It had been only a few weeks since i'd returned Feyre to her springtime cage, and yet every cell in my body was aching in her absence. Her mind had been quiet. I prayed this was because she kept her shields up rather than because of her diminishing mental state.

I was in the middle of sparring with Mor when I heard it. Screaming- Feyre's screaming- filled my mind. Mor stopped her arm mid punch and stared as the blood drained from my face and I was paralyzed by fear.

"Rhys? Rhys what's wrong? Is it Feyre?" Mor asked, shaking my shoulders in horror.

The sound of her name cleared my head, and I searched through her mind to see what had happened.

"Tamlin locked her in his manor," I growled.

Mor's fangs flashed in anger.

I leapt to my feet to winnow to the Spring Court when Mor clamped an iron grip on my shoulder.

"You can't go Rhys, you know the law. You go and you start a war that no one needs right now," she says softly, anticipating my fury.

"DAMN THE LAW," I roar, pushing my third out of the way. "You don't understand. This will break her...she can't be imprisoned again it will break her soul. Please," I begged.

"I'll go, Rhys. I will go right now and I will get her out of that fucking Court, but you must stay here"

I had never hated the limitations of this forsaken position more, but I trusted my cousin.

"Go," was all I told her, as I annihilated the shield that bastard held around my love.

With a nod, she disappeared.

After thirty minutes of pacing back and forth along the border of my territory, Mor appeared looking as angry as I felt. Both relief and a fresh wave of anger flooded through me as I beheld a thrashing, screaming Feyre In her arms.

I growled viciously, unable to contain myself.

"I did everything by the book," Mor said, placing Feyre into my outstretched arms.

"Then we're done here," I seethed, winnowing home as unconsciousness took hold of her.

I set her down gently on the couch in the living room, unable to keep my eyes off her face. She looked so young in her sleep, almost like the child she should have been before Prythian destroyed her simple mortal life.

I fell into the armchair across from her, exhausted, but never once taking my eyes off the shell of a woman asleep before me.

I sat there for hours as she slept, unable to calm the anger I felt towards the High Lord that had tried to cage her.

I was glaring at the Mountains, fantasizing about skinning Tamlin alive, when I heard her breathing change as she awoke.

I looked towards her, relieved that she was alright.

"What happened?" she croaked. Her shields were down, and her thoughts floated to me. My voice is hoarse. Like i'd been screaming.

"You were screaming," I answered aloud. "You also managed to scare the shit out of every servant and sentry in Tamlin's manor when you wrapped yourself in darkness and they couldn't see you."

She gulped. "Did I hurt any—"

"No. Whatever you did, it was contained to you," I replied.

"You weren't—"

"By law and protocol," I said, stretching out my stiff limbs, "things would have become very complicated and very messy if I had been the one to walk into that house and take you. Smashing that shield was fine, but Mor had to go in on her own two feet, render the sentries unconscious through her own power, and carry you over the border to another court before I could bring you here. Or else Tamlin would have free rein to march his forces into my lands to reclaim you. And as I have no interest in an internal war, we had to do everything by the book."

"When I go back …"

The thought of her going back made my head pound, but I said

"As your presence here isn't part of our monthly requirement, you are under no obligation to go back. Unless you wish to."

I wondered if she could see how desperate I was for her to stay.

"He locked me in that house," she managed to say.

I spread my wings out behind my chair and stared, "I know. I felt you. Even with your shields up—for once."

She met my stare. "I have nowhere else to go."

It was both a question and a plea.

Attempting nonchalance, I replied casually. "Stay here for however long you want. Stay here forever, if you feel like it."

"I—I need to go back at some point."

"Say the word, and it's done."

I meant it, too. I would never trap her here.

"I made you an offer when you first came here: help me, and food, shelter, clothing … All of it is yours."

I thought of our shared aversion to handouts and adjusted my words.

"Work for me," I added. "I owe you, anyway. And we'll figure out the rest day by day, if need be."

She seemed to contemplate this, before declaring "i'm not going back".

The words sparked a flicker of hope in me.

"Not—not until I figure things out." She added, shivering against the cold air.

I summoned a mug of hot tea and handed it to her. "Drink it."

"Rest a day or two, Feyre," I told her. "Then take on the task of figuring out everything else. I have business in another part of my lands; I'll be back by the end of the week."

I turned to go, fighting the instinct to take her with me to keep an eye on her and show her my beloved city. She needed rest.

"Take me with you."

I halted at her words as I pushed through two purple gossamer curtains. And slowly, I turned back. "You should rest."

"I've rested enough," she said, setting down the empty mug and standing. "Wherever you're going, whatever you're doing—take me along. I'll stay out of trouble. Just … Please."

I could hear the desperation in her voice that she fought to hide.

For a long moment, I said nothing, knowing that she could destroy everything I fought to protect if I took her with me. I wanted her with me, though. Wanted her to see the only part of my soul worth seeing.

"If you come with me, there is no going back. You will not be allowed to speak of what you see to anyone outside of my court. Because if you do, people will die—my people will die. So if you come, you will have to lie about it forever; if you return to the Spring Court, you cannot tell anyone there what you see, and who you meet, and what you will witness. If you would rather not have that between you and—your friends, then stay here."

"Take me with you," she breathed after a moment. "I won't tell anyone what I see. Even—them."

The fact that she wanted to be with me made me smile.

"We leave in ten minutes. If you want to freshen up, go ahead."

"Where are we going?"

My smile widened into a grin. "To Velaris—the City of Starlight."