A/N: Hello my dudes. It's been a hot minute. I am now three years older than I was the last time I posted and I've since moved on to different obsessions. So here, please have my version of Rhys and Feyre's first meeting from Rhys' perspective in ACOTAR. Enjoy!
"There you are. I've been looking for you," My voice cut sharp through the clearing, halting the ministrations of the lesser Fae as I steadied the fiery girl in my hands. Mixed feelings of glee and irritation cut through me at the fear in the eyes of the trio. I could see little more than their eyes through their bird masks, but the fear there was unmistakable.
They had heard the rumours; seen the way I had conducted myself throughout the past century. I smirked for good measure, letting a bite of venom show through.
"Thank you for finding her for me," I continued. I wrapped an arm casually around her shoulders, feeling her soft body stiffening beneath me. Watching the trio in front of us, however, my smirk turned malicious – hungry. "Enjoy the Rite."
Unsurprisingly, they turned and fled.
Stepping out of from beneath my grip, I was finally able to get a good look at the human. I had heard whispers regarding her entry to Prythian, but I had dismissed them. I'd had more pressing things to concern myself with.
Like keeping the Court of Dreams out of the clutches of the evil Amarantha.
And yet, here she was, the girl from the rumours.
Glaring up at me with fire in her eyes, stone setting in her heart, was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. I felt the attraction like a blow to the gut and stilled completely as I drank her in greedily, not at all different from a man dying of thirst.
I did not dare to let this internal turmoil show, dare my face betray me to the fae surrounding us. Instead, I pasted a smirk to my lips, appearing as arrogant and self-involved as the world believed me to be.
"What's a mortal woman doing here on Fire Night?" I asked, genuinely curious. Surely Tamlin will have warned her of the dangers. Surely, he was not so irresponsible.
"My friends brought me." She stepped back, her shifty eyes telling me everything I needed to know.
Anger roared through me, surprising me. What did I care for this slight human girl under Tamlin's ward? I scarcely clung to the hope that she would be the one to free us from Amarantha's grasp as the rumours suggested. Internally, I scoffed, choosing not to ignore the emotion.
"And who are your friends?" I asked, the smirk from earlier still frozen to my face.
Apprehension lanced through me at the possibility of letting this guise slip. Of letting people see.
"Two ladies," she lied again, barely able to look me in the eye.
"Their names?" I slipped my slightly trembling hands into my pockets and moved closer to her. Desiring to be closer to here, for reasons I could not fathom why, and yet for every step I took closer, she moved further away.
"You're welcome," I said. "For saving you."
Her stare turned defiant, and yet she appeared to be ready to turn and flee.
She reminded me of a fox, with her tawny hair and fearless attitude; step too close, however, and she would turn tail and flee.
"Strange for a mortal to be friends with two faeries," I continued, moving still closer, circling around her. Inspecting every inch of her. My, but she was delicious. "Aren't humans usually terrified of us? And aren't you, for that matter, supposed to keep to your side of the wall?
"I've known them my whole life. I've never had anything to fear from them." She returned, her bravado strengthening as she stepped into her own. I paused, smiling, contemplating her response.
"And yet they brough you to the Great Rite and abandoned you."
"They went to get refreshments," she spat at me. Oh, but she was delightful. She was bold and beautiful. No wonder Tamlin rarely left her side.
"I'm afraid the refreshments are a long way off," moving closer, I caught the trail of her scent. She smelt like pear and lilac on a warm day. Delicious, I repeated to myself once more. "It might be a while before they return. May I escort you somewhere in the meantime?" I offered, holding out a hand for her to take.
Oh, but now she looked afraid. Why did that sting? "No," she responded thickly.
"Enjoy the Rite, then." I waved a hand toward the bonfire. Toward the chaos. "Try to stay out of trouble."
I made to move on. To head back to the revelries.
"So you're not a part of the Spring Court?"
I turned back to her, watching with interest as several different emotions warred on her face. I offered up another smile, equal parts disgusted and intrigued. "Do I look like I'm part of the Spring Court?" I scoffed. "No, I'm not part of the noble Spring Court. And glad of it." I waved a hand toward my face, the lack of a cursed mask showing my loyalties. Or lack thereof.
That wasn't to say I wasn't wearing a mask; it was just not one that she could see.
"Why are you here, then?"
Fixing a steeled look on my face, I stepped closer to her once more. "Because all the monsters have been let out of their cages tonight, no matter what court they belong to. So I may roam wherever I wish until the dawn."
Despair and anger slowly started to build inside of me. In spite of all of the arrogance and all of the façade, I truly was a monster. And she would know it, I would make sure of that. And it had appeared that she was beginning to catch on, I noticed, as she slowly took a step back.
"Enjoy the Rite." She hurried off, her golden hair flowing behind her, leaving in her wake nothing but the faintest kiss of her delightful pear and lilac scent. I breathed deeply, letting myself savour the sweetness for only a moment longer.
Though I swore to myself I would never see her again, her charm and her beauty had me hoping that I would.