The walk was nicer than they anticipated. However, with Nova consistently stopping to look at something, it took twice as long. Feyre didn't mind, and she knew Rhys didn't either, as it was a moment to watch Nova explore the world.
"Butterfly." Rhys offered the word when Nova approached the insect, sitting proudly on a flower drinking nectar.
Feyre said, "The butterfly is on a flower."
Glancing over at Rhys, he matched her smile. "So the more we talk to her, the more likely she is to talk to us?" Feyre asked.
Rhys nodded. "I think that's a safe bet."
"Are you sure you don't want to fly?" Feyre asked Nova as she looked up the tall, winding stone stairs, but Nova was already running up.
Running.
Where she got her sudden burst of energy, Feyre had no idea. Rhys let out a laugh and ran after her.
Feyre's legs burned when they reached the top, holding the stitch in her side. She shook her head and said breathlessly, "She has to be tired by now."
But Nova, instead of lying on the grass as Feyre wanted to, was dashing through the open doors of the House of Wind.
"Don't count on it." Rhys chuckled, a hand on the small of her back, but the next voice chilled Feyre's spine.
"What do you think you're doing?" Nesta scolded.
Feyre could see the scowl in her mind already, and they quickly dashed inside to find Nesta with her hands on her hips, glaring at Nova, who stood before her aunt with a similar expression etched into her features.
"Look," Nesta pointed at the ground.
Nova did look, and it seemed she'd tracked dirt, grass, and mud through to the main sitting area.
"Nesta," Feyre moved forward, putting herself between her sister and her daughter, "floors can be cleaned."
It was better for her to handle it than Rhys. He may not have been as polite, not when it came to Nova.
Nesta narrowed her eyes. "I'm gathering that you allow her to do anything she likes."
Clenching her jaw, Feyre took a deep breath. "You need to find patience. Just as I'm finding mine right now. Whatever is bothering you about Nova, either speak up or drop it. I won't let her get caught up in whatever bullshit you want to throw."
The audience setting the dinner table was silent, but Feyre could feel the weight of their exchanged glances. Nesta didn't say another word before she turned and left, her lilac gown floating as she did.
Taking another painfully deep breath, Feyre turned to Nova and offered her hand. She took her to the bathroom and helped wash the dirt from her bare feet, then gave her a rag to clean the floor where she'd made a mess.
Despite what Nesta thought, she and Rhys worked tirelessly to help Nova be responsible and self-sufficient in a home. That included cleaning up her messes, which she made frequently.
One thing they wouldn't do was make Nova wear shoes and socks. She chucked them off anyway, and why force it? So be it if she felt more comfortable feeling the ground with her feet.
It hurt nothing other than Nesta's ego, which, frankly, could be taken down a few pegs anyway.
Finally, it was time to sit down to dinner. To Feyre's delight, everyone was in attendance. Nova plopped herself next to Cassian, Feyre sitting on her other side and Rhys next to Feyre.
Nova grinned at Azriel across from her, and he smiled in return, but Amren, who was to his right, watched Nova with quiet disinterest. Mor, on the other side of Azriel, shook her head and sighed.
"It's been barely three weeks, and she's come so far."
Lucien, next to Elain, smiled. "She doesn't still want my eye, does she?"
Chuckling, Rhys leaned back in his chair. "Oh, I'm sure she has plans. She's a bit of a collector."
Nesta had taken a spot next to Elain but was silent as she speared a sweet potato chunk with her fork.
"Has she been speaking any?" Mor asked curiously before sipping her wine.
Feyre shook her head. "Not yet, but we'll get there." She smiled as Rhys squeezed her knee under the table.
Cassian smiled, offering Nova a roll, and she grabbed it without hesitation. "I take it you didn't fly here."
"We tried," Rhys nodded with a frown, "maybe another time when we've gained more of her trust."
As they ate, Feyre tried to keep as much conversation going as possible.
"The more she hears us talk, the more she'll start to imitate," Feyre explained. With that, almost everyone began having conversations, and it seemed to be working. Nova was engaged in listening to different people talk.
Feyre kept an eye on her. Occasionally, it almost seemed like she would part her lips to say something, but then she would put another piece of bread into her mouth instead.
When the dessert came around, Nova's eyes had never been bigger. The chocolate cake certainly looked decadent, and it occurred to Feyre then that she'd never been offered food like this.
"It's chocolate cake." Feyre pointed to the cake, laughing lightly when Nova leaned forward and smelled it, then grinned.
Mor smiled. "Oh, what I'd give to take chocolate cake for the first time again."
Then, without warning, the plate slowly slid away from Nova. Feyre looked up and saw Nesta…pulling the plate to herself, but she wasn't looking at Feyre. Her eyes were locked with Nova's.
Feyre opened her mouth to speak, her cheeks suddenly flushed with anger, but Nesta merely held a finger up and continued to watch her niece. The niece sat in her seat with a confused frown, staring back at Nesta.
"You want her to learn to speak?" Nesta asked. "Give her a reason to."
The table was deadly quiet before Rhys finally murmured. "As much as it pains me, I don't disagree…"
Feyre swallowed and locked her jaw but slowly nodded. It was at least worth a try, though it somehow felt wrong. What kind of mother was she to not snatch the plate back and give it to her?
She had to stand up for her daughter and fight for her…yet Nova needed to learn to do the same. She needed to learn to fight for herself, too. Still, it sickened her not to intervene. She could only watch it unfold.
Nova frowned and reached for the plate, but Nesta only pulled it further out of reach. With her brows knitted together, Nova looked at Feyre and waited, but Feyre didn't meet her eyes. She took a bite of her own cake, though it tasted bitter on her tongue from the guilt.
When she wouldn't meet Nova's eyes, they roamed to Rhys—a silent plea for help to take back the plate that had been hers. But when he followed the same actions as Feyre, she looked elsewhere around the table.
Though it was difficult, especially for Cassian and Azriel, as they'd spent more time bonding, they ignored her. Nova's shoulders slowly deflated as she realized no one would look at her.
No one except one person.
Her gaze settled on Nesta, who quirked up a smile.
"All you have to do is ask for it back."
Withholding chocolate cake was such a strange exercise—one that Feyre wouldn't have thought would be so devastating.
Rhys' throat bobbed, jaw clenched, but made no other sign of discomfort. After five minutes of uncomfortable silence passed, Feyre finally looked at Nova.
"Tell her, Nova," Feyre murmured, pointing at the Nesta and the cake, "you don't have to let people take things from you. Say, 'that's mine.' Tell her."
Nova looked between Feyre and Nesta, and once more, Feyre reached for the cake and prompted. "That's mine."
Slowly, Nova looked at Nesta. The sad glimmer in her eyes was gone as she leaped across the table and slammed her hand down on the cake.
"Mine!"
Every jaw fell in synchrony.
The cake frosting had splattered across the table and onto Nesta's cheek, but Nesta was…smiling.
Rhy grinned and leaned back in his chair, his shoulders completely relaxed.
"That's my girl."