A/N: Once again, a big thanks to my Betas – infernas81 and inuverse.
I hope you enjoy the latest instalment. Please R&R.
Chapter 7
I was under orders to spend the day in bed due to my 'funny turn' yesterday. The healer had said that Thesan had told her I had to stay there until he arrived tomorrow. Rhys wanted to come but the others pointed out they had it in hand and there had to be someone in Velaris at all times. Rhys was adamant until Mor pointed out that it was a nice break having us separated as we didn't put her off her food!
Alis had taken it upon herself to monitor my compliance, Elain was keeping me company and Cassian wouldn't leave my room from the moment I woke up and just kept fussing around. He was seriously bugging me, and I threatened to set Nesta on him if he didn't stop.
As the day wore on I got more and more bored. The others made a big thing of coming to see me and keep me 'in the loop' with what they were doing. Lucien and Amren came to say that all the Courts had responded and accepted the invitations; all the High Lords would be coming. They also reported that whilst the initial conversation with Tamlin was tense – Lucien told me he'd trashed the arms of his chair with his claws – it had gone as well as could be expected. I was worried about Lucien seeing his parents, but when I tried to talk to him he said he was fine and left. Amren said he was going through a lot at the minute but she and Azriel would monitor the situation for me. Mor was busy sorting last minute preparations and Azriel and Nesta were with the Illyrians, making sure they knew their orders.
I begged them to let me get out of bed for dinner; I even told them I'd sit at the table in my pyjamas, but Cassian refused despite Elain and Alis considering it.
"Come on Cass!" I whined, "I'm bored! Just let me go downstairs and eat."
"No can do," he said, shaking his head, his arms folded and feet up on my bed. I threw my head back on the pillow in exasperation. "Careful," he warned, "you don't want to spend tomorrow in bed too, do you?" He smirked.
"No," I answered sullenly, glaring at the canopy above the bed.
"Or maybe, you DO want to spend tomorrow in bed," he laughed. "After all, tomorrow is Calanmai and Rhys will be here!"
Alis clicked her tongue, "I think you enjoy hearing yourself talk, don't you?" she asked Cassian. He threw his head back and roared with laughter.
"You don't know the half of it Alis," I mumbled.
After dinner the others returned to the room. Despite my protests I was still forbidden from leaving my room and I was getting frustrated. Elain sensed this, so she disappeared from my room and returned with Amren, Nesta and Mor. She then informed Cassian that we would be discussing female related problems, and he was welcome to stay if he wanted. His face visibly paled, and he tripped over his feet trying to get out.
"His clucking driving you that mad?" Mor asked. I nodded. Mor sat on the edge of my bed and addressed the others. "So, what we going to talk about?"
Elain let out a little cough and started raising her hand. "Ermmm, I did want to ask you all something…." She began. We all looked at her, waiting for her to continue. "I wanted to know about mating bonds and being with a…..a male."
None of us were prepared for that! Mor seemed to recover her wits first. "Well, being with a male can lead to you being in a situation just like your sister is now in," she told her factually. I stuck my tongue out at her.
Amren looked at Elain, "you know you only have to accept the bond if you want to, and you shouldn't feel pressured. The bond will be there until you formally decline it." Elain nodded.
They continued talking about bonds and sex, with Mor getting more and more graphic with the details, much to Nesta's annoyance. I withdrew from the conversation for a chat with Rhys, all the talk of bonds made me remember when I finally accepted ours, and now I really was missing him being here with me. Somehow I must have let a mental image slip of what Mor was currently describing to Elain and I caught Rhys' amused tone during our chat. Then I heard a roar of laughter, that could only be Cassian, from the other room.
"Hey Az," came his booming voice, "the females are talking about sex. Shall we go and tell them from a male point of view?"
Elain looked like she wanted the ground to swallow her as we heard footsteps coming towards our door.
"How does he know?" Nesta hissed to us, just as there was a knock at the door and it swung open to reveal a gleeful looking Cassian. "What are you doing here?" she asked him frostily.
His grin grew even wider. "Well, sweetheart, Rhys told me what you wonderful ladies were discussing in here and I thought you might need a male to tell you all about it.…if you think it won't damage your delicate sensibilities!"
Nesta regarded him, folded her arms and stared at him. "No, we don't. Now leave."
"Don't be like that Nesta," he said, putting his arm around her. She went rigid at his touch. "I just wanted to make sure you weren't bad mouthing males in here and to offer my help."
"We don't need your kind of help, Cassian," Mor told him. She was about to turn away, "hold on, how did you know….." Her eyes widened as she realised. "Feyre! How could you?"
I held my hands up. "I'm sorry. When we were talking about my bond, Rhys could feel it and he obviously ratted us out." I pulled my blanket over my head to hide my shame.
Mor threw her hands up in despair. "That's another thing, Elain. Mated couples share a bond with each other."
Elain was puzzled, "I thought Feyre and Rhys could talk to each other because they're both daemati."
"All mated pairs can communicate with one another," Amren started to explain, "but Feyre and Rhys – being daemati – can communicate with anyone."
"Enough of that now Tiny Ancient One!" Cassian said, "we don't need to hear about our fearless leaders and their weird and wacky abilities and sexual exploits. I mean, I don't need to hear about how all that paint ended up all over the table in the cabin again."
"He told you about that?!" I blurted out – throwing back the blanket – before I could stop myself.
"Ewwww, Feyre! We eat our dinner at that table!" Mor shouted out incredulously. "You know what? I can't listen to any more about what my cousin and my best friend got up to in our cabin!"
Cassian was roaring with laughter. Pulling my blankets over my head again to hide my embarrassment I decided to ignore the others in my room.
Rhysand, you are a total prick! I shouted down the bond to him.
He had the nerve to laugh at me. Rhysand? Are you angry, Feyre darling?
You ratted our conversation out to Cassian…..and you told him about the cabin!
In my defence, he is my brother, and there was a lot of alcohol involved when I told him about the cabin. Your conversation is just so funny and seeing as yesterday you disciplined an Illyrian Captain for not including females, I thought you should include the males that are there with you. You don't want to be a hypocrite, do you?
I slammed up my shields to block out his incessant laughing – I'd make sure he suffered tomorrow! Listening from beneath my blanket, I could tell they'd moved on from talking about sex and were discussing Calanmai instead. I removed the blanket and lay there listening.
"Now you've decided to re-join us, maybe you'd like to tell me and Elain that what she said," Nesta indicated Mor, "is true, and why you're going along with it!"
"I'm sorry Nesta, you've lost me."
Tutting, she responded, "this Calanmai thing….that, that it's all about having sex." Cassian sniggered, and she shot him a look that could kill. "Mor said it's to do with replenishing magic."
"Yes Nesta, it's true." I turned to Mor, "what did you tell them about it?"
"I explained what it's all about; that during the Great Rite, Tamlin will become the Hunter and hunt a white stag as a sacrificial offering and when he's done that he'll go to the cave and pick a Maiden to complete the ceremony with, and then after that we can all…..partake…..in replenishing the magic, if we want to."
"Exactly! Why are you participating in such a thing?"
"Nesta, firstly, it's the culture of who and what we are and where we live now. Secondly, it's expected of me to participate and thirdly, you don't have to do anything! If you want, you can stay here in our rooms or Amren can take you back to Velaris when she leaves tomorrow morning."
"I'll think about it," she responded.
Clapping her hands together Mor said, "it's late, and tomorrow is going to be a long day. I suggest we all get an early night." Everyone nodded, and they all – except Elain, who was still staying with me – filed out my room after bidding us goodnight.
The door to my room banged open and Mor barged in, "up, up, up! Busy day today." She walked over to my trunk at the end of my bed and threw the lid open. Elain and I both stretched, blinking furiously.
Yawning, I tried to focus on her, "you do know that Calanmai isn't until tonight, right?"
She waved away my protest, "of course, I know that! But, the High Lords will be here at some point this morning, and Thesan sent word that he'll be here in about an hour to see you."
Groaning, I tried getting onto my side, so Elain had to push from behind as Mor pulled. Thesan knew about what had happened a couple of days ago, and I was in no doubt that I was in for a telling off. Alis entered my bedroom, heading straight for the bathing room after bidding us good morning, and I heard her start running the bath. I made my way to the glorious bath that was awaiting me.
After I'd finished in the bath I found that Mor had laid a day dress out on my bed for me. It was dark purple at the bottom, getting lighter as it went to the top, with black lacing at the back, and capped sleeves. She had also set my jewellery out; the necklace of black diamonds that Tarquin had given me on my visit to Summer and my black and white diamond diadem that had once belonged to Rhys' mother. Alis helped me get ready, and once dressed she sat me at the dresser to put my hair up. Just as she was placing the diadem in my hair, the door knocked and opened, and Cassian walked in.
"Thesan's here and Tarquin will be here in about half an hour," he informed us. I nodded as Mor walked into my room with Thesan right behind her.
I got up and walked over to Thesan, who gave me a hug, then he pulled back, so he could appraise how I looked. "Looking radiant, Feyre," he told me, "although, you look like you've seen better days."
"Funny," I deadpanned. He shrugged his shoulders and laughed.
"Oh, come on, you have to admit it's funny." I think my glare told him otherwise, as he held his hands up in surrender. "Ok, ok, I can see you're not at the finding it funny stage yet. Tell me," he said, gently gripping my chin with his thumb and forefinger and gently twisting my head side to side, "why didn't the healer get rid of these cuts and bruises?"
"She was worried about doing too much because my magic has been off."
He nodded. "I think she was worried to be looking after you, seeing as I'm in charge of you."
"In charge of me?!"
He waved of my concern, "you know what I mean. Anyway, let's get you all checked out and I'll get these healed up, so you look beautiful for tonight….and for Rhysand!" he added with a wink.
After Thesan checked me and the baby out and healed my cuts and bruises, the three of us left my bedroom, and promptly walked into Cassian who stood right outside the door with his arms crossed across his broad chest.
"You locked me out," he growled at Mor, "you know the rules – I'm supposed to stay with Feyre, and I want to make sure the baby is ok."
Patting his well-muscled chest, I told him, "we're both good, Cass. Besides, Mor was with me, so quit worrying so much." I made to push him out the way and he yielded with a grunt; there was no way I'd have gotten him to move otherwise.
I sat down in the main room whilst the rest of my Court finished getting themselves ready. Thesan said he'd see us later as he left to get himself ready. Cassian threw himself down next to me and almost threw me off the sofa. "So?" he asked, looking at me. My blank face made him continue, "you said you were good, I take it you're now allowed out of bed?"
My beaming smile put seemed to put him at ease, "yup! I have to behave – especially no fighting! – but otherwise everything's fine." As I put my hand on my bump I could see the movement beneath my dress. Cassian's face was full of joy. He nodded his head towards my abdomen, and I knew what he wanted. "Fine," I told him. Next thing I knew one of his gargantuan hands was playing chase the kicks. When Mor noticed, she squealed, ran over and smacked his hand away so she could feel. Amren then insisted she should check the movements for herself. Nesta huffed that as she was going to be a 'real' Aunt that she should have priority. Elain sat quietly, watching everyone intently. Azriel drifted over surrounded by more shadows than normal. Lucien watched amazed by the fuss.
"Ok, seeing as your all here now, can we get a move on please?" I said, batting all the competing hands out the way. This was met with grumbles and pouting in the case of Mor.
I stood up and motioned for the rest to form up. I stood at the front with Cassian and Azriel at either side, their crimson and cobalt Siphons seeming to glow brighter than normal. Mor was right behind me, with Nesta on her left and Amren on her right. Behind them came Elain and Lucien, who had offered his arm for her to hold. I looked back at my entourage, gave a nod, then my Warriors opened the doors and we left the suite, ready to meet the other High Lords.