Tarquin's POV

Something had changed.

She was no longer on the mortal continent, or so I suspected and I was worried. There was only one person in Prythian who might be able to answer my questions, reluctant as I am to contact him.

Although our allegiance since the Hybern war had been good, I would even consider us friends, I worried about how this may look, would it make me look weak if I confessed what I had done to another High Lord?

For her, it was a chance I was going to have to take.

The letter I wrote was brief, keeping all my secrets close to my chest until I could ensure the conversation was private.

Hopefully he would come.

Days passed without so much as a word. I was getting anxious and Varian was starting to notice. Since meeting Amren, he had become more in tune with his emotions, meaning that he could sense mine much more easily and at the moment, that was proving difficult.

I should have told him about this long ago.

I paced in front of the glassless windows in my private study, hoping the view of Adriata and the sea below might help calm me. Nothing seemed to be working the last few weeks. She was always on my mind, a constant worry.

I sat at my desk, the worry finally getting to me and began to write another letter to Rhysand, hoping that this time he would hear the desperate tone in my note. Before I could put pen to paper, Varian slipped in through the slightly ajar door.

'Sorry to interrupt you Tarquin, the High Lord of the Night Court is here saying he is answering your request for a private meeting' Varian said as he looked at me quizzingly. I could nearly feel the worry radiating off him. As Captain of my armies, he was right to be worried, another High Lord coming to 'visit' was no small deal.

I looked at him apologetically and asked him to set us up in the library, away from prying eyes and ears.

After a couple of minutes, lost in my own thoughts about the weakness I was about to show, I made my way down the spiral staircase to my private library.

Rhysand was sprawled across one of the armchairs, a nonchalant look on his face. 'It is rude to keep your guests waiting, Tarquin. My time is very valuable' he said with a smirk on his face.

I just about kept from narrowing my eyes at his snide comment, he was not someone I wanted to piss off with a simple gesture. Not when I so desperately needed information from him.

'I have a question to ask of you, but I need it to be confidential. No mention of it may go beyond these walls. You will be the only person I have told, so if I hear of it again, I will know it was from you. And you would be lucky to only receive a blood ruby this time' I said, keeping my voice measured.

I had piqued his interest. One of his eyebrows raised lazily. 'Go on.'

'It is a question about mates.. Specifically about your mate' I said carefully. A snarl escaped his lips as a vicious look came over his face. His violet eyes narrowed at me.

'Thread very lightly here, Tarquin, we may be friends but I will have no animosity ripping you apart if needs be.'

I leaned back in my chair, contemplating what I would say next. Under normal circumstances, I would never entertain him threatening me in my own court but with this, I understood.

'I am sorry to bring up bad memories, for you and I both, but Under the Mountain, when Feyre was mortal, did you know you were her mate?'

He looked thoughtful for a moment, from what I assume was picking the right words to say. At the end of the day, we were friends on a very basic level, not confidantes.

'I did and did not, not until the moment she died, then I was sure of it. There had been signs before then, but I ignored them' he said slowly, as if it was difficult to say. 'Why do you ask me about this?'

'I swore to myself that I would never breathe a word of this to anyone. But things have changed and I think it could mean change for all of Prythian and not just myself. You know of how both our lands, Hybern and Prythian have been lost to the mortals for over 400 years?'

He nodded, indicating for me to continue.

'What you may not have been aware of is that they have cleaved us from their history. No mention of us remains within the mortal lands. We are as lost to them as they are to us. I am not sure why and don't intend to look into it either. Our agreement not to meddle in their lives any longer had a significant effect on their history. Their land has moved on, they have forgotten all magic and their whole being has changed. They are not humans the way we remember.'

Rhys looked deep in thought. I remember when I had first discovered this and how it had taken me a while to understand. We had been so preoccupied with our own lands, we had forgotten the mortal realm and they us.

'And why is this relevant to us, to my mate?' he asked sincerely, although I could see the cogs turning in his head, working to figure it out.

'I asked about your connection with Feyre as a mortal, because my own mate, it seems… is mortal.'

Whether he was shocked or not, he didn't show any signs of it. I continued.

'I had been getting dreams for months, of a land I had never visited. It was infuriating, they were keeping me up all night. People I had never seen, wearing clothes that were strange and unfamiliar. It took me weeks to work out that I was seeing the mortal realm for what it is today. I didn't realise why and how I was seeing it so I scoured our libraries to figure out why.'

'I came across a book, one of the oldest in our troves, about mates and it was here I read about how, before the mating bond is realised, dreams can be shared over the bond. It was the closest thing I had discovered to what I was feeling. I also read that bonds between fae are stronger and a true bond with a mortal is unlikely.'

'Any sign of her that I received was at night, it might have been something to do with my own barriers being.. loosened at night. But it seemed dull, like I was seeing it all through a veil. Every detail I saw, I wrote down and kept in a diary beside my bed, hoping that I would be able to figure out where she was. And then I saw it, a sign telling me the exact location of where she was, a town called Cerenthi, in the mortal lands.'

'I couldn't stop myself. Every waking moment all I thought about was her and then my dreams were ravaged by her as well. She was my every thought, every breath I took and the thoughts of never seeing her ripped me open inside.'

Rhys' face had turned very pensive. 'You ventured to the mortal realm to find her.' Not a question, a statement.

'Yes, I did and I found her.' Shame bubbled up within me, knowing I had broken our agreement from all those years ago.

'She was bewitching, I couldn't take my eyes off her. I found her on a beach, swimming at first. So I sat on the beach and watched her. I decided then that seeing her was enough, I would let her live her mortal life without me. I couldn't bring her with me, I wouldn't do that to her.'

Rhys looked at me with more respect than he ever had. 'A brave choice' he muttered.

'Then she looked at me, just for one second and the mating bond snapped into place, for me anyway. I couldn't leave her without leaving something of myself behind. I pulled a shell off my own bracelet, one from Adriata that I had worn since I was a child and spelled it to look more mortal, more like something she would want to wear. I left another spell on it, a calming spell so that when she touched it, she would feel calm.'

'And then I left it for her at her door, I followed her scent there. It was almost my undoing. I was so close to taking her when the door opened but I knew what was going to be best for her and I wasn't it. And I winnowed back to the palace, hoping that it would be the end and she would live a happy mortal life.'

I released a sigh and stood up, trying to release some of the tension that had built up talking about her. Even thinking about her riled me up to a place that wasn't good. I walked to the window that looked out over the same view as my private quarters.

The attitude that Rhys had arrived with seemed to have dissipated. If I knew him better, I would honestly think he felt sorry for me.

'Why do I feel like there is more to this story, Tarquin?' he asked.

'Because just over 7 days ago, I think she came to Prythian. And that is why I asked you here. Did you know, when Feyre arrived here? Did anything change?' I turned to look at him.

And I knew, by the look on his face, I knew. 'It was like the fog had lifted, wasn't it? I asked, terrified that I would know the answer.

'Yes' was all he said.

'Then she is here.' I said, my worst nightmare confirmed. 'And it is not my doing.' I turned back to face the window.

Rhys' face was calm as he said 'Whoever did this doesn't mean you well Tarquin, nor her. This could mean war.'

'I know who did this, Rhysand. I saw his face two days ago. They are shielding her mind and scent from me right at this very moment. But enough got through that I saw him.' My hand that was gripping the window frame tightened and the coral underneath my hand strained.

'Who?' Rhys asked, I could sense his frustration at not knowing the answer already, he was usually the one with all the answers.'

'It was Eris, she is in the Forest House in the Autumn Court.' I said solemnly. 'It has taken all my will not to destroy him before I spoke to you about it. We will need to call a meeting with the other High Lords and you have been my closest ally since the war. I would hope for your support in this.'

'That insidious snake in the grass. Beron is not even cold and he starts playing dangerous games like this.' Rhys said incredulously.

'Do not forget Rhysand, it was your deal with him that gave him that seat of power.' I said tersely.

'Tarquin' his voice came out strained. 'I understand your anger but now is not the time for us to bicker. Listen to me, he wants you to react. That is why he has taken her. If you move to get her back, it will be a declaration of war between your two courts.'

'He has taken my mate' my voice thundered back at him. 'He deserves every bit of wrath my court can give him.'

Rhys' voice was deathly calm. 'Do not think for a moment, that I don't know how you feel. I am sure you haven't forgotten the events that led to the war, when my own mate was in enemy territory.'

At his words, my anger disappeared. I walked back to the chair and slumped in it. 'Then what, do you suggest I do?'

'I need to talk to Feyre, she is as much in this as I am. If you will allow me to tell her and Azriel, I think there is a way to get her back without causing a war.'

'I will do anything to get her back' I breathed.