The meeting the following day was ended shortly, I was told. The giant earthquake I had felt the same morning had caused by Hybern breaking the wall to the human lands. A few hours later, Rhysand sent talons scraping on the thick shields to my mind, asking for entrance. When I lowered them, he told me what had happened. What would be happening next.
They were leaving for the Illyrian camp in the mountains this afternoon where they would continue to the human lands to warn them of the threat. And they would be busy the entire day to prepare for this visit. I didn't need to come.
I decided that I would use this time on exploring the city I had been living in for the past few weeks. One day without training would not hurt anyone, I had thought to convince myself. Dressed in a simple blue gown, I began the long way down the stairs. Ten thousand steps. My legs and feet were aching before I reached the bottom of them, but eventually I made it. I was standing in the city of Velaris that I had only ever heard of and seen from the distance of my bedroom window.
The streets were buzzing with life. People were hurrying around me, busy with their work. Merchants were making effort to attract buyers, yelling prices and of the quality of their goods. I went over to each shop stand, admiring their display. I knew that Rhysand and Feyre was paying me some amount of money, but I wasn't interested in them. Hadn't even properly listened when they had told me and when they had explained how I could get to them, after they had rejected my protests to receiving any payment. They had already granted me my freedom.
Freedom. From a life in captivity, it was the hope of freedom that had kept me fighting, not breaking under the years of torture. But was I even any freer now? New worries filled my mind at night, troubling my sleep. Yes, I wasn't being tortured anymore. But every hit, every whiplash stood clear in memory, creeping closer when the sun bid farewell each evening. I could still remember the stinging pain from each time my mother's loyal servants had tortured me. I wasn't free of that. I feared that I would never be.
I wandered the streets for hours. I took my time to explore every street of the city, taking in the beauty of the city. I came to a halt before what looked to be a school. Small children were playing outside, laughing and looking like they had nothing to worry about. Some were tossing a ball to each other, and some were playing some game I couldn't depict. They were doing exactly what children were supposed to.
It made me think of my own childhood. If you could even call it that. When I had been around the same age as the children outside the school, I had received schooling like them. It had been before my mother had scolded my teachers, ordering them to change the lectures that I had otherwise enjoyed. I had received lessons in the very essential subjects: reading, writing, arithmetic and history. But then my mother got some idea in her head that those subjects weren't useful anymore; I needed to be taught to be a weapon, eventually in some powerful Fae's possession - his weapon to wield the way he wished. I had objected to this. It wasn't the future I wished for. My mother insisted for months until she eventually fired my teachers and let me rot in a cell which she used magic to bind me to.
Even before the change of my lessons, my mother had never been a loving mother. Actually, she had been nothing like a mother, and she had never seemed to care for me the least. To her, I was nothing but a weapon for her to wield. Perhaps I was jealous of the children, but I was also happy for them. Happy that they were having a better life that I would ever have.
"Are you joining us, miss?" It sounded from one of the children as they saw me staring at them, interrupting my thoughts. I blinked, bewildered at their question. They were asking if I was joining their game of tossing a ball. I couldn't feel nothing but honor that they would want me to partake in their games.
I smiled broadly at them. "No, thank you," my answer sounded kindly, and I continued walking with a smile on my lips. Some part of me, perhaps my inner child, wanted to say yes - to relive the childhood I had never had. However sweet their thought was, would they still want my company if they knew who I was? If they knew what monster I was the daughter of?
By the time I reached an area with art galleries and various shops for all creative hobbies, the High Lord suddenly appeared before me with a stressed look in his eyes. "Iris," he greeted me. How he had found me was a mystery to me - probably one of the many benefits of being High Lord. "Hybern will be attacking the Summer Court tomorrow."
I swallowed hard at his words. Now? I thought with panic. Was I ready? "How can I help?" My answer sounded, not letting my fear show.
The usual way Rhysand seemed laid back, calm and confident, was exchanged with the look of a trained soldier going to war. Calculated and bloodthirsty. "If the king shows up, and you're there as well, we might actually stand a chance at killing him."
"Then take me there," I told him firmly. I held out my hand for him to take it and winnow us to Summer Court. I wasn't exactly dressed for battle with the long gown I was wearing, but that would not hinder me from sending power to Rhysand and, hopefully, more. Perhaps they had more suitable clothing at the war camp. Although, my fighting abilities would probably not make a big difference in any battle - however, if I could combine it with my powers, I might be a valuable addition on the battlefield. But still, I was not trained for war. I didn't know how to maneuver on a battlefield or how to be aware of all my surroundings.
Rhysand took my hand and winnowed us straight into a war camp. Around us were hundreds of winged warriors, wings similar to those of Cassian and Azriel. And like those of Rhysand that he only wore on occasions. Illyrians. During my nightly hours at the library at the House of Wind, I had read about them. The brute nature of the winged male and females - particular the males who were known to be aggressive and rape their females. I shuddered at the sight of this many male Illyrians. All of them wore a Siphon on their hand, just like Azriel and Cassian. But only one each. Cassian and Azriel wore seven each. With my powers I could sense why these males wore only one: they were not anywhere as powerful as the two Illyrians of Rhysand's Inner Circle, but I could still feel their raw power simmering in them, very different from the feeling of the power of High Fae.
"We went to the human lands where we met Jurian. Another old prisoner of your mother," Rhysand sounded with a disdain at those last words which distracted me from the terrifying Illyrian warriors. "He works with Hybern, but only to destroy them from the inside. He told us of their plans for tomorrow. They will be attacking at sunlight, but I'm sure we will win with the information from Jurian."
I nodded as I shifted my gaze to the nature that surrounded us. We were in Spring Court, close to the borders of Summer Court. Neither of which I had ever set foot in before. Even though we were in Spring, the heat from Summer was creeping up on us. The heat was overwhelming, already causing me to sweat slightly. How were anyone supposed to fight in this heat? Most of my life had been spent in the cold cells of Under the Mountain - I was not accustomed to these temperatures. "How many High Lords will be there?" I questioned him.
Rhysand shifted beside me, putting his hands in the pockets of his pants. He sighed. "I don't know. Probably none since this is a surprise attack. But Keir might come with his Darkbringers. I think we succeeded in convincing him… or forcing him," he said, curling his lips into a cruel smile. By the look of my face, he explained, "He's Mor's father, but I'm sure you know better than anyone that doesn't equal a close family bond."
So - I could focus on Rhysand and perhaps a few Illyrians, tomorrow. And Feyre if she was fighting as well. With these few weeks of practice I was quite confident that I could manage that. However, this Keir… Just by the sound of his so called 'Darkbringers', he didn't sound like someone I wanted to meet.
Rhysand led me through the war camp and into a big tent where I found the rest of his Inner Circle gathered along with his mate. On the way to the tent, he told me how the camp was glamoured from the outside such that Hybern would not see the Illyrian legions.
A new face met my eyes when we stepped into the tent. A sweet, innocent face - quite similar to Feyre and Nesta. But her eyes were swollen and filled with a sorrow that looked as if it would never fade. Perhaps this was Feyre's sister, Elain, that she had told me briefly of. Who had been Made like Nesta - and then mated on by some male, Lucien. I looked away from Elain to give her some privacy, but I wondered what might have caused her swollen and puffed eyes. She looked like she had been crying the entire day.
"Oh no, Hybern is going to run away screaming if you're fighting with us tomorrow," Cassian bellowed as he, along with the others, noticed Rhysand and me entering. "Hello, Iris," he winked at me.
I laughed at his words. A strange sound that I didn't let out often, but this informal playing with Cassian was something I truly enjoyed. The world was too serious. "And you'll be leading the race, I suppose?" I thought of one of my first day in Velaris where Cassian had got a taste of my powers.
The Inner Circle laughed. Even Nesta couldn't hold back a faint smile that truly lightened up her face. My eyes fell on Azriel who had laughed along and who was pushed lightly by Cassian, trying to make the laughter stop. I thought of the night before; of our conversation on the balcony. The pained look in his eyes that were usually left emotionless. In addition to this, I could have sworn that I had been sensing something deep down the entire day. Hurt. It was very, very faint, but it was there. Something that didn't originate from me - much to my horror. But what did originate from me was a weak aching need to soothe these feelings of pain.
The laughter died and was replaced with war strategies and battle formations. I let Feyre show me where I could rest for the night and after that I was just about to take a seat next to Nesta, but she was occupied with Elain who had begun to sob silently in a corner. I didn't want to disturb so I went back to the small secluded area of the tent which Feyre had deemed mine. I lied down, staring up at the ceiling of the tent and listening to the soft voices of the High Lord and the commander of his armies. However, it was the almost silent sobs and rushed breath of Elain that lulled me to sleep.
…
I woke before the sun had risen the following morning. I was not the first one to be up, though. When I left my small room and walked into the main area of the war tent, I found Rhysand and Cassian dressed in fighting leathers and going over some plans again. Had they even slept tonight? I wondered. If they had, it was probably not any better than I had. My head pounded slightly from a night with very light sleep; nightmares of a strange, powerful king that I was supposed to help kill, but who instead tortured me and laughed at me for being too weak. I could still hear that cold, malicious laughter in my head as an echo.
Rhysand and Cassian were too busy to notice my presence - they were too busy for a few hours. It was only until Feyre joined us that I was sent a petty smile. I didn't blame her or the rest of them for that matter. She looked nervous, probably feeling that war had finally crept up on us. "Good morning," she said to all of us and went over to embrace her mate. The strong look they exchanged made me look away. So full of love and longing - longing for a time without war and battles. A deep part of me envied this bond between them. Not necessarily the mating bond, but their love for each other. It could overpower anything.
The rest of the morning went by with preparing the last few details and the Illyrians warriors readying themselves and their deadly weapons under the already hot rising sun, before Rhysand finally lifted the glamour, revealing the army to Hybern who had been marching towards the border.
I stood on the top of a hill with Feyre, Nesta and Morrigan to my side looking out onto the view before us. The air was filled with bloodthirsty Illyrians each equipped with a gleaming Siphon and deadly weapon. Under them, the so called Darkbringers held position. I couldn't figure out who looked more deadly. Both were terrifying. The instant we saw the full size of Hybern's army, I knew that we outnumbered them. Largely. But had we not been there - had Summer been left alone to deal with this… It would have swiped them out. When the Hybern soldiers closed in, I could depict at slight fear on their face beneath the surprise of our presence. They had not expected us to be here, and now they had probably figured out the odds, too.
I instantly set to work. I went in, finding that inner power that simmered to be wielded, waiting to be let out to play. I imagined it materialize; silver threads, only visible to me, that curled through the air, dancing towards their target. When they reached their mark, I could feel Cassian and Rhysand through this bond I had created. I was familiar with Cassian and I knew he was strong, but Rhysand was something else entirely. A dark, eminent source of power that made me shiver and reminded me of the day in the mountains where I had tasted them. I could still feel his talons scraping on my mind when I thought back to that day. I straightened my spine, readying myself. Then, I sent a small gift to the males through the bonds: a fraction of my power for them to use.
When Hybern first attacked, I held the bonds in place, continuing to send them power while being careful not to give them too much. It was all about balance; too much would throw them off, maybe even kill them. The training with Azriel had prepared me for this. I had both practiced how to create several bonds, but also how to maintain them, a stable source of power. But the dark, winged male who had been my trainer didn't receive anything from me. He never had.
I had told Rhysand previously this morning that I would only send power to him and Cassian. That I didn't dare a higher number of people in case I would falter, risking sending too much. It would be as easy as stepping wrongly with your foot, accidentally twisting an ankle. Just one moment of losing focus and they would lie dead on the battlefield. It was the excuse I had told Rhysand - and myself. But perhaps some part of me also feared creating any kind of bond between myself and Azriel. I was just too afraid to admit it to myself, scared of what it might mean.
I followed the battle with my eyes, especially keeping track of Rhysand, Azriel and Cassian. Whenever one of them was in the slightest of trouble, I held my breath for as long as it took them to kill their opponent. I could feel Feyre and Morrigan do the same. Even Nesta as well. However, each of them was a skilled warrior and they took down Hybern soldiers and commanders one by one, making it look as if they had been born to do nothing else.
It took hours before the battle was concluded. Many fallen soldiers, both on our side and Hybern's. And even more wounded. The High Lord of Summer, Tarquin, took care of the rest of Hybern's soldiers, except at few who claimed to have information on Hybern. In other words, he drowned the soldiers on dry ground. I had to look away from their terrified faces as they crawled around, clawing at themselves while small bubbles of water leaked from their mouths.
"This is torture," I spat out and looked at Feyre as if I excepted her to stop it, but this was not her lands. Her eyes told me such; that she agreed, but it was not in her power to stop it.
"I know," was her response. "I know."
But the victory was ours, just as we all had predicted mere hours ago. Hybern had lost this one and many good soldiers. The king had not shown himself, letting his pawns fight and die for him without his guidance. It was cruel, really.
A/N: Things will start to get more exciting next chapter so stay tuned! Thanks for all the kind reviews :)