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FANFICTION
A COURT OF NIGHTMARES AND LIGHT
PART III – THE BLOOD MOON
CHAPTER XXXVIII : Helplessness
"NO!" Lucien screamed.
He kept struggling against the spell that bound him, kneeling on the ground. Elain was frightened and desperate to reach him, he could feel it through the mating bond.
"The rumours are right, you are the prettiest one of all three Archeron sisters." The Sorcerer pondered outloud, looking thoughtful and curious.
Lucien's blood was simmering, the fire in his veins, the sun in his soul, they were burning to be lashed out against this Sorcerer but he was useless. It wasn't the smothering and silence of Faebane, but that spell that Koschei was using on him was worse. No matter how much he reached for his power, no matter how much he struggled, he was immobilised and useless.
"P-please…" Elain pleaded.
Her fear drenched his body like ice.
"Take me!" Lucien shouted desperately, "Take me instead!"
"Lucien, no!" Helion screamed.
He ignored the High Lord's voice. Lucien's instincts were shouting at him to protect his mate, keep her safe, keep her close, but he couldn't. He felt as awful as he did when he witnessed Jesminda's death.
Don't take from me, not again, don't take her from me, please!
"You said you can't cancel bargains, only make new ones! Then take me, but spare her! Spare my Elain, leave her alone!" He begged, trying to move forward to get to her.
"Lucien…!" Elain gasped.
Curiously, the Sorcerer dropped some of his hold on her and Lucien. He tried crawling to Elain, they brushed hands when the Sorcerer tightened once more his invisible grip on Elain. She screamed, her head thrown back at the horrifying sensation.
Lucien's heart broke.
She couldn't breathe, she couldn't move, she couldn't control anything. All she felt was fear and panic for what was yet to come.
Lucien's soul burnt.
"You are not the one I need, you don't have the blood that will set me free. But this one… this one does perfectly… and she has far less fight in her than the two others. She will do well." Koschei said, looking appreciatively at Elain.
He grabbed Elain's neck from the back, forcing her to rise. Lucien moved forward and snarled, but he was still bound. He could see with his golden eye the ropes of magic. They felt like they were burning against his skin.
"Lucien!" Elain screamed.
Swirling smoke of dark magic rose around her and the Sorcerer.
Don't take her! Don't take her from me! NO!
"Elain!"
A sudden burst of light erupted from Lucien and he broke free of the spell, burnt to ashes. He jumped forward, as Elain did to reach him. Their fingers brushed, their gazes met, then darkness took her.
"NO!"
Lucien fell forward, on his knees and wrapped his arms around the last swirls of smoke.
At once, Koschei's spells broke, and everyone was free to move. Gasps and heavy breathing echoed all around the Throne Room, but Lucien only heard his heart beating rapidly, desperately, as if to reach for Elain. But he couldn't hear her heart beating in rhythm with his. That sudden absence, that emptiness, the tautness of the mating bond, were too painful. His chest hurt, his body shook.
"Elain… Elain, no!"
A hand came on his shoulder. Lucien snarled, whirling around and letting out a rope of flame that waved around the room.
Screams resonated, but Helion, the one who had put his hand on his shoulder, remained calm, protected by the shield of shimmering light he had created on instinct.
"Lucien," he said quietly.
"We have to get her back! We have to save her!" Lucien shouted, still kneeling on the ground.
The High Lord's expression tightened, and he nodded.
"We will, but you must calm down first."
"NO! I can't leave her in the hands of this monster! I have to go, I have to save her!"
"We will save her, Lucien," Feyre intervened, stepping forward, "But we have to be clever about it!"
"She's my mate! I can't abandon her!"
Rhysand put a hand on his mate's shoulder and that sight, of two mates united, made bile rise in Lucien's throat. Out of everyone here they should understand the pain of being separated from one's mate, they should understand the raging instincts to protect the one more precious and more loved than any other!
"Calm down, Lucien. The Sorcerer needs Elain as a sacrifice for the Winter Solstice. He won't kill her until then."
A ferocious snarl ripped from Lucien's throat at these words.
Rhys frowned.
"It only means he'll have plenty of time to torture and hurt her! I promised to protect her! I must protect her! I can't lose her!"
His voice broke and he felt smoke rising from his clenched fists. He couldn't lose her, he couldn't lose Elain, not after everything, he couldn't!
Helion stepped between Lucien and Rhysand, hands raised and looking between the two.
"Let's all calm down. Lucien, I understand your instincts to save Elain, but you must think clearly. Rhysand is right, she's in no immediate danger which gives us time to prepare and counterattack."
"You don't understand anything!" Lucien hissed.
Fire crackled at his feet and his fists. Blue flames.
Helion took a step back, looking him up and down with wide eyes. Most people in the room felt the flare of heat that emanated from Lucien.
"Lucien, calm–"
"You don't know anything about the mating bond! You abandoned my mother, your mate, to die under Beron's hands!"
Helion gasped, his golden eyes filling with shame and hurt. Lucien was aware of it, of the hurt he was inflicting him, his father, but he couldn't stop his mouth:
"You left her there for centuries, you don't care about her! You don't care about me! I must save Elain, before it's too late, before I lose her again, like I lost Jesminda, and like you lost my mother!"
"Lucien–" Feyre called out, taking a step forward.
The blue flames rose in intensity. Helion's shimmering shield appeared, and he stepped forward. Lucien screamed out his helplessness and lifted his fiery fist, ready to meet Helion head-on. But as cunning and powerful as Lucien was, right now, he was lost in a sea of pain. It was ridiculously easy for the High Lord to avoid the punch and put his fingers against Lucien's forehead. A flash of light blinded the people in the room.
Lucien collapsed on the ground, unconscious, his flames dying at once.
"Lucien!" Feyre exclaimed, running to his side.
"What did you do to him?" Rhys asked curiously as he got closer.
"I put him to sleep before he'd hurt himself, and everyone else," Helion said with a pained expression on his face.
Rhysand glanced at him and immediately saw the guilt gnawing at his friend. The guilt of putting a spell on his hurting son, and the guilt from everything Lucien had told him. Rhys put a hand on Helion's shoulder, drawing his attention away from the dark memories.
"You did the best you could. For Lucien, just now, and for Lucasta as well."
"Thank you, Rhys… but I'm not so sure I made the right choice, not anymore…" he answered as he knelt next to Lucien.
He was unconscious but still breathed heavily, the weight of knowing his mate too far away in the hands of danger.
"Koios," Helion called, raising his head, "Make sure that Queen Vassa and Lucien are taken care of by the best healers. Ensure that guards will be here for Lucien's awakening, he will be furious again."
Guards approached the limp form of Vassa and lifted her on a stretcher. She was bleeding from the head, her face was pale, but she was still alive.
"Her Majesty owes us a few answers," Helion said darkly as she passed them by.
"Lucien!"
He was reaching out for Elain once more, and once more, she was taken away by a wall of pure darkness. He could feel her fear, her anger, her sadness. She longed for him, she waited for him, she called him.
Even on the other side of the globe, separated by lands and an ocean, he could feel her heart, as desperate to come back to him as he was to be with her once more.
He saw flashes of forest, a stream, a manor, swans. And a doe. A doe was running frantically, terrified of a shadow that was about to rip its neck off–
"Elain!" Lucien cried out as he woke up.
His heart was beating so strongly that it was all he could hear, all he could feel.
"I can hear your heart."
Her soft voice was a whisper, he could almost feel the breeze of her words against his ear. But it held no living warmth, it was merely a cold whiff of absence.
Lucien turned to his right, hoping to see Elain. Perhaps it had all been a bad dream and she was still sleeping…
But there was nothing except wrinkled, white sheets. His hand reached for the pillow. He could still feel her scent. As much as he wanted to bury his face in it, as much as he wanted to take a deep breath to fill his lungs with what he had left of Elain, he couldn't. If he tried to, he would break down in tears.
"Lucien."
He turned around to see Helion sitting on a chair, next to the bed where he had been laid. The bed in his apartments, the bed he used to share with Elain.
"How are you feeling?" Helion asked, uncrossing his ankle from over his knee.
Lucien clenched his fists, but the fury that he had felt at the initial moments following Elain's rapt was gone. He only felt pain now. Still, the embers of anger were still there, simmering deep in his soul.
The silence went on and on, a series of emotions and feelings bubbled in Lucien's throat, but nothing came out of his lips.
Helion did a small movement forward, and lowered his gaze to the floor.
"If the two-faced fox is keeping his mouth shut for once, I take it… you are not well."
"What do you think?" Lucien finally snapped.
He threw away the sheets and pushed his legs over the side of the bed, glaring at the floor all the while knowing it was useless. Staying here, screeching at the High Lord, meant nothing as long as Elain was captive.
"What did you do to me?" Lucien asked, smoothing his voice a little.
Helion wasn't responsible for what had happened to Elain. He was her mate, he was supposed to protect her, and he had failed. Just like for Jesminda.
"A sleeping spell. I'm… sorry I did this, but I didn't see any other option. You were going berserk and becoming a danger to all of us."
"I… understand why you did that."
And no matter how much the pain gnawed at his heart, he was glad he hadn't hurt anyone, and that blinding fury was gone.
"That blue fire is unique. I have never heard of anyone being capable of beholding such flames." Helion continued.
"Ah?"
"I wonder…"
Lucien's curiosity got the best of him and he looked up to see the High Lord deep in thought, a hand to his chin and brows furrowed. Despite himself, Lucien couldn't help but notice the shape of his nose, of his cheekbones, the elegance of his hands. He saw that everyday in the mirror when he looked at himself, but he was paler, and his appearance was in shades of red and gold instead of the black and amber of Helion.
"Perhaps it's the fire of your mother's blood, mixed with the Day Court's parentage that gave you a hotter fire? A way to compensate for the absence of your other powers that were blocked."
"…Surely there have been previous children of mixed heritage, from Autumn and Day."
"But none would have been the son of a High Lord, even if I wasn't one yet when you were conceived, that power runs through our veins."
Lucien felt the sunlight pour from the windows. It landed on his skin, and warmed him. He opened his hand and looked at the way his body reacted from that pure light.
His heart was ice.
"I have to save Elain," he whispered, looking up once more.
But this time, when he looked at Helion, he hoped to see a father he never had.
Helion didn't even hesitate and leaned forward, clasping his hand over Lucien's shoulder.
"We will. But we need to be smart about it, okay, clever fox?"
He gave a small nod as answer and Helion stood up.
"For now, let's go get answers from Vassa. And don't burn her to a crisp, please."
The way to Vassa's recovery rooms were the longest and most torturous steps he ever took. He wanted to run there and torture her for every answer so he could winnow to the Sorcerer and reduce him to ashes. But he was trying to reign in his protective mate instincts – Helion was right, they needed to be clever about it. Koschei – and Vassa – had tricked them once. They couldn't afford to make another mistake, this time, Elain wouldn't just be kidnapped – she would be taken away from him for good.
But as posed as he tried to be, the moment Lucien saw Vassa sitting up, he snarled at her.
"Tell us everything you know about the Sorcerer and what he intends to do to Elain," he hissed.
Vassa paled, but remained still and silent.
Helion put a hand on his arm and Lucien forced a breath out of his mouth to relax his clenched fists.
It was only then that Lucien noticed that they weren't alone in this room – Sibylla, Koios, Selena, Rhysand, Amren, Morrigan and Feyre were all here.
"We want answers as badly as you, Lucien." Feyre said, her gaze cold and ferocious.
I doubt it, he thought but he turned his controlled anger towards Vassa.
Her expression turned mournful, but she still found the pride and strength to sit straighter.
"I will answer all your questions, but first of all… let me apologise."
"Your apologies won't bring back Elain," Lucien growled.
"I know, but she can still be saved."
Hope flared in his chest more violently than anything he had experienced in the last twenty-four hours.
"We're listening." Helion said, taking the lead of the conversation.
Vassa stood up and walked to the window. She put her hand under the sunlight and delighted in remaining human.
"After Lord Archeron made a contract with the Sorcerer to let me help you in your war against Hybern, I was desperate for the spell to be broken."
She turned back towards them, and despite her nightgown, she looked as regal as always.
"I needed to be free and return to my kingdom, not only to have freedom but also ensure that the Continent's forces wouldn't go to war against Prythian."
"We are well aware that Fey and human forces are gathering to cross the ocean and march on us," Rhysand commented.
"Then you must know the size of that army. Hybern was nothing in comparison."
A tense silence followed that sentence, and Vassa continued:
"Then you gave me hope, all of you, when I heard that Lucien was going to the Day Court to investigate on how to break the spell. And that was when Koschei reappeared in my life and proposed a new bargain: instead of returning to him, I would be free of the spell he had put on me, but only if I delivered Elain Archeron to him."
Lucien gripped his own arms and felt his fingers digging deep. He felt a terrifying growl rise in his throat. But he kept it in. As much as he wanted to turn Vassa into ashes, as much as he wanted to rip her apart – they needed her.
"I didn't expect you to succeed in breaking the spell, but… but Koschei was still going to collect me and force me back to his lake during the Autumn Equinox and I was so close to freedom that I… I…"
"You abandoned Elain into his filthy hands for your own selfish gain," Lucien concluded in a sharp tone.
She gathered her hands but her blue eyes sparked as they Lucien's mismatched gaze.
"I did what I had to protect my kingdom and my people! Of course, I was desperate to be free, you have no idea what it's like to be shackled to a god like him, but I–"
"And now it's Elain who is shackled to that Sorcerer!"
"Lucien, calm down," Helion intervened when he noticed the fuming fists, "Did you know about the prophecy, and what Koschei intends to do on the Blood Moon?"
"I heard about the prophecy Elain experienced, but I don't know the exact words spoken. As for the Blood Moon… All I knew is that Koschei intended to use it and its magic to free himself. I-I believe a sacrifice is involved… I thought it was me. But I was wrong."
"It's Elain," Lucien hissed, once more feeling murderous.
"Lucien." Helion said, once more trying to control his son's intents from his other guests.
"You knew Koschei would use Elain as a sacrifice but you still gave her away! How could you do this?! I thought… I thought we were friends, Vassa…" He continued, ignoring his father's warning voice.
His own voice broke and Vassa finally gave up the mantel of queen and lowered her head in shame.
"Koschei always called me his 'special bird', he always said that someone 'special' would free him. That he finally had her. I had no reason to think he would choose Elain, and when we made that new bargain, I had no idea he would use her for the sacrifice! And when you broke the spell on me, I… I hoped that he wouldn't be able to come at all, that all his plans had been ruined. I was frightened…"
"A magical bargain can't be broken, even if another spell is," Koios intervened calmly, "The Sorcerer did say that the spell we broke was the one turning you into a firebird, but the spell binding you to him was still functioning."
"Considering that you held your part of your bargain and delivered Elain, you are no longer bound to Koschei and are free," concluded Selena with a dark expression on her face.
But there was no freedom, no joy to find on Vassa's expression.
"I would take Elain's place any time if I could," she said, looking directly at Lucien whose posture softened just a little, "I hoped that the spells were broken and Koschei wouldn't appear. I shouldn't have sacrificed Elain… even for all the kingdoms in the world and I will help in any way I can to retrieve her, I promise."
Everyone held their breaths and watched Lucien who, even though he wasn't the one with the most power in this room, was the one who was the most concerned by Elain's fate.
He watched carefully Vassa's expression, his golden eye clicked and whirred. And eventually, his shoulders dropped a little.
"I believe you. Thank you, Vassa."
She let out a sigh of relief, but suddenly they heard rising voices in the hallways. Helion and Lucien glanced at each other and they all hurried to the throne room where the commotion was coming from.
"Where is she?!"
Feyre gasped upon hearing this voice, and she accelerated, passing in front of everyone. They arrived in the massive throne room, where guards helplessly tried to hold back a furious Nesta.
"Nesta!"
"Feyre!"
Helion made a sign to the guards to let Nesta, and the massive Illyrian and general right behind her, come closer. They stepped aside and Nesta rushed in.
Her expression was as stern as always, her blue eyes burnt like ice, her hair was a perfect braided crown around her head, and her clothes were Illyrian leather that showed off her now fit form. She had colour in her cheek, furious red, and fire in her gaze, vengeful blue.
"We came as soon as we received your message, Rhys," Cas said as way of greeting, his own expression dim, "Azriel is already exploring the area surrounding the Sorcerer's territory."
Rhysand nodded and Lucien almost gasped, realising that during his useless sleep, everyone else had been actively trying to help Elain. A slight surge of guilt wrenched his heart, but his own helplessness won the war of emotions in his soul.
"Nesta! I knew you were making progress with Cassian but I hadn't realised… you look great, and healthy, and–"
"Cut the bullshit, Feyre. I don't need your petty compliments, I'm still angry you sent me away like one of your servants!"
Feyre opened her lips but, to everyone's surprise, and Lucien most of all, Nesta whipped towards him and pointed an accusing finger at his chest. He felt dread fill him – she had the same expression as the one she had worn when going into the Cauldron, when promising the King of Hybern a certain death.
"You! What have you done? And where is my little sister?!" Nesta hissed – and Lucien's fury suddenly seemed like a spring breeze compared to a summer storm.
Nesta is back!
Next chapter : The Archer's Blood
Yours Truly,
May