Inspired by this line from ACOWAR: "...and had placed the ring he'd selected for himself, bought here in Velaris while I'd been away, onto his finger."
I had been walking for hours now. I had to get out of the townhouse, had to get out and move to keep my thoughts from revolving around the current situation. The streets of Velaris were teeming with people getting ready for dinner or to start their evening or amongst friends. It was difficult to return their greetings no matter how discretely they acknowledged their High Lord.
It had been a week since the ambush by Hybern. A week since the two Archeron sisters had been Made. Since Azriel nearly bled out from the elf-bolt and poison he had taken to his chest, since Cassian's wings were shredded by a blast of power so great it brought everyone. including the most powerful High Lord in history, to their knees.
A week since my mate's sacrifice to return to the Spring Court.
I still felt the burn of the bond being broken, heard the scream that tore through her as we were cleaved apart and the breathless empty feeling that resulted. The void that echoed throughout his entire being. The only joy that came out of it was knowing that their true bond could never be severed without unraveling their very essence until they were nothing but ash floating into the sky.
Reaching my hand into my pocket I felt the weight of her ring, the smooth band with the starred sapphire that was meant to rest on her finger right now, but instead stayed home with me while she went back to my enemy's hands to bring them down from the inside. My selfless mate.
I stopped on the street and sent a small wave of affection down the bond, just small magic that wouldn't be picked up so she knew I was still thinking of her no matter what she had to do to take down the Spring Court. Using the bond was risky, but I held my breath until a small flutter returned. The relief of knowing that she was okay flooded me, knowing that she was still fighting was enough to bring me to my knees after waiting endlessly to see how my brother's injuries would heal. Azriel had healed faster, it only took a few days to get back on his feet. After they stopped the bleeding his injury was healed quickly since the King had removed the poison before they winnowed out, but Cassian's wings were still being treated daily. Cas had ended up passing out as shortly after getting back to the townhouse and it had taken Azriel and me forever to get him settled into his room after winnowing upstairs. He blindly kept calling for Nesta then would try and stand and cry in agony at the pain the ravaged his back. Once the healer arrived and surveyed the damage and what the healing sessions would entail, each member of the inner circle took watch in his room day and night. Sometimes it was to grip his arm during healing or walk him down the hallway to keep his strength, being there at night to make sure he didn't need anything this had been their focus this first crucial week.
The moments of missing her, though. They were endless. She had woven herself into every aspect of my life so thoroughly that the first day back I felt like a ghost in my own home. I only gave myself that first night to fall apart, she wasn't resting in her mission and I wouldn't rest from ours. After everything I had been through losing my mother and sister, the years under the Mountain I had finally found my panacea for every horror I had faced. I had kept reaching to her side of the bed, to feel her steady breath and felt the icy rage of the current situation spur the dawn when the planning would begin.
That morning we continued on, but the small gaps in time when her smart mouth and wicked smile would light up a dreary day, or feeling every inch of her pressed up against every inch of me would play back and it took every ounce of control to not use our bond every day and focus on the conversations happening before me.
I stood on the street and took her ring out of my pocket and looked into the blue stone. I closed my fist around it, wanting to feel the bite in my palm and looked towards the sky. The sun was beginning to set, I needed to find dinner for my family and head back to the house to keep an eye on Cassian but when I looked around I realized I had wandered into the Artist Quarter, a place that now made me think of her no matter how little time she had actually spent there before everything went to shit.
Glancing across the street I noticed a small boutique glinting in the setting sun. With another look at the ring in my hand, I crossed the street and pushed open the shop door. I nodded a hello to the mated females standing behind the counter and walked through the small store.
The warm wood paneling and plush carpet made me relax for the first time in a week. Each quiet step brought me past dazzling displays that glittered in the spotlights from every angle. Still clutching her ring, I felt a tug towards a low display case. Each step, I felt the tug grow stronger until I stood before it staring intently at one item.
One of the females, Amaria, silently stepped behind the case and followed my gaze, showing a small smile. She unlocked the cabinet from the back and placed the item on a velvet tray.
Reaching out with a shaking hand I picked up the simple silver band and choked back a wave of emotion. I placed the band in my hand next to her ring, a perfect set.
Closing my hand, I brought it to my lips and breathed deeply and whispered, "Feyre," and sent another ripple down the bond so she knew he was thinking of her in this exact moment as I picked up the band she would slide on my finger when we were reunited.
I didn't know how long she would be gone, how long they had left before the war found them. But now I had something to look forward to.
Back home at the townhouse after dinner, I walked upstairs to our room and sat on her side of the bed. Reaching into my pocket I pulled out the box that now housed both our bands and placed it on her bedside table. As I left the room to begin my vigil with Cassian, I started to dream of the vows I would recite to her when I was finally able to put her ring on her finger.