He pushed into the tent and I fearfully clung to Azriel not quite sure if I cared that I didn't know him that well. I knew him better than the beings that watched me enter the tent. They were power given humanoid forms. Their gazes had a physical weight that made it harder to walk. Six men, all beautiful, staring into my soul.
"This is it?" Asked a brown-haired man his eyes sweeping over me. In one glance I could feel his appraisal and dismissal as if I weren't enough to even stand in his presence.
"This is Nova," Feyre said from a seat to the right of where Rhysand had headed, "she's the female who was Made with the Book of Breathings."
"It doesn't look like much." The man huffed. Something in my chest sparked. That thing I shoved down inside myself laughed distantly.
"She." I said lowly. "You meant to say 'She doesn't look like much'."
"Pardon me?" I could feel the self-righteous rant brewing. I immediately hated him.
"You're pardoned." I cut in sharply. All of the eyes watching me widened except for the immovable face that looked more like it was hewn from ice than flesh. "If you've come together to decide my fate the least you can do is talk to me as if I'm a person." The rational part of me screamed something about these being important people. That I should be meek. Scared.
That thing inside me laughed again. No, pretty thing. Little traveler. Our own. They should fear you. I tried to push it down but it was hard with so many eyes on me.
"How dare-"
"Let her speak." That was another man. He had hair nearly the same color as mine, but where my skin was pale his was a dark mahogany. His eyes looked like crystal clear lakes. Even as I set eyes upon him the thing rolled and grinned at him. It knew him.
Tarquin. It told me. He tastes of sea salt and fresh breezes. He held us prisoner, seperated, under the sea. I tried to push the voice away again but it resisted. Until the liar freed us.
"Your name is Tarquin." I told him even as I knew it was stupid. The voices, both calm and manic were asking me to. Pushing and prodding until the words simply came out.
"Yes, have they told you about me?" He glanced toward Rhysand and Feyre.
"No…" I grit my teeth as they pushed at me again. This matters little traveler. Speak. Give us a voice and you will be safe. I was too tired to let the voices do anything but what they wanted. "It remembers you. In the dark, locked away, seperated. Lied to. Betrayed, but for a good cause." The words babbled out. But seeing his eyes darken like a oncoming storm I forced my mouth shut in a burst of panic. "I'm sorry." I muttered when I could.
"Can you hear the book?" Tarquin asked contemplative.
"We are the book. Old and New. Unmade then Made." I bit my lip hard enough to draw blood. The pain of it helped center me. Helped me drag the voices away and drown them in myself. "No." I ground out. "I'm Nova. I mean, yes I can hear it sometimes, but I'm not some stupid book."
"It's clearly mad." The brown haired one spat.
"I'm not." I defended. "Whatever happened to me in that dark place did this to me. But I'm not crazy."
Aren't we though?
"Let's get to the point." That was a new man one who looked a little mad himself. His eyes kept flickering to Feyre with a possession and dark fury that made me take a step back. "This is about who gets to keep her. Tarquin was the keeper, so it only makes sense that he gets last say."
A good number of the men nodded. Rhysand looked a little pale. Tarquin was staring at me and I felt the desperation set in again.
"I don't want to go with you."
"What's wrong with him?" The brown haired man asked with a cruel smile.
"I don't belong there." I said softly.
"Where else would you belong?" The mad one asked. "You don't think you belong with that lot just because they found you first do you? Or like Feyre are you willing to spread yourself to the first person to show you kindness?"
She flinched. Rhysand's eyes darkened. Azriel's body suddenly went rigid.
"Fuck you." The words whipped out before I could stop them. Something in the man's green eyes reminded me of a beast in that moment.
"What was that?"
"I said fuck you." How dare this crazy-eyed motherfucker even try to insinuate anything about Feyre or myself. "I don't know what's between the two of you, but I do know that she and Rhysand seem very happy with each other. I would gladly go somewhere for that kind of happiness."
Claws ripped out of the man's hands. There was a shriek of wood as he gouged a good deep swipe out of the wood of the table they were all sitting at. One second I was feeling brave and pissed off the next I was neatly tucked behind Azriel who had unsheathed his blade. Without knowing why I reached out and caught that arm pulling it back toward me. After a moment of resistance he let me.
"She's my mate. I claim her as such. If she belongs anywhere it is with me." Azriel spoke low and through clenched teeth. His whole body vibrated with a tension that I could only guess was him holding himself back from going after the men.
There was a beat of silence. The kind that could swallow you if it lasted too long. My ears began to ring and I suddenly felt nauseous. Yup, at the first sign of retaliation my anger had burned away leaving me with nothing but hollow panic and the tang of fear.
"Truly?" Tarquin was watching Azriel. "This female is your mate?"
"She has not accepted me, but the bond is there." Azriel said and as if in response to his words there was the softest touch that zinged down that moonstone bridge. I shivered at the feeling.
"Do you want to go with them?" Tarquin's voice was soft. I stepped out slightly letting go of Azriel's arm to look at the High Lord properly.
"I don't know." I breathed. "I don't understand any of this. I don't get how he just did that." I said motioning to the man whose hands were back to normal. Curiosity sparked in more than one gaze. "I don't understand what this book is, or why you are all called High Lords. But...I do know that they've been kind to me." I glanced down at my hands.
"Go on." I realized that it would be so easy to go with Tarquin. He seemed easy to get along with.
"I think they care what happens to me. In some way." Tarquin smiled softly and I felt something relax in me.
"How about this, you can go with them for now. But should you feel the need you may come and visit Adriata for yourself. My Court is open to you."
Azriel felt like a statue beside me. As if he were holding himself in check.
"Okay." I agreed. He nodded as did the rest of the men. And that, it seemed, was that for now.