Trial One

The fairies were making the whole cavern thunder with the noise. The news of Feyre's deal with Amarantha had traveled fast throughout the mountain and everyone wanted to see her new plaything.

I looked towards the entrance just as Feyre walked out into the light. She was pushed towards Amarantha and Tamlin before being forced to her knees. This whole thing was bothering me. Rage exploded in my chest, Amarantha was going to break this girl just so she could show everyone that she couldn't be beaten. I forced myself to calm down, replacing my fury with an easygoing smile.

Feyre looked around at all of us, her eyes jumping over each person. I could see the resentment towards us; the people watching her fight for her life like a game. I knew most everyone had voted against her winning, but I had a feeling she wasn't as fragile as she seemed.

Amarantha raised a single hand to silence the crowd before speaking, "Well, Feyre, your first task is here. Let us see how deep that human affection of yours runs."

I looked towards Tamlin, but not a single emotion revealed itself on his face. He wasn't going to try to do anything to stop this. That git. "I took the liberty of learning a few things about you. "It was only fair, you know," she drawled.

I know Feyre's instincts were telling her this was a bad idea, that this whole deal of hers was a bad idea, but it was too late. She trembled ever so slightly, "I think you'll like this task. Go ahead. Look."

She turned and made her way to the edge of the platform to overlook the maze. Foolish. The guards pushed her hard and she tumbled into the maze. Laughter erupted as she tried to regain her balance on the slippery mud. For a second I thought she was going to throw up, but she seemed to steady herself before looking up. Amarantha smiled down at her, loving everything about this,"Rhysand tells me you're a huntress. Hunt this."

Fairies cheered and passed betting slips between themselves. A mixture of anger and fear crossed her face before looking back in Tamlin's direction. Shame burned at my cheeks; I turned my head away as casually as I could. "Release it," Amarantha called in a clear voice.

The whole cavern trembled as something raged through the tunnels and I forced myself to look back at Feyre. She whipped her head back up towards Amarantha before starting to run. The Middengard wyrm came out and made its way down the tunnel. Feyre bolted down each passageway, turning into tunnel after tunnel, barely making it ahead of the wyrm.

She looked behind her just before throwing herself into a narrow tunnel, but she got stuck. Laughter echoed around me and some angry fairies were complaining about how they had lost their bet. Feyre clawed at the walls as she tried to fit through. The wyrm was barreling towards her with remarkable speed. She kept struggling and I could see the panic on her face. At the final second she pushed herself through.

For a second she paused, as if wondering why the wyrm hadn't tried to smash through the wall after her before running again. She was smashing into wall after wall as she tried to get farther away. She must have not been paying attention to what was in front of her because when she reached the gaping hole in the ground she slipped in.

More laughter, she scrambled to her feet and whirled around scanning her surroundings. She slipped again. I looked towards Amarantha when she called out, "Feyre! You're ruining everyone's fun! Come out," a smile played on her lips.

I brought my attention back to Feyre. She was still looking around. She tried to climb up the steep slope of the wall twice before she turned back around and made her way towards the piles of bones. After a minute or so she had some in her hands and was jamming them into the wall. The fairies closest to her jeered and made jokes at her as she started to climb up her bone ladder.

When she was about to reach the top she jumped back down and started grabbing more bones. What was she going to do? I furrowed my brows; she kept breaking bones and placing them aside. Only when she had started sticking them up around the hole I realized her plan. Amarantha told her to hunt, so she was going to hunt. When she finished she went to the muddiest part of the hole and started rubbing herself with dirt. Layers upon layers until all you could see were her eyes. I raised my eyebrows and smiled at her cleverness, "What's it doing?"

I glanced over at the faerie and replied, "She's building a trap."

She looked up at us, a cold determination settling on her face, "But the Middengard—"

"Relies on its scent to see, and Feyre just became invisible," she made a rude gesture at me before she turned and ran the other way.

I leaned forward in my chair a little, trying to get a better view. If she succeeded… I knew I would be impressed.

She put her remaining bones in the corners of three tunnels before she went looking for the wyrm. I looked over at it, someone had thrown some sort of animal to it and it was tearing it apart. When I looked back at Feyre she held a small piece of bone in her hand before slicing into her skin. She pressed her back against the wall; the Middengard wyrm moved its way towards an opposite tunnel. The crowd went silent as it started to push towards the wall she was hiding behind, as it was about to break through it. My eyes widened. She was about to die.

Suddenly, someone yelled out, "TO YOUR LEFT," no not someone, Lucien.

She bolted right before the wall exploded. I couldn't believe it, for a second my mouth dropped open. When she got to the first turn she grabbed the bone and swung herself around. She was going faster and faster each turn. When she got to the final stretch she was practically sliding down the tunnel. She got to the end and leaped into the pit. She hit the floor and kept rolling. A pained yelp let loose as I watched her arm hit that spike. I didn't have time to process it though, the Middengard wyrm lept after her, impaling itself in her trap. A screech filled the cavern followed by a silence.

She slowly made her way up the wall, slightly shaking. I released a breath I had not realized I was holding and looked towards Amarantha. She had a look of complete shock on her face. I looked back at Feyre just as she bared her teeth and threw her muddy bone. It landed on the platform, splattering mud all over Amarantha's white dress. For a few seconds nobody moved or breathed. Amarantha collected herself and her shocked face turned into a laidback smile, "Naughty."

The whole cavern roared. Amarantha reached for a parchment and read down the list, "I suppose you'll be happy to learn most of my court lost a good deal of money tonight. Let's see… yes, I'd say almost my entire court bet on you dying within the first minute; some said you'd last five, and just one person said you would win."

Her gaze flickered to me; I could see the anger in her eyes. The whole cavern was loud and full of excitement, nobody noticed. "Rhysand, come here."

The Attor went to escort Feyre back to her cell. I saw the wound just as she did. A big gash down her left arm, the bone stuck out and blood dripped to the floor. I tore my eyes off Feyre before getting up and made my way towards Amarantha. Anger radiated off her and I knew that tonight I was paying for that bet.