Author's Note: Okay so this chapter was supposed to be much longer (there was supposed to be an entire extra scene) but I just got so excited about the *cough* special guest *cough* that I HAD TO POST THIS ASAP. So here you go friends!

He made a spectacle of my exit, swinging the door open without moving a muscle to reveal the two guards who'd dragged me here. Rhysand waved a lazy hand at them from where he stood, far from where I now stood in the large bedroom. "She accomplished her task. Take her back."

They grabbed for me, but he bared his teeth in a smile that was anything but friendly - and they halted. "No more household chores, no more tasks," he said, his voice an erotic caress. Their yellow eyes went glazed and dull, their sharp teeth gleaming as their mouths slackened. "Tell the others, too. Stay out of her cell, and don't touch her. If you do, you're to take your own daggers and gut yourselves. Feyre is mine, now. Understood?"

Dazed, numb nods, then the blinked and straightened. I hid my trembling as my mate wielded his magic before me for the first time. Mind control. Apparently powerful mind control, even in his reduced state Under the Mountain, since they beckoned for me, but did not dare touch me.

Rhysand smiled at me. "See you at dinner, Feyre, darling," he purred as I walked out.

I nearly grabbed for one of the guards when we reached my cell and there was already someone inside. They stood at my back, idly watching the hallway as I walked through the iron door. I didn't move far from the door, choosing to stick to the farthest position I could find form the stranger. Had the guards not seen the blonde woman? How could they miss her?

She stood with a regal grace I could never have copied, her blonde hair crashing down her shoulders like golden waves. She commanded the tiny cell as if it were a great hall filled with guests and party goers. An unpleasant party, judging from the sneer on her gorgeous face.

They wouldn't have doubled me up in this cell. There was only one sleeping mat and no way two could fit on it. Besides - who wanted to be locked in a room this small with a potential criminal?

The iron door slammed behind me and we were alone.

I watched her like a caged animal. The door at my back, I checked the miniscule space for any element that could help me if she'd come to assassinate me.

"So," she said, her voice delicate and soft. "You are Feyre."

I didn't let my face reveal a thing, instead I pressed my back against the door praying the guards would hear her unfamiliar voice and slide my exit wide open.

"A human girl, mate to the most powerful High Lord in the history of this continent."

My heart was pounding in my ears and I felt in my chest for the bond to reach out for Rhysand. He needed to flee if we'd been found out. If Amarantha knew…

She could already have him.

Anger bubbled in me and the amulet answered, coming to life with is magical heat.

"Relax," she said. "I'm not here to kill you."

I clenched my jaw, considering. Even if she wasn't here to kill me, she didn't exactly seem harmless. But if she wasn't a foe and knew of our bond… "Are you…" I trailed off, unwilling to expose the name of one of Rhysand's beloved.

"I am Mor," the High Fae before me replied. "I'm here to check on your progress."

"My progress?" I asked.

"You're rescuing Rhysand, correct? At least that's what Azriel told us after Rhys let him out of the carriage where you abandoned him in the Spring Court."

Mor - this was Mor. Rhysand's cousins. They looked nothing alike, except maybe for the fact they were undoubtedly the two most beautiful beings I'd ever laid eyes on.

I swallowed. "That's true."

"So, what's the plan?" she asked, and I could feel the condescension coming.

"I'm going to kill Amarantha," I said, my voice tight.

She tilted her head to the side. "Hm, and how do you plan to do that mortal?"

"I- I don't know," I admitted.

She looked off to the side as if pondering something difficult. "You don't know? Interesting how Rhysand put the fate of his life and his country, his court and his people, in the hands of a girl who doesn't know how she's going to murder an immortal force that captured the continent. Don't you find that interesting?"

"We know what we're doing," I seethed. "If we wanted your help we would have asked for it."

"We? You and Rhysand are a we, are you?" She took a step toward me. "Rhysand is my family and we have been a team for hundreds of years before you were ever born, human."

"Did you come here just to yell at me? Whole lot of good that's going to do to help him, isn't it?" I spat, refusing to back down. I avoided nudging the bond, raising the alarm to Rhysand, but I let the awareness of its presence, taut within my chest, fuel me. "I know he hasn't spoken to you in decades. I know you miss him and I know you deserve to have him back. I also know how desperately he misses you. And Amren. And Azriel. And Cassian. I know he misses his home and his people. I know. I'm not going to screw this up, so if you could kindly mind your own business and get the hell out of my face, I'd appreciate it."

Neither of us looked away as heartbeats passed. My nostrils flared as heavy breaths paraded through my lungs, pumping with adrenaline.

Finally, a slow heart stopping smile pulled across her lips. "I think I'm going to like you, Feyre." She took a step back.

"You shouldn't be here," I told her. Rhysand would tear the mountain down stone by stone if he knew Mor was anywhere near Amarantha.

"Neither should you," she countered.

"That's different and you know it."

Her smile only grew. "I've always wanted a sister, you know."

My eyes fell flat. "Yeah, well, me too," I grumbled. I felt so far from Elain and Nesta now. They had never wanted me, never really appreciated me. Even Elain's dry comforts were hollow. Surely family meant something more than the scraps they'd left for me over the years.

"Do you have family?" she asked quietly.

I looked in her eyes, warm and inviting. Gone was the calculating heiress.

"I did, but we were never close."

"Your parents?"

I looked away from her, wishing there was a window, even one with bars, just so I could see the sky or hear the birds sing. "My mother died when I was young. My father lost all of our fortune and became crippled in the process. I do have sisters - two of them - but it wasn't until I came to this side of the wall that I realized the way they treated me. They're older than me, but I was charged with feeding them, clothing them, providing for them… Never to receive a thank you… Not even a hug…" I trailed off, lost in thoughts of painting our old kitchen table and the dresser my sisters and I had shared. They'd probably burned them all since I left.

"That's not what family is," she sighed before continuing, "at least, I've learned that's not what it's supposed to be like. My parents hated me. They wanted to sell me… For my virginity. I was an asset, not a daughter."

My own pain was mirrored in her face in such a vulnerable way that I looked away, down to my tattooed arm. I traced the whirls and turned over my palm to greet the tucked away eye.

"Rhys gave you that?"

My eyes darted to hers, but she was carefully inspecting the ink from a distance. "Yes. It's our bargain."

"Your bargain?" she asked, still looking at my hand.

I considered telling her about the amulet - about the way it had healed me and Rhysand was only trying to cover for its displaced magic. But the way he had refused to speak of it…

"He's aiding me in my trials for Amarantha in exchange for spending one week of every month with him."

She tilted her head back and let out a strong laugh.

"Oh, holidays, too," I added, letting a smile play at my lips.

Her laughter grew and she pulled up a hand to her stomach.

"And I'm supposed to hug him periodically," I disclosed as soft giggles escaped me despite myself.

We laughed together and something clicked in me. I could do this. I could really do this. I could get us out of here. I would get us out of here and we would go back to the Night Court with Mor and Azriel. I would meet Cassian and Amren and we would share dinners and stories and laughter.

Lots and lots of laughter.

I wasn't sure when the tears started falling from my eyes, but Mor kept a sweet smile on her face as she settled herself, watching me.

She knew it, too.

"I should probably go," she said finally.

I nodded, leaving the trails of wetness on my cheeks for her to see. I would not brush these tears away.

"I'll see you at home, Feyre."

And then she was gone in a whisper of shadows.