A Court of Lost Stars

"She looks to be healing rather quickly. Nothing broken." Madja said as she examined Nova's foot. Her toes were still red, but she had stopped limping for the most part. "She really should wear shoes. The last thing you want is for her to get an infection."

Feyre nodded, pursing her lips into a grim line. "We'll keep trying. Every time we put them on, they're gone again."

While everyone else took residence on the couches, Nova sat on the carpet, examining her new shells. She lined them up, touching each one and rearranging them.

"You said she's been speaking more?" Madja asked.

Rhys grinned with pride. "One word, 'mine'. I hate to say it, but it's thanks to Nesta. She gave her a reason to use her voice."

"Is she counting?" Cassian asked, tilting his head as they watched her.

Feyre frowned, watching her. "I don't know if she's counting, but I think she's making sure she hasn't lost any of them."

Scooping the rattling shells into her hands, they watched her dash toward her room. When she returned only a moment later, she carried a hairbrush and gave it to Feyre.

Smiling, Feyre nodded, and Nova sat on the floor in front of the couch. With careful fingers, Feyre brushed through her dark hair over and over. She hadn't yet tried to braid or do anything special to it. The simple act of being allowed to brush through the day's tangles was enough for her.

Rhys watched with a smile. "The first time Feyre even tried to touch her hair, she tried to bite her," he said, Madja glancing over at him, "she still is very hesitant of any physical affection, but she's begun requesting this. Not with words, but it's a start in building her trust."

Smiling, Feyre continued brushing through all of the tangles. "Today we're going shopping. We'll see how she works with more people. She did well last night at dinner, given the circumstances."

Cas let out a soft sigh. "I've endured all types of torture, but the look she gave me last night when I didn't help her…" He shook his head with a frown.

"I think we all felt that," Rhys murmured, nodding. "A difficult way to learn, but we don't have the luxury of time."

Soon, Madja left after giving some advice on Nova's healing toes.

"Nova," Feyre said, setting the brush aside. Nova looked straight up and looked at her as if upside down. Feyre laughed, "Let's go shopping."

The streets were alive with people, and Nova didn't seem to know where to look first. Feyre held Rhys' hand, intertwining their fingers as they watched Nova skip through the road, looking all around her.

They had decided to let Nova decide where to go through exploration. She continuously looked over her shoulder to ensure they were still following her.

Following her into the bakery, Rhys quickly intervened as Nova snatched a loaf from one of the stands and sank her teeth into the loaf. He took the loaf from her abruptly.

"Wait. First, we pay for it. Then you can have it. Look," Rhys said patiently as he pulled enough money for the loaf from his pocket. He put the coins into her hand and guided her to the front counter to help her pay for the bread, but when it was time to give the coins over, Nova clutched them to her chest with a scowl.

Rhys pursed his lips and smiled softly with an understanding nod. He took hold of her hand and, though she resisted, held her hand to show the coins and then held up the loaf of bread.

"You can have the bread, or you can have the coins."

Nova tried to reach for the bread while keeping the coins to her chest, but Rhys shook his head.

"No, " he said, his voice firm. Then he offered the options again, "Bread or coins."

Nova seemed to be contemplating it, but ultimately, the shiny circles won out, and she clutched them tighter.

Waiting until she was distracted elsewhere, Rhys smiled sheepishly at the baker and handed her the money to cover the bread Nova had already bitten into—and a little extra for the trouble. She thanked him happily as Nova was already leaving the store.

They quickly followed her out.

"We'll need to be more careful." Feyre bit back a smile, glancing up at him, but he was grinning as he watched Nova observe the coins.

It took some time to get her mind on something else, but soon, they entered a store littered with toys. Nova gravitated toward the stuffed animals, and then she…gasped. All at once, Nova snatched a stuffed fox from the rack and hugged it so tight that Feyre didn't know how to respond.

Rhys frowned, slowly moving forward, but Nova quickly whipped her body away from him so he couldn't take the fox away.

"Nova," he said gently, "do you want to buy it? Use your coins."

Nova slowly looked over at him. She wore a scowl, but her eyes glittered with tears. Feyre knew she needed to understand she couldn't just have something, but she couldn't bare the thought of taking that fox away from her.

"Come on, Nova," Feyre offered her hand, "let's pay for it."

Nova hesitated but then opened her palm to look down at the coins.

Nodding, Rhys smiled. "Give the coins to him," he pointed at the store's owner, "and you can have the fox."

After a moment longer of deliberation, Nova inched around Rhys, still keeping the fox to her chest. Granted, Rhys had taken the bread from her hands from the bakery, so the hesitation made sense.

They watched as she took step by step to the owner and held out the coins. Smiling, he took the coins gingerly from her outstretched hand.

"Thank you." He said, and Nova slowly backed away, waiting for someone to take the fox from her. When no one did, the look of suspicion shifted into a wide grin.

Hugging the fox to her neck, she left the store promptly. There was no distracting her after that. She didn't seem to want to go anywhere else now that she had her fox.

Rhys chuckled. "It's time to meet up for lunch anyway. She'll have other opportunities to see more of the city."

"I wonder what's so special about the fox." Feyre mused as they walked toward The Sidra. Mor, Cas, and Az were waiting for them at a table.

"How did exploring go?" Mor asked with a smile as Nova sat in the seat next to Az, clinging to her fox as if it were a lifeline.

Rhys smiled, sitting next to Mor. "We managed two places in two hours," he chuckled, "but she won't let that fox go."

Sitting beside Nova, Feyre watched her look down before suddenly plunging her hand into Azriel's pocket.

Az lurched to the side in surprise, looking down as Nova fished her hand in search of something.

"Nova!" Feyre gasped with surprise and reached forward, taking her wrist and yanking it from his pocket. Putting her fingers to her forehead, Feyre tried not to burst into laughter.

"What happened?" Cas asked confused.

Feyre snorted, put a hand over her mouth, and shook her head. "Earlier, Rhys pulled coins from his pocket…"

Rhys suddenly burst into laughter, throwing his head back.

"She had to use the coins to pay for the fox," Feyre continued, "so I think she's looking for more."

Chuckling, Azriel reached into his other pocket, pulled out two coins, and offered them to Nova.

"A gift." He said gently.

The way Nova's eyes widened, and her grin grew, one would think she'd been given the most luxurious diamonds money could buy. She took them without hesitation and hugged them and the fox together.

Feyre smiled and tapped her shoulder. "Tell Azriel 'thank you.'"

"Mine," Nova said.

"No, that's…" Feyre sighed softly and smiled. "We'll work on it."

The table laughed and ordered their food, but Nova didn't seem interested in any of the food that arrived. She kept holding her fox, looking down at it and smoothing the fur in nice strokes.

Feyre frowned slightly as she watched her. "It seems too personal to be a coincidence. She has many interests, but they all have a theme. Shells and coins…they make sense. Why the fox?"

Why so specific?

"Hm," Mor murmured, "maybe Nova knows more of loss than we realized."