Elwin's return to Merah for Corwin's birthday was uneventful. It was exactly as he expected it to be and didn't want any attention brought to him or the fact that he'd returned.

He hid the truth and how much he wanted to find Maylin. To just say hello would be enough. Elwin would want more, but he'd take the hello that would undoubtedly be accompanied by her soft smile and subtle embarrassment found because of his interest.

Elwin also wanted to talk to Maylin, not just for his own needs but to check her thoughts after that kiss. It burned through him. Still, after all this time. Her soft lips against his, the desperate but soft mewl, her arms around him.

Closing the book, Elwin sighed and rolled his head back against the chair. He was sitting in the retreat off to the side of his quarters. The fire was roaring, and the doors were open to the terrace. It was a wonderful mixture of the warmth of the fire and the cold of the night.

The book could not keep his interest, not when Maylin was on Elwin's mind. All that he wanted was a short walk away, yet he was not allowed to go there. In fact, strict rules were placed upon him.

Elwin felt like an errant teenager when he returned earlier this afternoon. The second he entered the estate, his mother was waiting for him. That was standard, Selene always greeted her sons at the door when they came home, but Elwin knew that this was not what he was used to.

Selene politely requested to speak with Elwin alone. In his study, she laid down the rules for the next two nights. He was to remain inside the building. He was not permitted to step outside unless there was a deadly emergency. The only time he could go outside was when he left to return to Earth.

Elwin was also not permitted to ask any of the servants or family members to deliver Maylin to him. He'd scoffed at his mother about that demand, stating that she was being ridiculous. Selene didn't want to take any chances. She returned fire, telling Elwin that she thought that he had more sense and believed he'd changed his ways after the conversation during the ball yet one stormy night, and she found the complete opposite in her greenhouse.

What Selene didn't plan on was Maylin's part in this mess.

Hearing someone clear their throat, Elwin lifted his head from the back of the chair and looked at the woman standing in the doorway. He stared, wondering if she was an angel that had come to him in his darkest hour.

"I don't mean to intrude," Maylin said softly. "But I saw the doors were open."

"It's fine."

Elwin stood, warily taking a few steps closer.

"How come you're here?"

"I was walking in the garden, again."

She had a goofy smile on her face as her eyes rolled.

"Not lost this time though," Elwin replied.

"No, exactly where I want to be."

Elwin looked to his side, where the small terrace overlooked the garden. Rather than risk being seen, he took Maylin's hands and pulled her further into the room. It was enough to raise the mood, and barely a second passed before they were wrapped up in each other's arms.

The kiss was everything that they needed. As desperate as the last, they craved more from each other. Maylin clutched Elwin's shirt like her life depended on it, crushed against his body by his strong arms.

Easing into the ardent embrace, Maylin's arms slid up to his shoulders. Without the interruption, their affection could continue, becoming something that would escalate as each second passed by.

All too soon, the kiss ended. Maylin was still wrapped up in Elwin's arms, their lips a breath's distance apart.

"We should talk," he whispered.

Maylin nodded, stepping back when Elwin let go. He gestured to the long lounge, where they sat close to each other. Maylin couldn't resist, taking Elwin's hands to hold.

"I've been restricted to the house."

"Lady Rochester means well."

"She does, but it doesn't make any of this easier. We have to do the right thing here. Calion doesn't know, and it would upset him if he found out what was happening."

Elwin didn't know if that was the truth. Cal might be upset, but then he might not be interested in Maylin. It didn't matter though. Elwin knew that they were playing a dangerous game, and they risked so much. One wrong step could create chaos.

"I know, and it is causing me a lot of grief. Walking through the garden seems to give me a moment of peace."

Elwin frowned as the sudden realization hit him. His quarters were on the third floor.

"Maylin, did you fly up here?"

Her eyes lifted with fear, settling into sadness as she shrugged.

"You use your wings. That's rather rare."

"I am rare," she whispered. "If I tell you, it will change everything."

Elwin didn't respond, so Maylin took her cardigan off and revealed her wings. All fae had wings but they never used them. Elwin hadn't taken his out since he was a child. He thought that it was possible that they were now fused into his back.

Maylin shifted forward as the wings bristled and straightened. A soft shimmer echoed, sounding like glass gently colliding. Her wings were vastly different from anything Elwin had ever seen. Maylin's were narrow like a dragonfly wing. They were also clear.

"You're a glasswing," he whispered.

Elwin had read about them, but the archaic books spoke of them as if the glasswings were extinct. Warily, he reached out and ran his fingers over the delicate wings. Maylin giggled.

"It tickles, sorry."

Pulling his hand back, Elwin gave her a sheepish smile and returned his hands to the warmth of hers. All the while, his mind was running around screaming at him. A glasswing-right here in front of him.

Elwin also knew the ramifications of what Maylin was. Glasswings were life maters if the book was accurate. That meant that if Maylin fell in love with him, she would not accept another person and that included Calion if he picked her. No matter what he did, Calion would never have her heart, and there was a strong chance that she would not even give him children.

"Well, this could be a bit of a problem."

With a lot of regrets, Maylin nodded as her head lowered.

"I can't help what I feel, and I know what I have been told. My heart will go to one and once it happens, I cannot change it."

"Has that happened?"

Elwin jumped with fright and turned, staring at his mother. Maylin's wings retracted into her body. Anxiety filled her as she stared at Lady Rochester. She wasn't as angry as the night she'd caught them kissing in the greenhouse, but that didn't mean that she wasn't hiding it beneath the calm demeanor.

"Well?" Selene demanded as she walked closer.

"I don't know."

Selene sat down in the chair that Elwin had been using when Maylin arrived. She'd come here to speak with him about dinner tomorrow night and found that she'd been ignored once again. Listening to the conversation proved to be the best thing she could have done. Rather than storming in here and yelling at the two of them, she waited and, while not impressed, was pleased that they were behaving themselves. A civil conversation with their hands together. She could grant them that, but not much more.

"It would seem that we have a problem here. Why didn't you say something, Maylin?"

"I tried, but my parents were determined that we were going to apply."

"Even if you could fall in love with Calion and he picks someone else?"

Maylin nodded as the tears welled in her eyes.

"But it's okay, right? I don't have any feelings for Calion."

"Just Elwin," Selene muttered. "How do we progress from here? Tell Calion the truth and hope that he accepts it or pile more secrets onto this mess?"

She got nothing from either of them.

"Because I'd like to remind you, Elwin, that Calion's acceptance of this is still new. He could easily flip back to the way that he was, and it puts all of us in a bad position."

"He knows the ramifications of his actions if he refuses the decree."

"And what about you, Maylin? Are you prepared to wait for ninety-five years to marry Elwin?"

She nodded, which Selene thought was wonderful, but it didn't help the situation any.

"You cannot marry until the decree is completed. What would your parents say about that?"

"It is not for them to decide. I am a glasswing. I cannot change what happens in my heart. Besides, they are the ones that forced me into this knowing what I am. They knew that this could be an issue."

Selene inhaled deeply, thinking about it with her mind rather than her heart.

"We will discuss this again at another time. Maylin, please return to the guest accommodation and do not say anything to anyone."

Maylin nodded, rising from the lounge. She looked at Elwin with hope that she'd get to see him again before the night was over, but Maylin doubted it. There was a firm thought that Lady Rochester was going to have stern words with her son about her.

"Good night."

Elwin stood, watching as Maylin moved into the darkness. He couldn't see her until she reappeared, emerging into the light as she walked through the garden.

"What a mess," Selene groaned.

"It will work itself out."

"You say that like you believe that everything is fine. Be realistic here, Elwin. She's a glasswing, yet her parents lumped her into this knowing that she could fall in love with someone that may not pick her. Something is rotten here, and I promise you that it will bite us on the backside when the truth is revealed."

Elwin turned, leaning on the door. His attention was on Maylin for a moment and then on his mother.

"Are you suggesting that the Lovaris family are up to something?"

"Nothing surprises me anymore, Elwin. They asked for Maylin to be included, even though she wasn't in the age bracket that we'd set. They could have waited for Kelleck's turn, but they didn't want to do that."

"Come on, you know that it was only to give her an extra five years of acceptance."

"They should be removed because they failed to advise us that she was a glasswing."

"Maybe they thought that Maylin would not be accepted if they did."

"You're right. She wouldn't have. What if Calion picks her? She sat there and indicated that she was prepared to wait for you and there was no consideration for Calion in this. It's bad enough that we're going to have to tell him."

"Are we?"

Selene scowled at her eldest.

"We will because he needs to know that picking her is no longer an option. Let's hope that she wasn't one of the extremely small handful that he was going to update me on tomorrow."

"He said that?"

Selene nodded slowly, hoping that her son would understand the gravity of their actions.

"Calion said that there was already one stand-out leader, with a couple more that he was getting on well with. Our conversation was brief and he said that he would come and talk to me before dinner."

"How much do you know about glasswings?"

Selene shrugged as she watched Elwin sit on the seat next to her.

"I was told that they mate for life, but it's not true. They remain monogamous in their relationship, but if it ends, then they will move on."

"So, she would,"

"Yes, Elwin. She would get over you eventually. There is something that you might not have thought of, and I say this because I figure that you've been active with the du Crépuscule woman. You know that you can't have a physical relationship with a glasswing without children happening, right?"

"I'd not heard that one."

"Well, they are extremely fertile."

"All fae are," Elwin muttered.

Elwin knew that he was lucky that Kendall never fell pregnant. They were careful. She had an implant, he always wore condoms, and they tracked her body to know when she was fertile.

"I suppose those things that the humans use might work, and if that's the path that you decide to take, then I would strongly suggest them, but be aware that it could easily happen. Then she will be a marked woman and you will drag this family to the gutter. It's likely that her parents will disown her, society will ignore her and us and then you will struggle to find wives for all of your brothers. Think about that, Elwin. Each and every one of them will turn one hundred as the years pass us by, and every time it does, you will search and find only a few who will be willing to associate with us. Why do you think your father hid all those maids on Earth? It was the only way that he could guarantee that they would not become marked and that our family's name would not be sullied."

Reaching out, she clutched Elwin's hand.

"This is more than just sex, or having children before you're married. Think about everything that could happen, the worst situation that we could be faced with. She's sweet, and it appears that she does have a true interest in you, but I am worried. Be honest, see that something is wrong here."

Elwin sighed and nodded.

"I know. It did strike me as odd that she would be put into such a situation, but if glasswings are not life maters, then maybe it's not so bad after all."

Selene shot him a derisive look.

"I really want to shake some sense into you, son."

"I get it. Something stinks, much like everything else in this world."

"You are yet to investigate the issues with that book. She distracts you."

Selene stood from the lounge. There were many other things that she needed to do, and one of them was checking on Aleph to make sure that he was still in bed and not playing with his toys.

The slender fingers linked into each other, wrangling as she struggled with the anxiety that was building. There was so much wrong with this situation, and she didn't know where to begin. Selene hoped that Elwin could see that there was danger in the future, but she wasn't going to hold much hope. Considering that he'd kept the relationship with the enemy hidden for fifty years, Selene believed that Elwin lacked good judgment when it came to women. Perhaps it was not his heart or his mind that led him around. Selene thought that might be true about the du Crépuscule woman but Maylin? That was clearly different. His heart was clearly leading him in this instance.

"I came here tonight to tell you about how well Calion was doing. Maybe you should stop this before it starts, before he finds out what you've done behind his back. Everything that you've wanted for this family, everything that you've wished for us, it won't happen if you continue. We may not know Calion as well as we should, but he's like the rest of us. We break easily. Be careful Elwin because if I am right, then she will destroy our family."

Leaving him with that grim thought, Selene turned and walked out of his quarters.