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It had been a long day and all Helion was looking forward to was laying in bed with his mate for the rest of the night, allowing for her presence and comfort to lull him to sleep. Those plans changed when he entered his bedchamber and found his darling, Aluriea with one of her boys.
Eris , to be specific.
Even from across the room, he could smell the alcohol on his breath. Helion could hardly imagine what led to the newest High Lord to drink so heavily. From what he knew of Eris, the younger male always liked being in control and the spiced whiskey of the Autumn Court brought on the exact opposite of that.
He crossed the room, kissing Aluriea’s cheek before sitting across from where she held her eldest child close. His breathing was deep and even. Dark marks were obvious under his eyes; he hadn’t been sleeping . Aluriea’s hand ran through his hair, smoothing out all the odd bits sticking up.
It wasn’t until now that it truly struck him how young Eris looked. Here in his mother’s hold, he didn’t look like the snarky, hard-hearted male, Helion usually saw. Here he looked weary, and completely exhausted from a life where he’d suffered so much more than anyone ever should.
“He arrived about an hour ago,” Aluriea explained, “The treaties with the Lords of Autumn aren’t working out as well as he planned for. He’s working himself half to death at this rate.”
Helion didn’t envy anyone working towards reforming the chaos that had fallen on the Autumn Court under Beron’s rule. He knew all the good Eris was working towards (and had agreed to back him on anything if necessary, he may not have had the best relationship with Eris on a personal level, but he didn’t plan to let his mate’s court fall, especially when some of her children were still living there). He knew that all Eris wanted was for the Autumn Court to prosper and grow for the benefit of the people who’d been beaten down for so long.
But despite Eris’ good intentions, he was still faced with many of the wealthy who had enjoyed Beron’s rule and had prospered under him. They didn’t agree with the work Eris had been doing and because of that the newest High Lord had faced more assassination attempts in his first year as High Lord than probably any of the other High Lord had in all their time.
“It’s probably best if he stays here the night,” Helion suggested. He knew that Aluriea would want Eris close while he was at his most vulnerable. (He’d heard rumors of more assassination attempts on the new High Lord and it would be the perfect opportunity to make a strike against him now).
Aluriea hummed in agreement, gently removing the golden laurel leaf crown from Eris head and taking out the strip of leather he had holding back his hair. Eris nestled closer to his mother and Helion couldn’t help the fond feeling growing in his heart.
When Beron had been killed and Aluriea had told him the truth about Lucien he'd had so many emotions flowing through him at finding out he had a son, but the one that had overtaken them all had been utter love. He’d never known Lucien personally, but in what he’d seen on him he knew his son to be smart, cunning, and brave. Mother above , Lucien was so brave. His son had stood up to all those wicked figures that had threatened Prythian practically since the boy had been born.
But not only had he gained a son with Lucien, but he felt the same about the rest of Aluriea’s children. For so long Helion had had a difficult time separating the Vanserra boys from their sire, but after getting to know each and every one of them he saw how different they all were. And from there he could make connections with each of them.
Eris had been the only one he hadn’t been able to make a connection with. He had so many walls built up after having spent so long under Beron’s constant attention as the first-born. For somewhere around 20 years all the attention of Beron’s had been of molding Eris into the perfect heir. So much so that Helion often wondered just how much of a childhood Eris had been allowed to experience. Nevertheless, Helion had tried to connect with the eldest Vanserra. And as the years had progressed he’d made slow progress, but at least it was progress.
“Do you think we should get him to move to his own bed?” Helion asked. As he said it, Helion willed his spells to make sure that the nearby guest room was set up and ready for Eris to stay in.
“I’m sure he’d prefer that,” Aluriea said, though she made no effort to move. “Y’know sometimes I forget how old he’s gotten,” her voice sounded almost choked up, “When he was little he would sleep in my bed nearly every night when he’d have bad dreams. It’s hard to believe that over 500 years have passed since then.” Her gaze left her son and met Helion’s, unshed tears lining her eyes. “How did my little boy grow up so quickly?”
“I don’t think he’s grown that quickly,” Helion started, “After all, it was you he sought out before anyone else when he wanted comfort. To me it’s clear just how much he still needs you.”
Aluriea smiled softly, running her fingers through her son’s hair a few more times, letting the silence overtake them once again. Eventually, she managed to slide herself out from where Eris was laying on her. Helion moved as well, standing from where he’d been sitting on the bed to pick up Eris and take him over to the guest room. Eris didn’t wake in the slightest when Helion lifted him from the bed, holding him close to which Eris curled himself closer.
When he reached the guest room, it took a few minutes to untangle Eris’ hold from him. Even while practically unconscious the boy was still strong. Once Helion had managed to free himself, he pulled the blankets up around Eris, being sure to turn his head in a position so that if he were to throw up in his sleep he wouldn’t choke.
Helion couldn’t help the impulse to lean down and kiss the boy’s forehead before leaving Eris alone for the night. When he’d pulled back he saw that Eris’ eyes had fluttered open ever so slightly.
The younger male smiled slightly before quietly muttering, “ Night Dad,” before drifting back off to sleep.
The tears came before Helion could stop them. Lucien and a couple others of the boys had called him ‘Dad’ before, but never in all his years did he ever think he’d hear those words from Eris. Maybe it had been the alcohol or the sleep deprivation, but it didn’t matter. Despite the mask Eris liked to put up, at least there was some part of his heart that seemed to care about Helion in a larger way than he’d ever let on before.
Helion knew that by morning Eris probably wouldn’t even remember what he’d said, but that didn’t stop it from warming his heart. He pressed one more kiss to Eris’ forehead, a quiet goodnight son, whispered into the boy’s hair before putting out the lights with a wave of his hand.
When the morning came, Helion found Eris with his head down at the breakfast table when he entered, having already seen his darling mate off as she made a trip to the Summer Court. Eris made no move to acknowledge him.
As quietly as he could, Helion prepared a tea that would help Eris with any after effects of the whiskey he’d consumed the night before and put some rather plain pastries on the plate before him if he did want anything. Helion barely managed to pick up on the quiet thanks Eris murmured once he’d set everything down.
It might not have been much, but it was a start. A start to what was looking to be quite the unusual family, however Helion couldn’t be more excited. After all, he’d always wanted a family, this one just ended up being larger than he’d ever thought he would be gifted with.