Elina dropped her shirt on the floor of her boat and perched on the starboard side and kicked off her breeches. Smiling to herself, she drew her long hair back into a pony tail and twisted it into a bun.
Satisfied, she stood up and climbed up onto the side rail. With a final look at the sky, she took a deep breath and jumped into the inviting blue of the water. It closed over her head, muffling the screams of the seagulls above.
---

“Will you be there?” he’d asked as she’d slipped out of bed, the mattress had been far nicer than anything she’d known as a child, as a human, she’d supposed. That far away place, smelling of wood-smoke, outdoors and sweat, seemed a lifetime ago...had been a lifetime ago, she reminded herself as she stood, and started to search the floor for her clothes.
Tristan made no sign he intended to follow her. She watched him out of the corner of her eye as he stretched and lounged back against the headboard. Elina smirked.

“I have no idea,” she purred, ““maybe, if the mood takes me.”

And that was the way they both liked it. She could see it in his eyes as she wiggled her way into her dress.

“Maybe I’ll come, and you’ll never know I was there,” she teased, crossing to his chest of drawers and pulling out underwear she’d stashed in there the day before.

“Maybe I won’t look for you,” he replied, “so many people, so little time.”

“People ?” she laughed, “really?”

And there was that smile again.

Back in her home village, back when she’d felt abandoned and alone, she’d never have imagined herself standing half-dressed in the bedroom of a king on some far-off planet, being smiled at quite like that.

Death did wonders for a girl.

She had that freedom she’d always dreamed of. She could spend nights unlooked for beneath the stars, scale mountains; answer the call of the sea.

And then come back on a whim and extract whatever kind of smile she wanted, from whoever she wanted.

As the sun was setting, she climbed back aboard her boat, and let her hair falls loose around her shoulders.

“Screw it,” she muttered as she pulled on her shirt. She wasn’t going to miss her first royal party.
---

She watched the ceremony from the balcony of Tristan’s apartments, having changed into a new dress. Rhaegar had allowed her to spare no expense on her Shaman wardrobe, and she hadn’t had the opportunity to wear even half of them before his and Thyri’s sudden disappearance. But it wasn’t like it hadn’t happened before. This one was a dark blue, with a low back and criss-crossing straps of silver, the thread flickering in the candlelight.

As the light grew dim and the sounds of the party began to drift to her through the dark, she left the room for the soft light of the corridor beyond. Picking up her skirt, she drifted down the tower steps and followed the sound of music out into the courtyard. The fountains had been illuminated like she’d never seen them before and the sound of running water lent a depth to the hum of voices. There were faeries everywhere, guests and staff, all moving around her, some with purpose, others aimlessly, scanning the crowd.

She spotted Tristan with Alethea in the distance, a vernal partnership of green and white and turned away. Maybe he wouldn’t notice after all, she mused, grabbing a small bowl of strawberries from a passing waiter. She sucked on one idly as she scanned the rest of the crowd. When she saw him, she only half-believed it. Hovering nearby, she abandoned her strawberries on the corner of the nearest table, and watched him, her smirk growing. She’d been right to come. She’d know that furious brow anywhere.

The welcome memory of the feeling of his hands, uncertain and greedy thrilled through her. Time for a change of pace, perhaps? Elina advanced, spinning as she claimed two glasses of champagne from another passing tray. She stopped just short of him, all smiles.

“Hello lover,” she grinned, loud enough to carry and drown out the voices of the nearest guests. She raised the spare glass as he turned. “Can I tempt you to a drink?”