested.

"Maybe not like I do, but you still punish yourself. You isolate yourself. You push away everyone who tries to get close to you. You don't do the things you enjoy. You don't let yourself laugh or smile. Promise me you will stop punishing yourself. Promise me, and I will promise too."

"I can't make a promise I can't keep."

"Neither can I." Eris stood, pulling his hand out of hers. Evren didn't stop him as he passed through the door and left.

•~ ❘ ۞ ❘ ~•

Evren didn't leave her room until noon the next day. She spent most of the morning thinking over what Eris had said, and she was beginning to realize something. This High Lord that she had known for only a few weeks seemed to understand her better than she understood herself, and she understood him.

Evren opened her closet and shifted through the clothes that hung in it. She had come to a decision. Eris was right. She had been punishing herself and she would stop somehow. If she only had a few months, or a few weeks, left to live, she was going to try to enjoy them.

Evren pulled a dress out of the closet and tugged it on. It was simple and modest, but fit her nicely. Evren braided her hair and left her room. Voices came from the dining room when she made her way downstairs.

She entered and found Celosia accompanying Eris. Eris' gaze drifted over her impassively. Evren took her usual seat. A servant set a plate of food before her. She began to eat without an urging look from Eris.

"I haven't seen you in some time," Celosia said. "You've been off sulking."

"And you've been off preening. Perhaps I should drag you through the mud again?" Evren replied. Eris snorted. She faced him. "You've fallen behind on your piano lessons. I heard you yesterday and you messed up on some easy songs."

"And you've fallen behind on your dance lessons," he retorted. "More so than me. We'll have a lesson while Celosia is here. She can play the piano for us." A glimmer of dismay shone in Celosia's sapphire gaze.

They finished their meal in silence and made their way to the sitting room. Celosia took up her position at the piano. Evren rested a hand on Eris' shoulder and took his left hand. He placed his right hand on her waist, careful not to touch the bare skin on her back. Her whip scars were visible above the low neckline.

Celosia began to play and Eris began the lesson. Evren kept pace with him, watching his feet. He tilted her chin up. "Eyes on me," he said. They danced further away from Celosia. "Am I forgiven?"

"For shoving me? Yes. For making me feel threatened? Not quite."

"I'm sorry, Evren."

She blinked in surprise. "You've never addressed me by name before."

"Neither have you." He dropped her into a dip, then pulled her back up. His nose brushed her neck as he leaned closer to her ear. "Why did you decide to wear a dress today?"

"I thought about what you said."

"And?"

"If I only have a few months left to live, I want to spend them living as I was never able to before." Somehow, she felt his dismay before she saw it in his eyes. He masked it quickly, straightening. "Starting with my clothes. I never wore feminine things in the Mortal Lands, like I said."

Eris' gaze was unreadable. "A pity. You look very nice in dresses." Heat rose to her cheeks, unbidden. Evren attempted to hide it. Eris shook his head. Briefly, he touched her cheek with the tips of his fingers. "Don't. Don't hide your feelings, whether they be anger, embarrassment, or sorrow. Don't hide them. Not from me."

"I believe I have a promise we both can keep," Evren replied. "I will not hide my emotions from you, if you don't hide yours from me."

Eris bowed his head. "Very well. Let me tell you what I'm feeling currently." Her heartbeat quickened. "I am proud, happy, confused, and a little concerned."

"I am determined, calm, and still a little embarrassed," Evren admitted.

Eris smirked, bringing his head towards her ear again. "Because I find you attractive?" He whispered. Her cheeks flushed again. She could feel a smile pulling on her lips.

Celosia cleared her throat and ceased playing. They broke apart and Evren saw just a hint of pink on Eris' features too. "I just had a wonderful idea," Celosia said. "I think the two of you should come to my house for dinner. Father will be gone again in two days. Come that evening. I'll have everything ready." Evren saw that halfhearted smile cross Celosia's features. Wariness churned in her stomach, but Eris had already accepted.