FEYRE
The nightmares returned after the trip down to the dungeons. Seeing the cells there had reminded me so much of my own under the mountain, and these past five days had been a whirlwind of them. After Rhys's warning, I shielded my mind against his and was thankful I had done so, or he would have known about the nightmares.
I hadn't been prepared for the first one. The first night, I had slept, feeling haunted by the cells but not knowing I would be sucked back into a nightmare. I awoke from Amarantha's torture once more and thank the Cauldron I wasn't in Tamlin's room that night but my own, for I had barely enough time to grasp my surroundings before I vomited on the floor.
The second time it had happened, it was just like the times when I had returned from Under the Mountain. I raced to the bathroom, and spilled my guts out into the toilet bowl, hand clumsily feeling for the flush. I braced myself on the sides of the toilet, feeling nausea. There was no one there to hold back my hair this time, I was on my own. The third and fourth night were exactly the same.
And just a few moments before, I had awoken from one and now laid my head on the window after racing to the bathroom, recalling my nightmare and shuddering. It had been different this time, I had been in Hybern this time around and not Under the Mountain.
I watched my sisters being forced under once more. Elain once more rose from the ground, skin glowing, face made into something more beautiful and her ears once more pointed. Nesta was roaring out again, and soon it was her being forced under, the King once more looking unnerved at the finger pointed at him. She came out different, I could sense it, and that wasn't the real nightmare.
The true nightmare started after that, when Amarantha walked into the room, alive and well, not dead or mangled after what Tamlin had done to her. My heart skipped a beat, Rhys's arms around me tightening, Tamlin's face pure shock and anger, which mirrored everyone else's other than the King and the guards.
I could almost hear the thoughts in everyone else's mind, she put a curse on the whole of Prythian, she enslaved us all, she made a whore, she killed Feyre, she killed me. How was she alive?
She glanced at everyone else briefly before setting her eyes on me and Rhys. Her lips curled into a snarl at the sight and scent on us both, revealing to her that we were mates. Then, turning to Jurian, she looked as if she was about to leap on him and tear his head off but the King spoke.
"Amarantha, do come here," The King crooked a finger at her, while smiling at everyone's expressions.
"From everyone's expressions, I can tell you all are wondering how this woman beside me is still alive. I'm pretty sure you killed her quite successfully Tamlin, but I just thought Jurian would need some incentive to be better, and to pit them against each other, so I brought them both back to life," He grinned, "And also, of course, to help me end you all."
"No," I breathed.
Amarantha looked to the King for permission to speak. He nodded and she smiled and strode over to me. Rhys glared at her and she merely laughed, flicking her hands at me, separating us both and pining me to the wall, choking me. I gasped for air, and fought against the invisible bounds binding me up in the air as she walked closer to Rhys, who snarled at her and said, "Let her go."
"Brave much, Rhysand, without the curse lying on your head. Of course, you are once more without your powers. And you liar. You cunning, stupid, liar, lying to me that you did not care about her, hiding from me your little city of starlight and your friends who would break you if I so much as touched them," She sighed in disappointment.
Tamlin leaped at her, once more aiming to kill her but was stopped by the King's powers. "Hurting Feyre was not part of the deal!" He yelled.
The King sighed, and motioned to Amarantha. The bonds on me pinning me to the wall suddenly vanished, and I collapsed to the ground, although I still could not move to Rhys or to my family, and my sisters.
I could only watch as she forced Rhys's wings open, binding him so he could not move like me, and she looked over to Tamlin. "Would you want to do the honors?" She smiled.
I could only watch as he came forward, and screamed at him to stop, to not do what he was going to, screamed when he placed a hand on both of Rhys's beautiful wings and ripped them, my screams a mirror image of his own screams, and Mor's screams, and Cas's and Az's roars of rage at the sight of Tamlin destroying the wings of their High Lord's. The blood that rushed out was much more than Cas's had been, and I realised with horror that Tamlin had not only just torn his wings like Cas's but completely ripped them off from his back, and I realised once more with horror that Amarantha truly wished to and was going to kill them all.
Rhys collapsed and the binds on me vanished, and I raced to him, only to be grabbed by Tamlin's bloody hands, and they pulled me to the other side of the room, far away from my family. I grew desperate and brought my right knee up between his legs, causing him to collapse in pain.
And then-then, the King drew up the poison in Azriel to his heart. He roared in pain, and Mor-sweet Mor, cried put with him as another arrow was shot, hitting her in the chest, a mirror to Az's wound.
And as for Cassian, he was brought to his knees by multiple guards, some which he threw to the wall and killed, and more which he slashed out at and bled to death. However, it was too clumsy as he was weak and wounded and outnumbered, and soon an ash dagger was plunged into his chest, Nesta and I screaming as it happened.
I locked eyes with my mate, dying on the ground, and his hopelessness, grief, rage, and sadness mirrored my own's. Amarantha then appeared in front of me from all this bloodshed and raised my chin up with her pointed fingernails. "This is all your fault," She hissed at my face, triumph behind her words. "You should have died that night."
I had believed it was, right before I woke up, face streaked with tears and the sheets once more aflame and ruined. The nightmare had been so vivid I had believed it to be real and panicked when I awoke before returning to my senses.
Now, looking out at the night sky, I recalled what I had felt yesterday night through the bond. Rhys had felt victory at something, and wariness and the mask of the High Lord before that, so I could assume that it meant that he had managed to get the alliance with the Summer Court-which meant that I could escape there. It had nearly been two weeks since I was here and if I was already feeling so trapped and helpless, I should get out of here as soon as possible, if not to get back to my court then for my health.
The morning soon came, and I watched as the sun rose from the forest, its blinding light beautiful and powerful at the same time. I was much too afraid to go back to sleep, it had once more become my enemy and my fear.
I let the servants dress me again, this time in a pale lilac dress, which had sequins that overlapped like fish scales. The dress ended at knee height at the front and continued downwards to swish around at the back of my heels at the back, yes heels, simple black heels with a buckle. I hated the outfit.
I was surprisingly the first at the breakfast table. And then it didn't turn out to be such a shock as Tamlin walked in with the King and Jurian. What, did they stay here at the mansion now, due to their many frequent visits?
Lucien didn't come in after them, which left me suspicious. Lucien followed Tamlin everywhere (not like a lap dog, more like a friend in the pretense of a bodyguard). But I didn't say anything about it. Yet. I merely ate my food in silence, noting a weird tang in the water. I stopped eating when I realised they were all watching me, not touching their food.
"What?" I asked, putting down my fork.
The King shrugged. "Nothing. Although we would like to know your feelings regarding that Tamlin has just handed partial control of the court over to me."
I almost choked on my water. "What?" I repeated.
Tamlin looked slightly remorseful. "Why would you do that?" I spluttered, shaking my head.
"It was part of the bargain, Feyre, I had no choice," Tamlin said in despondency.
"What partial control then? What control does he have over your court?" I demanded.
"Well, I do have control over all his armies, training, war plans, information, connections, the political powers whatnot, and also control over his lands and what I plan to do with them. Tamlin still has control over his own people, there's that, and he still goes through the social and environmental parts of his court." The King drawled.
I could only shake my head, and chastise myself for thinking he could have at least thought of his court before his deals or bargains or overprotectiveness of me.
"Jurian does have something to ask you, if you would please," The King was looking pleased with himself.
"Feyre, I would very much like to know why you've been hiding your powers from me since the beginning of our training. Your mind powers are the only thing you do not hide, and that's only because I could sense that you had them," His eyes flickered over to Tamlin and back to me and he grinned. I could practically see the blackmail in them.
Disobey or lie and your High Lord will know the truth of what you did to him.
My fists clenched underneath the table and I knew I had to get out now, today. "And how would you know that?" I asked, making the question seem like it was out of boredom, like it was nothing.
"You are a High Fae with the powers of the seven courts, did you really think it was imaginable that someone like you would have no progress in what, one week? It was impossible for that to be true, and I felt like you were hiding something from me in every answer you gave, every attempt you made at using your magic," He
"Is that true?" Tamlin asked me in a soft voice, "I understand you might not want have wanted to train or learn your powers, but if Rhys had forced it upon you and you don't want to go back to those times you should have told me, told us."
I almost retched at the thought of that. He still believed I didn't want to train? I had told him after returning from the first week of Rhys's bargain that I had wanted to, but it had been him who had banned it for me, refusing to teach me and threatening Lucien if he ever thought of wanting to even try to train me. But to get myself out of this predicament, and to not make it seem too much of a lie, I went with what Tamlin gave me.
"I-You're right. He did make me train, he unlocked those powers from the seven courts. But…" I hesitated, looking down, as if trying not to recall harsh moments, "He did use some… various methods in getting me to open up to use those powers."
I looked up and saw that Tamlin was close to transforming into the beast he was. He growled and said, "I'm sorry, Feyre, I should have come sooner. If she doesn't want to train, she shouldn't."
"Oh, she won't need to train. Since she's already accustomed to using those powers of hers, we can start with her… help in what you agreed to in the bargain, Tamlin." The King said simply.
Tamlin looked like he was going to tear someone's head off-but said nothing. Why should he, it was his decision, his bargain and he wasn't going to budge but force me off to do this.
"Where's Lucien?" I asked, trying to change the subject.
Tamlin stiffened at that.
"He's preoccupied at the moment," Jurian replied.
Tamlin looked at the King as if to say
Let me tell her the truth.
The King sighed and nodded, while Jurian was now the one who looked like he wanted to tear someone's head off.
Tamlin took a breathe and looked at me while speaking, "There was a slip in the servant's quarters relating to how we lost the Summer Court and it seemed like Lucien was involved in it. The Summer Court had been very important to us and that we get them on our side but our sources have said that they are allied with the Night Court, which means that they are now our enemy," He looked lost when he finished.
Fear and guilt filled me. "What does that mean?" I breathed.
"Lucien has been imprisoned. He will be sent back to the Autumn Court tonight," Jurian answered for Tamlin.
I was horrified. This was because of me, Lucien had told me where to find Alis and I had told her what to do to get the Summer Court back on our side. "He's your friend!" I exclaimed, staring daggers at Tamlin.
"He's a traitor to this Court, by the Cauldron, he helped our enemy!" Tamlin spluttered.
"So all those years of him being your friend, all those years where he stood by you, you're throwing all that away. And back to the Court where you said you saved him from, where his family killed his mate and forced him to watch. You're sending him back to where his nightmares lay!" I yelled.
"Calm down, Feyre. And what do you care?" Jurian drawled.
"I care because he's my friend too. Not like you would know, you wouldn't have to have any friends, would you?" I snapped at him and pushed back my chair. "Excuse me while I leave. I need some time to process all of this," I said, not holding back the sting in my words and left.
And as I strode down each hallway, I knew it was up to me, and only me to get out of here with Lucien, no other help at all.
