RHYSAND

I absolutely adored Feyre. Her plan to use Alis as a messenger to the Summer Court was brilliant. I only had to pass that plan on to the rest of my Inner Circle. Soon-she would be back here soon.

I was getting increasingly worried about Feyre's use of magic. Jurian and the King weren't stupid, they could sense the magic use if they ever went into the dungeons or art studio, like how Jurian had sensed her daemati powers in Tamlin's mind. I could only hope that she would be able to get out before they found anything linking her and the magic.

Before I went to the House of Wind, I went to pick up Nesta, per my promise to Azriel.

"You're late," She snapped at me.

I sighed. "You do realise there's a no winnowing boundary right, so I have to trudge through the snow to get here."

Nesta shrugged," Guess we have to just walk out of that boundary too."

I winnowed her to the House of Wind, feeling that flying should be a privilege saved for Cassian and her.

She stumbled a bit after winnowing and snatched her hand out of mines.

"Still not used to travelling by magic, Nesta?" I chuckled.

She merely snarled at me.

"We couldn't have taken the ordinary way?" She asked.

"We could have if you wanted to but you would have made the trip up ten thousand steps on your own," I said, starting the walk to Cassian's room.

"You fae and your useless traditions," She muttered under her breath.

"I'm actually half fae and half Illyrian. Cassian and Azriel are full bred Illyrians," I told her.

"And how are Illyrians different from fae?" She asked, no hint of curiosity behind her words, just pure neutral.

"They're not different, Illyrians are still fae but… I'm going to let Cas answer that question for you. Let that be a little incentive to calm him down," I said, stopping outside the door to Cas's room.

She snarled at me once more, giving me a glare that could kill. "Ladies first," She said to me.

I liked her fire. I strode into the room, with Nesta following behind me.

Nothing had changed much since the last time I had been here, except now Cas was grovelling in his bed, not on the ground. Destruction once more surrounded him, bits of glass and wood and several other materials littered around.

"Rhys, can't you just leave me alone? And that was cruel of you, going into my head to render me unconscious," He snapped, flinging a lamp at the side of his bed at my face.

I caught it and turned it into dust. He snarled at that trick and tossed his head back, running his claws down the wooden headboard which resulted in more wooden splinters.

I winced at the sound, and Nesta sighed, going over to him and she slapped his hand on the headboard. "Stop that," She demanded. "It's hurting my ears even more than your pathetic wailing."

Only now did Cassian notice her. "Nesta? What are you doing here?"

And just like that, the beast that had been in him a few moments before disappeared.

"Calming you down, apparently. Rhysand told me how badly you were taking your loss of wings but I never realised how horrible that meant. And so please stop flinging things around, I think it's pretty tedious to clean all that mess up," She said.

He sat up, still looking unsure on what to say. "Nesta, I-"

"Save it. How long have you been moping around like this?"

"A week," I supplied.

They both turned to me with glares similar to the one Nesta gave me a few moments before, which clearly said No one asked for your damn opinion. I took that as my cue to leave and so I did, finding Azriel at the side of the door.

"We were right," I told him, shutting the door behind me.

He nodded his head as if to say of course we were and tilted his head at the shut door. "What else did you come here for?"

"Well, other than that brilliant spectacle, I also came here to pass down the plan Feyre came up with to get the alliance we need with the Summer Court and also to get her out."

I told him what Feyre had told Alis and Azriel managed some swear words out at what Tamlin had done to her friend.

"I've never liked that High Lord," He snarled.

"None of us ever have," Cas's voice rang out.

I was surprised at his sudden recovery, mainly in attitude. He now looked like he normally did, except his wings were now bandaged, which I supposed Nesta had helped him with, who was now at Cas's side.

Mor and Amren were at the back of him, walking towards us.

"Feyre deserves to kill him," Mor said.

"And I'm going to help her in that department," I said with a snarl at the back of my throat.

"We all will," Amren told me, "She's also our High Lady after all."

xXx

It had been three days since Alis was supposed to be in the Summer Court and all of us were getting agitated. No word had arrived yet.

"And they say Tarquin's the desperate one," Mor was lounging on the couch as I walked into the hall.

"No, that's what I said," I told her, pointing a finger at myself.

Mor gave me a look and returned to flipping through the book in her hands.

Az winnowed in a few moments later, and once again, his shadows dimmed a little as he caught sight of Mor. They had been playing this little game ever since Mor's family dumped her and she and Cassian had gotten intimate, and you could clearly tell they were in love. But I wasn't stupid enough to get into their business. Feyre had always been the one to do that.

I'm not calling you stupid.

I reflexively said into her mind if she could hear me, but only managed to hit her walls of adamant. I had warned her about my suspicions of her using her magic so much and she had shielded herself so extensively since these past three days that there had been no words shared between us, save for feelings of comfort and love passed through from me to her and her to me.

"This note was sent to the Night Court just a few hours before this," Az handed me it.

I read it out aloud, "The Summer Court wishes to invite honoured guests from the Night Court to a dinner tomorrow, to further discuss the political matter. Tarquin."

"What, no RSVP? Dress code?" Mor mumbled.

"Did your scouts notice anything in the Summer Court?" I asked Az.

"Only when Alis was brought in with the two children," He replied.

"Well. At least we finally have news from the Summer Court. So. Cas's not going he's too injured for that AND he was banned a while ago. Amren's not going as she's the only one who can take care of the book and not go mad around it. So which one of you wants to go with me?" I turned to them both, giving them a choice.

They both turned to look at each other and something other passed between their looks. If Feyre were here she would definitely have noted that to me.

"I'll go," Mor decided.

Az looked like he was about to disagree, and closed his mouth at Mor's next words.

"Don't say anything about that Az. I'm not using your recently healed wound as an excuse. I'm Rhys's overseer and the Morrigan so I should most probably follow him, and Amren and Cas would be here so there would be nothing for me to worry about, with the added fact that they would trust me more as I speak the truth. You, on the other hand, still have to watch oversee your network of spies and investigating the courts for any activity. So I'm going with Rhys and that's that," She said, looking pleased with herself.

I nodded at that. "Alright then. I'll just go check up on Amren and Cas to tell them."

"I'll handle Cas. Amren made another discovery in the book I think, you should go talk to her," Mor stood up.

I told her my thanks and went to Amren's room.

She was already waiting for me.

"Mor told me you found something in the book?" I asked her, leaning against the door.

"It's not exactly a key to breaking the Cauldron and its spell but I thought this was important. There's this mention of the Cauldron in here and who can actually wield its power," She told me. "It says this exactly, 'Beware of the darkness that lurks in its abyss, for the unworthy who yields it will fall to their darkest hours. Only the true of Erinyes will send it to its breaking, have it never return.'"

I pondered over those words. Something about the Erinyes sounded familiar. "Weren't the Erinyes deities of vengeance or something in the Greek folklore of the mortal realm? We had books like that in the library, I remember reading something like that once."

Amren stilled at my words, and something told me not to go further on the issue. "Maybe you could ask Nesta or Elain on that." She said to me. "Anyway, it seems like whoever doesn't have the proper powers, or enough power, to control the Cauldron and use it will go mad."

"And so you're saying the King has enough power for that?"

"Or he's slowly going mad but doesn't know it yet," She suggested.

I took that as something to think over and also go over with the rest of my Inner Circle once we got back from the Summer Court tomorrow. Hopefully, I would be able to negotiate with Tarquin and get those blood rubies off the three of our heads, while securing an alliance. Something told me if the alliance would mean help in not bringing down the wall, it would be slightly easier to get the former off.

The next night, I dressed in my dark tunic, similar to the one I had shown Lucien when he had tried to take Feyre away that day in the forest. Unruffled and fine, a show of the power that laid underneath.

I met Mor in the townhouse foyer, and she was dressed in a sleek black dress with billowy sleeves, which sparkled like the night sky when she moved. The dress brought out her golden blonde hair quite nicely, although she would probably hit me if I said that to her face.

"Ready?" I held out a hand to her.

She merely rolled her eyes at me and was gone. I had grown accustomed to winnowing Feyre everywhere and had almost forgotten Mor could winnow there on her own. Almost. Sighing and smiling at the same time, I winnowed after her.

The Summer Court hadn't changed in the least. Adriata still looked the same, with palaces and buildings of many turrets and spires and the smell of the fresh, salty air, coming from the ocean and waters surrounding us.

"Welcome once more to Adriata, Rhysand," Tarquin greeted me warily.

I noted a slightly different woman standing once more with the crowd that greeted us. Alis, perhaps? Varian was also there, and I noted a little relief and disappointment in them-that Amren hadn't come this time around, I presumed.

"I see you've brought your cousin this time," Cresseida was once more at the side of Tarquin, greeting us with more scepticism.

"Yes, Mor this is Cresseida, Cresseida, I'm pretty sure you know this is Mor." I introduced them both to each other, no titles needed. However, the way I introduced them to each other made it seem like Cresseida was of a lower status than Mor, and you could see it in her eyes that she had taken note of that.

After the rather awkward reunion session, we were all ushered into the same dining room in the shell-flecked palace like the last time. Only this round, there were no pleasant talk, only cold and calculated discussions.

The wine was poured by the servants, and I was suspicious that this time around it could be poisoned, due to the blood ruby on my head. I checked mines and Mor's with my magic, and there was nothing harmful in the wine, to my relief.

"Alis here has just returned from the Spring Court and she is the reason you were all brought here tonight. If you would please, tell them the message Feyre gave you," He instructed Alis, who was the woman I had deemed different at the introductions.

She didn't seem timid or shy, but rather confident. "She instructed me to tell Lord Tarquin to meet with the Night Court to discuss the matters of the blood rubies and told me it should be done as soon as possible as war with Hybern would be imminent on the Summer Court and the Night Court. She had heard that Hybern was planning to take over the Spring Court to gain better access to this court and therefore easier to take down, and that it would be better for both courts to work together than to be at such unease among the other. She also said that her being there at the Spring Court was forced, that she had no other choice to and that her mind had not been taken over by the High Lord of the Night Court, and that what the High Lord of the Spring Court did was rather dominant and possessive of him."

Just right after that, the first course came, or rather, the appetizer, a lovely lobster bisque.

The information given was just enough to ensure that Tarquin knew that Feyre's trust was placed on him, but she also managed to keep facts about her own self and our court (Like the fact that she was the High Lady of my Court) hidden so nothing would be endangered. And by the Cauldron, of course what Tamlin did was dominant and possessive, if Feyre had not wished it herself I would have wanted to be the one to end him.

"And so what of that? She wants us to work together. I'm pretty sure my assumption on your hesitations on that is true," I said, rather lazily, stirring the bisque half absently.

Cresseida spoke out at that. "And would you call us out to be stupid for having these hesitations? You stole the half of the Book of Breathings from us, which was entrusted to the Summer Court to protect, and injured our guards in the midst of it."

"Your part of the Book of Breathings was needed in apprehending the King and destroying the Cauldron, which threatens to diminish the peace between the fae and the mortals. They already hate us enough as it is, what would they say once more to us walking over there with nothing stopping us from doing so?" Mor asked.

"We do not wish to destroy the wall, Morrigan. Our hesitations now are on your theft. If we asked you to return that half of the Book, would you?" Tarquin inquired.

I paused at that. Cresseida saw that as the answer that had been expected and jumped out at me at that. "Do you see now? An alliance with a court that cannot return what is ours, does not want to return what is ours, what good will it do for us?"

"You know that it is needed for the defeat of the King. If we had asked you, though, would you have freely given the book to us?" I shot this back at her.

She looked like she would rather throw a book at me than answer me. Thankfully, Tarquin answered for her, motioning for the servants to bring in the second course, which was a watermelon salad, for goodness sake.

"You have a reason behind stealing the book, we understand that. And we do want the alliance between us, believe me, we do." At this, Cresseida shot him a look of warning-to not go any further from where he now stood. He still continued, "But you must see it from our side too, you have stolen from us one of the most, if not the most, important relic that has been given to us to protect, and refuse to give it back, and the blood rubies on you would show a poor act if we were to ally with you."

"Why do you refuse to give it back?" Cresseida questioned me.

"The Book has been merged with the other half. Now, my second in command has it in her possession, and she is the only one, I believe, that can read the book and possibly uncover the secrets inside it to use against the King. So no, I cannot separate the book from her to give to you," I told her.

"You've merged the book with its other half? And its secrets, how do we know you will not use it for your own purposes? I-" Cresseida looked like she was going to implode, squishing one of her watermelons on her plate with her fork.

Tarquin once more stepped in. "Then let me negotiate with you. On a show of good faith, I will remove the blood rubies and bounty on your head for an alliance with you, if your second in command would come to the Summer Court and stay here, so we can keep an eye on her when she has the book and technically have it once more back in our possession, and whatever she finds will be shared with us."

I suspected that he, Cresseida and other members of his council would have a hearty talk about this afterwards. And the deal was a good deal, one that would benefit both courts. A removal of the bounty for the book, and for an alliance between the two courts. And for the last step-

"One more thing," Mor drawled, looking at me.

Cresseida glared at her. "What else do you want? Everything is in your favour, and this would only mean you owe us."

"No, Cresseida, it would not. I would like to request for your court to be able to allow my mate to cross your borders and stay here when she releases herself from the Spring Court. In return, the alliance we secure will stay, even after the war." I said, even though my 'request' sounded more like a demand.

Tarquin did not refuse me that. Nor did Cresseida, who was silent at the mention of Feyre, but it was most probably more because she had been abused by Tamlin and needed someplace safe to get out and it would seem like a bad show of hands if she refused than her actually feeling sorry for my mate.

The main course came afterwards, which was a quite delicious seafood pasta, and then dessert, which was a very finely decorated chocolate cheesecake, with political talks and some pleasant talk here and there.

Mor and I left the Summer Court, myself feeling accomplished and that Feyre would be pleased. We now had an alliance and an imminent war at hand. I now had to make sure the armies were ready, and most importantly, get my mate out safely from the Spring Court.

Hey guys! Sorry this chapter took longer to post, I wasn't at home today so didn't get the writing finished from yesterday. Also, I am now on Instagram! My username is thehighfae, do go check it out! Don't forget to send in reviews and give this story a follow J thanks guys, and I hope you enjoyed the story so far!