Chapter 466

"Doesn't make sense, does it?" Cassian asked, and just about every pair of eyes in the room turned to look at him. "Why would we send Az to spy on our allies?"

"That is precisely the question I would like answered." Helion replied, amber eyes returning to Rhys.

"Perhaps we should return home." Rhys sounded colder than Elain could remember hearing him before, and she didn't like what that might mean.

"We're family." She said, sitting forward a little, and forcing Nesta to remove the arm barring her from the rest of the room. They were all looking at her now, and that had always somewhat unnerved her. All those eyes, all of those powerful beings who were important to Prythian, who were in charge of so many lives and events. She had never wanted that life or that responsibility, and it made her uneasy to see them all awaiting what she would say. "Our two Courts." She went on. "We are connected, and we are family." She looked at Rhys, "The High Lady of the Night Court is my sister." She said, eyes moving to Feyre, "A bond that won't ever be broken. Nesta, too, lives in the Night Court." One of her hands moved to her sister's arm beside her, "I am irrevocably connected to the Night Court by blood…" She looked then to Lucien, "And my Mate is the Heir to the Day Court. There is no greater connection than The Bond." She couldn't help smiling at Lucien, "My life and my future, our lives, and our future is here in the Day Court. My mate has found his family here…" She looked to Helion, "We are connected."

"So I had believed and hoped." Helion replied softly, "I was under the assumption that our family ties would mean an unwavering alliance." He blinked, looking at Rhys. "I had thought there was trust."

"And I had thought that we were beyond insulting accusations like this…"

"You're denying it, then?" Lucien asked, and Elain could feel the heat simmering beneath her mate's skin. His heartbeat had increased in pace and now thundered in her head.

"This is not…" She didn't know what she wanted to say, what she needed to say, to make them stop this. Elain did not know how to deescalate the situation, but she knew that something needed to be done. "Lucien…" He glanced at her, but the heat from him only increased. It looked as if his very skin was beginning to glow with that inner light they were only just beginning to understand. This was nearly beyond words now. Out of the corner of Elain's eye, Helion appeared to be getting to his feet, and Elain was about to do the same thing. Maybe she could get between them before something too dramatic or stupid happened…

"WE HADN'T HEARD FROM ELAIN!"

Every pair of eyes in the room turned toward Feyre. The High Lady of the Night Court was still sitting in her chair, her hand now tight on her mate's knee as if trying to keep him from getting to his feet.

"What?" Lucien asked, tone carefully neutral.

"We hadn't heard from Elain." Feyre said, and Elain could hear the defensiveness in her sister's voice. Beside Elain, Nesta sighed, sinking back in the seat, her posture not perfect for once. "Usually, we hear every few days." Feyre went on, clearly trying to explain what she had meant, "When we hadn't heard for longer than usual… I… asked Azriel…"

"To spy." Lucien finished, voice clipped. "You asked the Shadowsinger to spy on the Day Court."

"That was not how I intended it…" Feyre began, "I just wanted…"

"You don't always just get to do whatever you want, Feyre!" Lucien snapped, and there was no way that everyone in the room didn't feel Rhys' reaction to that tone.

"You do not speak to my wife like that."

Lucien appeared to ignore him, still looking at Feyre, both his russet and golden eye trained intently on his friend. "I'll bet it didn't even occur to you what you actually asked for…"

Feyre was clearly pissed off now, too. "I did not ask Azriel to spy on the Day Court." She said, voice icy, "I asked him to check that my sister was alright." She sat a little straighter, "He came back by mid-morning with news of mass funeral pyres…"

"You know what the normal, reasonable, action would have been?" Lucien just about snarled at her, "Writing a letter." He blinked, "Or, better yet, just coming to visit her to see how she was."

"I…" Feyre shook her head.

"You went straight to sending a spy…" Lucien narrowed his eyes, looking at Feyre intently. "What is wrong with you?"

Rhys was on his feet then, Feyre following him, holding onto his arm tightly.