The estate's marble entrance hall hummed with quiet emotion as the initial shock of Cassian's arrival began to settle into warm relief.
Tristan, his eyes still red and glossy from tears, took a tentative step toward the center of the room. He hesitated for a second, feeling unsure of his place among everyone else. But before he could pull back, Elysia and Elise immediately reached out, grabbing his hands and pulling their half-brother directly into a shared embrace.
Though he stood awkward and stiff for a brief moment, the remaining tension in Tristan's broad shoulders melted away as the twins held him tight.
"You do not have to stand all by yourself, Tristan stop holding back."
Elysia murmured against his shoulder, her voice thick with tease.
"Yeah," Elise added softly, resting her chin on his arm. "You are our brother. You belong with us."
Tristan swallowed the lump in his throat and slowly wrapped his arms around them both.
"Thank you..."
Cassian watched the three of them with a soft, affectionate smile.
Nearby, Ruby lingering in the cold shadow of the grand archway. Her fingernails bit sharply into her palm as she watched her son—the boy she had spent seventeen years molding to guard her fragile position in the estate—slip effortlessly into Cassian's orbit. Her face twisted with quiet rage and bitterness.
Lucien turned his head slightly, his icy blue eyes casting a freezing glare toward the dark pillar. He took a single, deliberate step forward, blocking her line of sight to Cassian and Tristan.
"Leave,"
Lucien commanded, his voice a low, warning murmur meant only for her ears.
"While I was in the royal palace, I sent word to the maidservants to pack your things and sent them to your new estate. The carriage has been waiting outside since dawn, now it is time for you to leave."
"I am not going anywhere Lucien Arden, this is my house. I am the Duchess of this castle whether you like it or not."
"Then as the Duke of this castle I am putting an end to this facade of a marriage."
Ruby gasped, her eyes tearing up as she looked up at him.
"You–... You can't do that."
"I am already doing it Lady Thompson. And if it weren't for Tristan my son, only the goddess knows what could have become of you by now."
"So leave, before I take back even the little kindness I am showing you."
Ruby's jaw tightened as she clasped her hands at the sides of her evening dress.
"Then, if I leave I am taking my son with me."
"And mistreat him?.... Tristan is happy where he is and Cassian is already too fond of him. He will raise him like his own son and with love, something that you failed to do as his mother."
"Now be gone."
She glared at Lucien once more, then cast one final, bitter look toward Cassian before turning her back. Her heavy velvet skirts rustled angrily against the stone floor as she vanished down the dark service corridor.
'Jerga, feast on her soul the moment that she leaves the estate.'
Jerga merely purred in response not agreeing nor disagreeing and Lucien let him be. After all there would be no way Jerga would decline the offer of eating a soul.
Cassian let out a long, weary sigh as the atmosphere cleared. The weight in his chest felt infinitely lighter than it had an hour ago, but the sheer emotional toll of the night was finally catching up to his body. He turned to Lucien, offering a small, tired smile.
"I think my legs are about to give out on me," Cassian admitted softly, his knees trembling slightly from the evening's emotional strain.
"Standing on a teleportation circle and crying through five reunions in one night is exhausting."
Lucien's harsh expression immediately softened. Without a second thought, he slipped one broad arm beneath Cassian's knees and the other securely around his back, lifting him effortlessly off his feet into a bridal carry.
"Lucien!"
Cassian gasped, his face flushing crimson as he instinctively wrapped his arms around Lucien's neck for balance. "Put me down! The children are right there!"
Elysia and Elise covered their mouths, giggling behind their hands as they watched their parents, while Tristan quickly looked away toward the floor with a wide, embarrassed grin.
"Let them look," Lucien chuckled smoothly, holding Cassian firmly against his chest.
"I carried the weight of your absence for fifteen years. Carrying you to our bedchamber is nothing."
Cassian hid his blushing face against Lucien's shoulder, too tired to truly put up a fight.
Lucien turned his attention to the head steward, who was currently wiping his wet eyes with a folded linen handkerchief.
"Elias, prepare warm tea and light the hearth in the master suite."
"At once, My Lord," Elias replied, bowing deeply with a radiant, tearful smile.
"It is a true honor to serve His Highness again."
As Lucien carried Cassian up the grand curving staircase, the warm light of the wall sconces bathed them in soft gold. Cassian closed his eyes, resting his head against Lucien's chest, listening to the steady, comforting thud of his heart.
The estate was quiet now, filled no longer with the hollow echoes of grief, but with the quiet promise of a long-awaited healing.
*****