"What in father's name has happened here?" I asked my sister as we stepped from our warm shoreline to a brisk afternoon in Velaris. I turned to look at Maia as her long hair whipped in the wind. She glanced around the street until she met my stare.

"Selene, must you be so vulgar always? Not all live as we do. Please let's just go find the high lord so we can sort this ordeal out and head home. I don't want to be away for long." She said flatly with a slight edge as she said high lord. As much as she drove me mad, we shared an understanding of the land here and how the "high lords" ruled.

I rolled my eyes and slightly shook my head. I watched as she spun around and pointed her chin toward the manor where the high lord lived. We had not visited the land in near 700 years, but she knew fondly where the ruler resided. She had at one point frequented Velaris and considered the high lord her consort. I knew it pained her to be here, but there was simply no other choice than to visit as we knew the looming danger that sat for these lands.

I glanced around and saw shops filled with patrons and smelled sweet baked goods very near. My love for a sugary morsel was never satiated even after 1000's of years on this earth. I caught Maia's arm as she started to head in the direction of high lords home.

"Maia, I-" I stopped as she put her hand up to me knowing what I was thinking. I had long tired of the fact that we shared a mental bond for each others thoughts.

"Selene! There are things of far greater importance than filling you sugar fixation!" She hissed as her eyes narrowed at me. I could feel the heat radiating off of her thoughts to scorch me.

"You are simply boring. Ten minutes won't bring upon the impending doom that you are so worried of." I lazily told her. Of all of the powers that I possess, my favorite was my ability to so deeply annoy my sister that it set her into a complete disarray. In truth, I loved seeing her fair skin radiate red with anger. She always was impeccably even natured and the only time I saw real passion was when she was infuriated and I simply had a knack for it like no other.

"It may," she said with finality, but the uptick of her voice as she trailed off indicated an undertone a fear. I couldn't blame her, we had encountered what was coming across the sea time and time before as it swallowed up lands, leaving nothing behind but darkness.

I followed to meet her in step walking toward the home. I never understood why she chose to walk around as if we were mortals, but I did not protest as I could tell Maia not only had grown tired of my antics, but also felt her dread as we continued on.

"Have you peered in on him?" I asked after a long silence. We were nearing the entrance to large pasture in front of the home.

She whipped her head so quickly to me with a face of disbelief. "I have not done that in over 500 years! Why would you even ask that of me?" She seethed, her voice reaching a pitch that I only knew bordered both anger and embarrassment. Behind the fiery emerald eyes I could see a twinge of pain, but as she read my face and saw my hands raised in peace knowing that I did not mean harm by it I saw her soften.

"I have not peered in on him as he asked not to do so long ago. I do not know what has become of him. I can feel his blood here though." The hurt in her voice was clear to me, but I did not make comment even though my heart hurt for her. While she felt pain stepping on this land, I only felt unbridled rage. I hated her lover. I cursed the ground he walked on, but Maia forbade it. The hurt he had caused my twin set forth some of the deepest darkness that lived inside of me. I did not want to be here, regardless of the sweet treats that could be found a short distance from here.

Abruptly, four winged warriors dropped from the sky as we stepped closer to the front door. Three russet skin men and one fair skin women with tattoos stood before us. I watched as the woman pointed a bow at my sisters heart. While my sister nor I flinched at these individuals, knowing that with a blink of an eye they could be made into whispers on the wind, I could smell the fear behind their eyes. I saw a woman walk from behind them all too familiar.

"Maia. Selene. It's hasn't been long enough. What drug you from Tartarus to meet with us today?" Amren purred with distain as she locked eyes with me. She was entirely too correct in that it had not been long enough. The companionship that we once shared while we both lived in the cosmos for a short time was cut very short as she was brutally yanked from existence.

The group lowered their weapons abruptly, hearing the knowing tone of Amren and staring at the being in confusion.

"Who are you and what do you want?" One of the warriors barked at us.

"They are the princesses of the underworld." Amren said flatly. I felt my mouth tick up into a smile hearing the words that she used to describe us. Looking from her, the warrior in the middle seemed commanding and looked very familiar, but different in a way that I could not put my finger on.

"We are not the princesses of the underworld," Maia directed toward the one in the middle, not even glancing at Amren. I could feel that she knew something that she was not sharing with me as she stared at this immortal. "Where is the High Lord. We need to speak with him about matters of concern."

The immortal in the middle momentarily looked confused, but this quickly faded back into stone as he stared at us with eyes that likely set fear into the hearts of those that resided only on this planet. As I quickly glanced over all of them, he was stunning. It started to eat at me as to what I could not point out about him that seemed odd. I noticed that the female warrior shifted closer to him as she caught my gaze.

"He is the High Lord." One of the other males growled, making me smile and let out a breathy laugh.

"No, where is-" my sister began as Amren cut her off.

"Dead."

I could feel my sister's dread that fled so quickly that no one other than an immortal like ourselves would have detected. We both quickly shifted our eyes from Amren to the warrior in the middle. That was it. He wasn't the High Lord that we were seeking, but I saw it in the cheekbones, nose and the frame of the man, it was his bloodline continued.

"I am Rhysand, the High Lord of the Night Court and this is Feyre, High Lady of the Night Court." His voice tense. "What business do you have here?"

I waited for my sister to speak. I typically did not do the dealings with other entities. I was too brash as she would describe it, but I could tell for the second that she did not speak that it was my time to fill in as the liaison on bad news.

"I am Selene and this is Maia. You are not who we had expected, but it has been many years since we last visited the lands of Prythian. Unfortunately, we come with less than ideal news about a growing threat for these lands. My sister had a soft spot for the High Lord that reigned here nearly seven hundred years ago, otherwise we would have let you all fend for yourselves." I mused in a calm and almost sultry tone. I sent a wave of relaxation toward all of them and quickly watched as their muscles relaxed and faces softened.

"And where do you come from with this knowledge?" Rhysand mirrored my tone, but directed his gaze toward my sister.

"The underworld." Maia said with little emotion.