Isabella

Feyre and Rhys were waiting for them in the sunny parlour room. Or rather, outside through the open doors that lead to a garden terrace filled with light. Feyre smiled when she stepped outside, looking up from the piles of paper that she quickly used a cup of tea to weigh down. Though it was not the stunning plants that Isabella found herself blinking in surprise at but rather the iron chairs her fae companions were seated on.

The books Rhys loaned her made no mention of the threat Ash wood or iron posed to Fae, she had assumed that was because it would be common knowledge among them but–

"Oh. Right." Feyre's eyes widen and she rises to her feet, brushing her hands down the side of the pale purple silk gown. "Should have probably told you a lot of the stuff we were originally told about fae was bogus-nonsense."

She could feel Cassian's suddenly uncertain gaze boring into her back. Would this make a difference to her? This reminder of her helplessness against such strength?

Not particularly considering Isabella spent most of her days living in fear and regret but she was starting to enjoy toying with the overprotective fae a little.

Their concern was a nice reminder that they cared about her, so sue her for just testing them a little.

"I won't be able to stay for much longer," She murmured, stepping forward to greet her sister with soft kisses to her cheek. "Oliver and Tomas will be home soon."

"We did our best to narrow down the options for you." Rhys smoothly answered, gracefully offering her a seat at the large table covered in documents and rough sketches. Housing documents Isabella noticed as she flicked through the closest ones to her.

Rhys launched into a lengthy explanation. Apparently he had been going through the practical side of things while Feyre did her best to picture the home and environment Isabella would want. It was sweet of them and Isabella found herself almost overwhelmed by their consideration.

They spent the next hour or so in the secluded garden that looked so different from the ones in the human realm. Winter seemed to touch the plant delicately, as if warded off. Snowdrops and pale blue flowers she recognised from the apothecary book Cassian gifted her seemed to be the only ones in bloom. Nevertheless, the evergreen made up for the lack of colour with their different shapes and sizes.

"What about this one?" Feyre asked and Isabella brought her attention back to the table. "It's near a school district, you would have easy access to local amenities-"

"It's in the busiest section of town." Cassian raised his brows at her sister who frowned in response.

"A residential district where other families and children would reside." She countered and Isabella found herself sharing an exasperated sigh with the Rhys. The pair had continuously argued over the homes available. It had been amusing at first but now she was getting tired and starting to miss Oliver the longer they talked about his options.

"Do the two of you intend to argue over every option I pick?" She grumbles, long past maintaining niceties as Rhys snickers quietly at her irritation. She shoots him a glare and he looks away but there's a soft smirk adorning his lips.

"Moving from the countryside to a city is a big change," Cassian narrowed his eyes at Feyre before turning to Isabella. "We can of course put up enchantments and spells to block out the noise but the view from your window will be different." The whole world will be different but none of them bring that up. "It might be overwhelming at first, stepping outside and finding yourself surrounded."

The look in Cassian's eyes was one of understanding. He knew what it was like to move from the one place you've known your entire life to a whole new environment. From the way his lips pursed and jaw ticked it was clear he was reliving troublesome memories. Experiences he no doubt wanted to spare Isabella and Oliver from.

She found herself sliding her hand into his. For a moment he just stared down at their intertwined hands on his lap so she squeezed his hand gently, ignoring the others as she smiled gratefully at the male.

"Perhaps a quieter district would be best." She would trust his judgement, if only to keep the worry from his eyes.

"There are some options closer to the town house." Rhys interrupts and Cas stiffens. She feels him move to pull away but Isabella grips his hand with surprising strength. She narrows her eyes at the High Lord who ignores her gaze while shuffling through papers. "It would be safer for you as well, we would be just around the corner should you need help."

"Azriel lives in the Northern sector of Velaris, I live in the West, Isabella can have her pick of locations." Cassian's tone has gone cold and flat but he adds on as if an afterthought. "Not to mention Amren lives on the Eastern Coast line and Mor spends most of her time at Rita's in the South."

Rhysand hold's his general's gaze and Isabella isn't naive to the battle of wills going on. She shares a concerned look with her little sister but Feyre seems happy to shrink into her chair and hide from the warring brothers.

Instead, Isabella glances at Azriel whose gaze already rests upon her. For a second he glances between the two males having a mock polite argument before shaking his head.

No. She did not need to get involved.

She subtly nodded back, acknowledging his assessment of the situation. A soft smile bloomed on her face. This would be her future. Listening to Cassian and Rhys bicker while she and Azriel quietly flick through the work. Or perhaps there would be days spent sharing amused looks with the High Lord while Cassian trips over his own feet to make them laugh.

It's a really nice looking future.

"How about this one?" She interrupts, not taking her eyes off the papers in her hand. It was a slim townhouse with a small garden at the front. The sandstone brick house bordered a rectangle park and Feyre's illustrations showed a children's park tucked away in the corner opposite the small pond of the walled park green. There looked to be about 20 odd houses surrounding the little park though the corner buildings seemed to be occupied by local businesses.

A shadow slithered up her arm, its cool touch dragging goosebumps in its wake before perching on her wrist. For a moment it appeared to take on a form akin to a curious cat before drifting away on a soft breeze.

"It would be a 45 minute walk to Cassian's," Azriel states, rising from his armchair within the house and stepping outside to join them. "Maybe a 30 minute walk to the town house."

"How long would flying take? I didn't see any horses during our walk but riding can be an option if you're busy." She murmurs, handing over the top paper to Rhys as she reads the second one. Cassian's previously disgruntled expression lights up at the prospect of flying with her. "I would like to visit the place today. "

"15 minutes top." He grins. "But I can take you out for a ride anytime you want."

Feyre choked on her tea. A shadow wrapped around Cassian's throat as though preparing to cut off his vocal chords or perhaps strangle him to death but–.

They all froze at Isabella's laughter.

She could feel her smile stretching out her cheeks as Cassian stared at her in surprise and relief. Oh she liked this new side of Cassian. This flirty side. He had been courteous before but she could see the hidden words in his amused eyes.

"Oh honey," She drawled, matching his energy as she rose to her feet. "The only thing you have that is big enough to ride is your ego."

Isabella strode from the room, linking her arm with Azriel's to tug him alongside her. The shadow singer's body was vibrating with suppressed laughter and she could still hear her sister choking on that damn tea.

"Where the hell did that come from, Bella?" Azriel hissed through clenched teeth and she grinned at the way his eyes had lit up.

"I have no idea." Her eyes widened as they reached the front door. "Oh sweet heavens did I just–"

"It was incredible." Azriel interrupted, nodding sagely. "I think Cassian is still in shock."

"I cannot believe I said that." She whispered as Azriel pulled her cloak from the closet. "I'm never going to look him in the eye again."

Azriel snorts and wraps the blue cloak around her, "I think Cassian was making heart eyes at you the enter time." She peers up at him, watching as Azriel's brows furrowed in concentration as he buckled her cloak, middle of her hair that the shadows quickly brushed out of the way. "You're going to need a good sense of humour to survive this family."

Before Isabella can reply Rhys strolled over to the pair, grinning like the cat that caught the canary.

"Cassian will join us once he's liked his wounds."

Isabella groans, pressing the heel of her palms into her eyes to hide from Rhys' chuckles. Cold silk wraps around her wrists, tugging her hands away from her eyes right when they begin to cause her pain. The shadows peer around her wrists at her but she focuses on their Shadowsinger.

Azriel shoots a glare at his High Lord but the pair seem far too pleased about embarrassment. She's never been more modified. What the hell was she thinking? What would her mother have said if she heard her? What would her sisters have said? And oh sweet heaven poor Feyre looked so embarrassed... admittedly as her older sister it was Isabella's job to embarrass Feyre but she had always intended to do so through baby stories not– not– lewd jokes.

Oh she would have made a terrible 'refined lady' like her mother wanted.

"Feyre won't be joining us." Rhys states as he opens the door, offering for her to go first. She steps out with Azriel following but is unable to keep from frowning. Why wasn't Feyre joining her? She seemed so eager to be involved with house hunting.

Rhys must pick up on her confusion as they walk through the small front garden for he murmurs, "You're sister is still adjusting to her new body. Her senses, smell, hearing and even her sight have been heightened. Taking trips around town has been a slow process."

Isabella glances back to the house, catching sight of Feyre lurking in one of the windows. She offers Isabella a soft apologetic smile, waving goodbye. She waves back at her sister, remembering the new fae's old worries.

"I think it's not just about the physicalities," She murmurs as she and Rhys peer back at the townhouse and the sister within. "And more about grief. She lost everything, including her body."

Rhys sighs but doesn't disagree. Her sister has a long road ahead of her.

"I know I asked to fly but..." Rhys chuckles at her utterly terrified expression offering her his arm instead.

Just Isabella moves to loop her arm through his Azriel asks, "Should we not wait for Cassian."

Isabella blinks owlishly at him, lowering her hand. Azriel seems to be communicating through raised brows and narrowed eyes with Rhys. Before Isabella can so much as open her mouth to ask what exactly she's missing a large bang has her jumping in fright.

A startled yelp escapes her lips and in seconds familar shadows are curling around her wrists, as if holding her hands, as the shadow singer steps in front of her.

"Sorry. Sorry." Cassian grumbles, fighting with the jacket he's attempting to pull on. Isabella finds herself trying to giggle through her accelerated heartbeat, her panic slowly deflating at the sight of the bumbling male. "Got stuck talking to Amren."

"Amren is the member I have not met." Isabella states, waiting for Cassian to walk to her side before continuing their journey. "The eldest of you, correct?"

Rhys snorts, "You make it sound like we're all a family of siblings."

"You refer to each other as brothers." Isabella's voice is irritatingly defensive.

"That's because we were raised together." Cassian answers, raising his arm slightly and glancing at her shoulder. Isabella looks to Azriel, seeking the male whose advice has never led her wrong. He glances at Cassian, jaw ticking but he nods, smiling supportively at her before looking away.

The whole interaction passed in a single moment, not even long enough for Cassian to notice yet she felt as though there was something there. A spark that had guilt tugging at her heart.

She shakes off her doubt only to blush as she steps closer to Cassian in answer. He grins, looking away from her to hide his joy as he drapes an arm across her shoulders.

"So if she's not a sister," Isabella muses, tucking one of her hands into the pocket of Cassian's thick woollen jumper. "Is she a girlfriend then?"

She stares pointedly at a horrified Rhys while Cassian's weight drops against her from the force of his laughter. An embarrassed heat crawls up her neck. Not that it really matters now considering she's already humiliated herself once today. She might as well go out with a bang.

With false confidence that she hopes to one day feel Isabella arches a brow at the lordling who slowly seems to come back to life. Even Azriel had spared a few open chuckles at what she realised was the High Lord's expense.

Isabella shrugs, "You can't blame a girl for asking. Besides, Feyre told me you bought her pretty jewels... seems a little more than friends to me."

Rhy regains his composure, rolling his eyes. Though a curious bit of jealousy winds its way into Isabella's heart. It's selfish of her to want more and she's not sure why the thought of the High Lord giving his centuries-long friend pretty diamonds bothers her so much.

When the hell did she become petty enough to want sparkly necklaces just because someone she knew had them.

"Amren," Rhys drawls, tasting the name on his mouth. "Is most certainly not a girlfriend."

"Oh but he did try." Cassian teases, winking at Isabella.

Rhys exhales sharply but Isabella continues to stare at him expectantly until he huffs and mutters a bitter 'fine'.

"When I was stupid and young–"

"He was over 250 years old."

" –and my best friend encouraged me to ask her on a date." He glares not at Cassian but Azriel and she finds herself gaping the shadowsinger who refuses to meet her gaze. Az's cheeks had gone rosey pink and Isabella couldn't help but enjoy these clearly newfound reactions. It was clear Rhys too was surprised by the shadowsinger's obvious display of options for he paused for a second, tilting his head in a way that made it impossible to ignore the fae's animal heritage. "So I ask dear Amren on a date and she spent the whole evening laughing herself hoarse at my question and drinking my best wine to 'compensate from the insult I had just offered her'"

He purses his lips, nodding to himself as Isabella smothers her giggles while Cassian openly chuckles.

"Rhys always seems to want the women he can't have." Cassian drawls and a dead breeze drifts down the residential lane. Isabella frowns up at the winged male but they've reach more populated area and she finds herself quickly hiding in Cassian's side as passerbys gawk at their leader.

Oh she had forgotten they were the fae's version of royalty.

It hadn't been noticeable when she was with her- no, not her anything. She shakes off the thought even though it now taints the way Cassian curls his wing around her to block the citizens' view.

When did she start thinking of Cassian and Azriel as hers?

Cassian was a fairly complicated situation but from the way he seemed so invested in her she would at least be allowed to think of him as hers. Even if only for a fraction of his life span.

But Azriel?

Maybe it was because he was her friend. Her first friend. Not to mention the first male Ollie seemed to connected with. Oh screw these damn males confusing her hormones and moma instincts.

The crowds soon passed and Isabella blinked in surprise. The Queens would have been swapped had they walked into any village under their rule, let alone a town. Azriel catches sight of her confused frown from where he's browsing one of the pop stalls.

"Rhys has become a household item afraid." He drawls, grinning at his brother. "His people have got used to seeing him wander into town at 3am just to eat three whole plates of the Day Court's enchiladas."

Isabella nods but has no clue what food he just referenced.

It's quieter now, she doesn't know if that is because they're just before the dinner time rush or if it's because they're in the more upper class area. The rows of stalls and food vendors have been replaced by cafes and shop fronts. Each business has a perfectly painted front window with various creative signage and displays.

One patisserie seems to have colour changing lettering painted on their glass window while the cakes behind have been painted with moving images of animals and trees drifting in the breeze. A tea shop up ahead has a wooden sign hanging above its door that displays a moving teapot pouring tea into a cup as the wood itself of the sculpture moves. Even the menu chalk boards she sees propped outside of restaurants change every now and then, and it takes her a moment to realise that it's swapping languages.

"Its incredible isn't it." Rhys murmurs and even the Illyrians seem to pause and take in the beauty of the city for the first time again. "Every time I think this place can't surprise me it does."

"I don't think beautiful is the right word to describe a place so full of life." She murmurs, watching the various patrons bustle in and out of shop windows. Their clothing is clearly more expensive than the first fae she saw but the wide range of colours and styles remains. There aren't as many– oh what did Cassian call them? The fae that don't look like Rhys? "It's so different from the market."

"My court has so many different people, lots of whom hail from many different places."

"And from many different social classes."

"Just like the human realm." He comments, never one to back down from a fight.

Isabella might have once left it at that. This wasn't exactly their usual conversations or debates. Offering personal advice about his life and her sister is different. Most would have the other way; able to talk about their professional work lives more than personal lives. And perhaps Rhys is like that, with other people at least, but it has never been like that with them.

Debates about his ability to rule had always been harsh and a sore point while her sister and his family seemed to be fair game and neutral ground. Indeed, they had no problem earlier allowing her to gain confidence through teasing remarks. Though maybe that confidence had now become misplaced.

"Though you seem more surprised about this aspect than I expected." An opening and a kindness in the High Lord's eyes that encouraged her to speak her mind. Cassian and Azriel too watched her curiously even as they continued to monitor the street. Privacy while still being nosy little gossiping bats.

She thinks through her words, remembering her mother's lessons about a person's social class allocating their place in the world and Mrs Cromwell's adamant statements of the working class being necessary in all areas of human life.

"Your magic has allowed you to lose a valuable link."

There, that's an ambiguous enough starter to capture Rhys attention. One of her mother's lessons. Conversations with men – or in this case males – is never just about the topic at hand. The topic must be picked carefully, one that they are aware of but that has not been exhausted. You of course must have a similar view to them while challenging them just enough to draw them into a debate that they can win and 'educate' you on their point. And thus proving that you would provide interesting and entertaining conversation while ultimately bowing to their will.

Isabella thinks she might enjoy breaking those rules.

Sure they had no meaning with the Mandrays and the villagers though her mother's teachings still crept in. But Rhys was a High Lord, his family was quite literally the inner circle of his court of leaders. Diplomacy was key and yet here she was contemplating breaking all of the rules when this is the one occasion she should be maintaining them.

Isabella takes a steadying breath, preparing her argument as she slowly detaches herself from Cassian's side so she can walk alone. Not that he goes far. No, Cassian stays close enough that she can feel the heat of his side against her back, hear the rustle of his wings as he moves.

"Look around you. Look at all the splendour and use magic has in your life." She looks at the self cleaning table, the plates that seemingly disappear when the customers have left. "You use magic to clean your tables, unpack your stocks, make your wares. What place do individuals have in that?"

Rhys glances around, doing his best to see the city he loves in a new light.

"In the human realm you would have a coffee shop run by a team. Typically a team of lower class citizens as well. Someone to take orders, someone to deliver food, someone to clean, someone to wash dishes, someone to cook. That's a minimum of three people. Here it has been reduced to one."

"Have we not made jobs safer though." Rhys mulls over his words, indicating to the docks ahead of them. "In the human world there are no safety measures for dock workers dragging in tonnes of weight. Crates are shifted and moved daily, things that could be easily damaged and instead of using equipment that could injure workers or cause long term damage we use magic. Is that not safer?"

"Why can it not be safe while creating more jobs?" Isabella counters.

"Where would you find these new jobs?"

"It's less about creating more opportunities and more about fixing the reason why many of your citizens no doubt struggle to get jobs." Isabella comments as they turn onto a different residential section. "You have lots of jobs on offer, there are lots of gaps to fill, but none of them are available to the people who need them."

"We have job centres and apprenticeship places–"

"All of which require you to have prior skills." Isabella raises a brow and looks around at the neighbourhood she had only seen in illustrations. "Look at Oliver and I. We come to your Court, this town, looking for a safe place to start over. Only we don't have the support of a High Lord or–"

"But you do have our support." Cassian's eyes narrow, a wolf with hackles rising. "So what does this matter?"

Azriel gives him a look, rolling his eyes for Isabella's benefit but she can see the male's unease as well.

Overprotective bastards. It almost brought a tear to her eye.

"Assuming it was just me and Ollie, what prospects would I have?" Isabella raises a brow at Rhys, hoping the personal connection would help considering his overwhelming nepotism. "I have no formal education, nor any skills that would translate into jobs. So either I get a low paying job that would offer little for Ollie and I to live off or I try and get an education to better my chances in life."

Rhys' jaw ticks as they walk towards the rectangle park that her potential home borders on.

"Tell me, what does education cost here? Is it free?" She knows the answer. But then she pauses and thinks of her son once more. "Will Oliver's schooling be based on the district we live in or on applications?"

Rhys straightens up. He's clearly grateful that she gave him a problem easier to solve. "I'll take care of that, he can go to any school you want. We'll make it work."

Oh she really gets why people like to have friends in high places.

A/N: I have survived exams and we are back in business. This is also so much longer than I intended and I've had to split this into two chapters. (4200 words)

What kind of home do you picture for Isabella in Prythian? I'm interested to hear everything from the size of the garden to the little nuances that make it their home (a chipped kitchen table, drawing hanging in the living room.)