For months I had been on the run. Running from what I didn't know. Perhaps the last few enemies that may still be alive. I had heard the whispers of a human girl - now Fae. The whispers of her killing Amarantha. And I instantly knew I owed that girl my life.
When I didn't hide in the forest, I sometimes dared to enter taverns and listen in on rumors drunkenly exchanged over the tables. I would never let anyone see my face hidden beneath a black cloak. I was scared what would happen if I was recognized. My Fae ears picked up many useless rumors over time, but I also managed to get information on what I was interested in.
Apparently, the Fae girl had been the lover of the High Lord of the Spring Court, but now she resided permanently in the Night Court. Some males even proclaimed she was the mate of the High Lord of the Night Court. I knew this is where I needed to go, but I had never been anywhere in Prythian except in that mountain. I had not even known where I had been most of the last few months. Sometimes the long, sunny days had my thinking I might be in Summer or Day court.
It took me a long time to get to the borders of the Night Court. Stealing a map from a stranger at a tavern one night had helped immensely. But looking over the mountains that stretched over the land as far as I could see… My heart had sunk. How would I ever make it to Hewn City? It would take weeks to cross the mountains and my body was already tired… So tired. I had seen my reflection in a lake once and had not dared to look again. I knew that I was malnourished. That my face was so thin and my eyes empty except for the hunger that lingered. Maybe it would be for the best if I died in these mountains. I was still free and that was the most important thing.
But I was so, so close, I reminded myself. I had to at least thank that Fae girl who had freed me. Even though I planned to pledge my life to her, I couldn't see what use she would have of it. It almost felt as a joke now to have thought that I could help her. They would probably laugh at me if I ever showed up. But I could still feel my powers deep down. I had been too scared to touch them. I had never been trained to use them and I did not know what I could do with them. I was scared that I would draw attention to me if I tried to summon them - that someone would hear or sense it and find me.
So I kept walking.
It took several days before I could see towers far away. My heart jolted - I was almost there. But at the same time that thought crossed my mind, my legs gave up under me. I felt to the stones beneath me, but I felt no pain. No, I thought. Not now. I couldn't give up now. I tried to get up, but my body didn't move the slightest. My body filled with panic. I had not eaten a lot the past few months, but before the mountains I had been able to find berries and plants that had kept me alive. Sometimes I had even managed to buy a meal from the taverns paying with money I had carefully stolen. I hadn't eaten since I reached the Night Court. I hadn't been able to find anything in these mountains which was probably what punished me now.
I knew that if I wanted to survive, I had to do something now. I almost couldn't think. The panic and hunger almost swallowed me whole. The only option that my mind had been able to produce scared me. But not as much as death scared me. And I could see the face of death staring right into my face. It was right in front of me, nearing to kiss me asleep.
I had to focus. I reached in and found that tether that dragged down. And down. It was so deep, and out of my blurred eyes, I saw my hands shaking. I continued down until I didn't dare go deeper. I could feel it embracing me, telling me welcome. Telling me what to do. And I obliged.
The world around me went dark as I let go. Power exploded from me. I could feel the ground beneath me shaking. I felt stones hitting me as they must have rolled down the huge mountains around me.
And then… I felt nothing but shadows around me.
…
When I regained consciousness, my body felt heavy and exhausted. But somehow in a good way. The power that I had summoned had not drained me but had almost satisfied that longing that I had felt since I was freed those months ago. It almost felt good to have released my power. I had never done it before much to my mother's dismay, but I had sworn to myself that I would never willingly assist her. And she had not succeeded in breaking me to give in.
I blinked my eyes open, trying to make my eyes focus but they were dry from my dehydration. I could slightly make out two pair of feet in front of me and I knew that my stunt had worked. Someone had found me.
"Who are you?" a voice above me asked. I could hear that it belonged to a male and when I looked further up, I saw that I was correct in that assumption. In front of me - or above me, as I was still flat on the ground - was two males. They were huge and muscular and one of them had wings. The winged male also had weird shadows around him. I gasped as I had never seen anything like that before. Suddenly, my joy of being found were exchanged with a fear of being killed by these two males.
I couldn't make out their faces for the sun blinding me. But from the way they were dressed told me that they were important and rich. "I seek the High Lady," I only said. I knew if I said my name or who I was the daughter of, they would probably kill me on the spot. Unless they were former supporters of my mother, but I doubted it.
The two males exchanged looks, clearly worried what I would want with their High Lady. Especially considering the explosion I had just caused a few moments ago. "What is your business with her?" the other male asked. The one with the wings. It was more an order that a question and the hardness of his voice scared me. I knew that if I said the wrong thing, they wouldn't let me see her. They would probably kill me.
I didn't reply. Instead, I groaned as I tried to get up, facing the males that were more than a head higher than me. I looked at them and waited for them to decide. Would they take me to her? I sent a silent prayer. I didn't know to whom - just whoever listened. I had come so far to fail my mission. Then one of them disappeared and the male with wings was left behind, clearly guarding me.
A moment later, the male was back accompanied by a Fae female. She was beautiful. Her hair was golden brown and her eyes was grey-blue. And the second I locked eyes with the female, she gasped and stepped back. Her eyes filled with fear and panic and she grasped the hand of the male she had arrived with. "A-Amarantha," she stuttered. The two males looked at her and then at me, then finally noticing the resemblance that the female had seen. They stepped towards me and the winged male raised his blade.
I did not look like my mother. My hair was not red, it was blonde. My face did not share her features - it was softer and did not radiate the same darkness as hers. My skin tone was pale like hers, but I knew it was my eyes that gave me away. My eyes were identical to hers, and I figured that anyone who had looked into my mother's eyes would remember them. I had to think fast now that they had recognized who I looked like. My eyes went to the female's arms. One of them were covered with tattoos, curling up her hand and arm.
I was standing in front of the High Lady of the Night Court. And I figured that the male beside her, the one who she looked at with worry and a deep love underneath - that must be her mate. The High Lord of the Night Court. I got down on one knee and knelt. I bent my head, looking down. "I have come to pledge my life to you, High Lady," I said. I said it as clearly as my sore throat would allow me. "When you killed my mother, you freed me as well. I owe you my life."
When I looked up again, I saw the surprise in her eyes. She still wore the shock from before on her face, but now she also seemed curious. I did not dare to look at the males. I only had business with her, the Fae who had saved me from eternity with torture. She opened her mouth and paused. She did not know what to say to me. "I… Who are you?" She finally managed to say to me.
"My name is Iris. Amarantha was my mother but I was more a tool for her than a daughter," I said. My voice broke on the last word and I cleared my throat. "She wanted me to work with her, but I refused. I always have refused. So I have been locked away my entire life while she has been drawing power from me. When you killed her, I was freed, and I have been searching for you ever since." I didn't know how long my search had taken. Months, yes. Maybe a year?
The High Lady looked at her mate. She seemed to have a silent conversation with him, and they were silent for several moments but their eyes full of thoughts. I was still kneeling for her and I waited patiently for her reply. The winged male was still looking like he mostly wanted to kill me. I locked eyes with him and I felt something deep down in me. Similar to the tether to my powers, I know felt another tether. But it was different and strange, and I couldn't figure out what it was. I pushed it away, scared to touch it. The male showed no reaction and I figured that I must have been the only to have felt it. I studied him while the High Lady and the High Lord still exchanged silent words. He had black hair and tan skin. His eyes was hazel. And his wings looked huge behind him. They resembled the wings of a bat. Though he radiated power, he was sort of elegant in his physical build. Beautiful.
Suddenly, the High Lord spoke and I broke the eye contact with the winged male. "Can I look inside your mind? To know that you speak the truth," he asked raising his eyebrows awaiting my reply. I had heard rumors that the Night Court could break minds as easy as snapping their fingers.
My breath shook. Was he asking to break me and leave me as… My body trembled. But I understood why they would need proof. Before my mother had given up teaching me to become her heir, she had hired teachers to teach me to control my magic. Of course, I had refused all training, but one of the things I had allowed them to teach me was mental shields. I had learnt that mental shields could protect my mind from intruders and ever since I had been shielding my mind. To answer the High Lord's question, I opened a small hole in my shield, allowing him in. First, I felt talons scraping on my shields, slowly entering. And then he entered my mind, full force. My hands went up to my head and I opened my mouth to scream, but no sound came from me.
I saw him going through my memories. From my childhood to my adulthood. He saw every word my mother had said to me, every curse she had spit at me. Every torture. Every Fae that had abused me. Then he saw my memories from after I had been freed. How I had lingered in the shadows at taverns to find out where my savior was. And then the last few days of immense hunger and thirst. I felt him exit my mind and I felt to my hands, gasping for air. My heart was racing. Every day I told myself that I was strong and that I would not let the torture haunt me. It was the High Lord's power that scared me. I had never felt anything like it, worse than any other torture I had experienced.
"I'm sorry," he said probably realizing he hadn't needed to be so forceful. Then he spoke to his companions. "She's speaking the truth. Amarantha wanted an heir, but she refused to be one. Hence she has been locked away and tortured all her life. Amarantha drew power from her, called her a well. I think this female is a well of power, nearly infinitely deep maybe. That must have been how Amarantha kept all her spells up without tiring herself."
The High Lady looked at him as he spoke and then she returned her glance at me, blinking. I had collected myself and slowly made it to my knees again. I looked up at her, waiting for her reply. Would she accept me? "That's horrible," she said looking truly sorry. "I didn't know you existed. You owe me nothing."
"Please, High Lady," I insisted. "I have nothing else." It almost sounded as if I was begging. Maybe some part of me was. I had no idea how to survive this world as I had been taught so little of it. In my first years of my childhood I had lived with my mother in Hybern and I had been schooled, but when we travelled to these lands - Prythian, she had said - my schooling had stopped. I had no money, no allies. Nothing. I wouldn't last another day. So, in a way, I was begging for my life. However pathetic it made me look. I just hoped she could use me for something.
She exchanged glances with her mate, again those silent words in her eyes. "You can stay in our court. Maybe we can find a job for you, not involving torture," she said and smiled slightly to me. Her eyes told me to stand up and I followed her silent order. I couldn't believe her words. "For now, you can live with us. The city we will take you to is secret and hidden from the world, so I must warn you not to tell anyone. And if you as much as look the wrong way at anyone, any citizen, we will kill you." Her voice was stern. She probably had to tell me those words, it was not because she did not trust me. Her mate had probably shown her everything he had seen from my mind. I simply nodded, letting her know that I knew she meant it. "Azriel, can you fly her?" She turned to the winged male whose name must be Azriel.
Azriel walked towards me, slightly shaking his wings. My eyes widened. Was I supposed to fly with this male? I did not like the sound of it. But I let him walk to me and let him take me in his arms. My body stiffened at his touch. As I breathed in his smell, I thought of the cold nights I had spent under the stars in the woods. And cedar. It felt oddly familiar and it relaxed me. But only for a short moment, for then he spread his giant wings behind him and shot to the sky with immense speed. The air was almost sucked out of my lungs and as I looked down to the ground, I saw the High Lord suddenly with a similar pair of wings. He held the High Lady closely to him as they followed us into the air.
A/N: Thank you for reading the first chapter of my ACOTAR fanfic. English is not my first language so it is probably full of grammar mistakes. I hope you can ignore them and that you liked the chapter anyway :)