I couldn't remember a thing, how I got here, my name, anything. The last memory I had was a book and its events. As I read it, thought about it, and pondered, I could never put my finger on how familiar it all felt to me.
It was like someone had reached into a world I had lived in before and pulled this story out. The Fae, the cauldron, it just felt like home. I wrote it off as a longing for something different. That was it.
The trouble was, I was on the back of a horse with a giant golden-haired wolf walking next to me. If this was the case, then I was placed somewhere in the beginning of the story. I tried to think of anything that could be positive about this, but there wasn't.
I grabbed my hair though bound hands, kicking my feet like a mermaid. "Damn the heavens." I was tied tight. I lost my balance atop the white mare, falling to the ground and hitting my head.
I rubbed my head. "Who could possibly sleep though riding in such a terrible position. That's bad for your back, and breathing. Did you know that if you start suffocating in your sleep, your body will jerk you awake?"
The wolf growled; a metallic tang flooded my mouth, and it went black.
I awoke again, this time there was lush green grass to stare at. The rolling fields of beautiful greenery was a sight to behold. Behind me a golden gate was closing and at the front, a beautiful mansion of white marble and beautiful stone paths.
I rolled off the horse, losing my balance backwards and falling on my ass.
Hands and feet were still bond. I rolled my eyes. "I won't run, I mean how could I? I have no clue where I am and how I got here." My hands and feet were let go, I stood following him.
He strolled up the path, his front double doors swung open, welcoming him inside. I followed the beast down the hall and into a dining room. The long table looked like it was meant to host large parties. This Fae had money, and a lot of it.
He plopped in a chair, it growing as weight pressed in it. The man shifted into a golden-haired man, with a golden mask covering his nose cheeks, and brows. He looked young, but he was well over five hundred years old.
What is that smell, is that me? God, could I not shower first? I smelled horrid. He must be able to smell me. If I could smell me then he could smell me.
"Sit, eat." He motioned for me to sit at the table.
I did, thinking too how I ended up here. I willed those thoughts forward.
Feyre kills that wolf, he comes looking. That's right. I am here because Feyre has already started the movement. I am stuck here with absolutely no skill. So, the wolf is Tamlin, high lord of the Spring court.
Another person was sitting at the table. This must be Lucian, finely dressed in a tunic of silver, he too, wore a mask. Incased in bronze with foxlike features. He stretched a bow, sitting next to Tamlin.
I ate the food in front of me, not questioning it. I knew it's not bad, and I know he won't kill me. He needs me alive.
"Well?" Lucian asked.
"Well, what?" His head cocked to the side, more animal than human.
"Is Andras dead, then?"
Tamlin nodded, "I'm sorry."
"How?"
"An Ash arrow, the treaty led me to the mortal, and I gave her safe haven."
"A girl?" Shit that's me, I sunk back. "A mortal girl actually killed Andres." A statement rather than a question. "And the summons found the girl responsible."
He let out a low laugh. "The treaty led me right to the doorstep."
"You're kidding me, that scrawny thing brough down Andres with one arrow. You're joking." I felt bad, not guilty, I technically did not do it.
"She admitted to it, she did not try to deny it." One long claw was scrapping against the table, I reminded myself I was fine, but the sight was unnerving.
He sank into the edge of the table. "Well," He seethed. "Now we're stuck with that, Thanks to your useless mercy, and you've ruined. Did you enjoy killing my friend, human? Did you hesitate or was the hatred in your heart ridding you too hard to consider sparing him. It must have been so satisfying for a small mortal thing like you to take him down."
My mouth gaped like a fish, I had all kinds of things to say, but I did not know how or where to start.
"Anyway, perhaps there is a way-"
"Lucian" Tamlin said quietly. "Behave."
He stood, "My apologies, lady. I am Lucian. Courtier and emissary." He gestured to me with a flourish. "Your eyes are like stars, and your hair like burnished gold."
He waited for me to give him my name. I didn't wish to use her name, I had one, I just couldn't remember it just yet.
"Her name is Feyre. Alis will take you to your room. You could use a bath and new cloths."
There was a hand on my elbow, and I flinched. A rotund brown-haired woman in a simple brass bird mask tugged on my arm and inclined her head toward the open door behind us. Her white apron crisp and clean above her homespun dress.
I followed the servant girl. I could hear them argue. They were mad I was the one to kill Andres and that the cauldron gave them a shitty hand. Lucian was alright with dumping and killing me.
Tamlin growled at that. He wanted to make sure all other moves were exhausted first. I was safe for now; it was not a treaty that was specific to the wall and killing. It was the terms and conditions that had to be met to free himself, not the mountain.
It was only to free his people, not the power held on him. What would he be able to do with all his power back? He was not that special in the authors eyes; Rhysand was the male lead later.
When anyone is put in these situations, they never get what they really want. I sighed in the bathtub, Alis washing my hair for a second time, still pulling dirt out. It felt nice to be clean again.
If all this were true, I wouldn't see him till the mountain. There was no way I could love Tamlin either. I did not like him when I read it the first time through. I would not like him now. One thing I did know, I was going to die if I went under the mountain.
The sad part about it was, I had no idea how long exactly I had until the pivotal moment. If I did nothing, then they all would suffer under the mountain for an eternity. Not just that, but the human lands would also suffer.
Everything in the book happened for a reason. I took the scissors from Alis, tying my hair up in two ponytails. One in the front and one in the back in a very high pony. I chopped almost eight inches off, Alis eyed me widely.
When I pulled it out, she ran her boney fingers through it, smiling. "It looks good, humans have all kinds of tricks.
I plucked my own eyebrows. Tears formed and rolled down my cheek, but I fixed them to not look like two wilted fussy caterpillars.
She smiled a little, holding up a pallet of colors. "Can you do make up too? Would these due?"
I looked them over. "Yes, I can do something with these."
From a light beige to a medium brown and black, I faded it all from one color to the next. I could do more with more color, but this was good enough. I lined the eyes and rolled my eyelashes out.
"We thought you a barbaric woman, but it turns out you're not completely animal like."
I said nothing, as I slipped the dress on. There was no use in fighting these things, I had to pick my battles. I already knew there was little things they could tell me.
The blight was Amarantha, and Tamlin had a real heart of stone. The only thing I did not have going for me was experience in hunting. Feyre, while the main character, was good at it, I was not. I think…
Some of those brought to another world had muscle memory, the body remembering how to move. I don't know how true that is or if it was necessary for the plot. One thing was for sure, I had to stop looking at this like a book and start seeing this as my new reality and go with it.
I searched out the library, my hope was the language was similar. I pulled a book down, cracked it open and was highly disappointed. The words looked like scribbles. Feyre was illiterate.
I closed my eyes, the words sounded different. I only understood because it was her native language. Maybe the muscle memory was a real thing. The only way to truly test it was to try with a bow and arrow.
Later I thought, putting the book back. I would need to keep all my thoughts straight. I skimmed around the library, looking for anything to write with and paper. It was not long before a found a desk with a partially written journal.
The contents I could not read, I had no idea to the importance. I skimmed further. Taking a small stack of empty paper, an ink pot, and a decorative golden feather pen. I felt bad for taking this pen, but nothing else.
I carried everything to my room, sat at the desk. "Alis, could I get some needle and thread?"
"Of course, but, what for?"
"I am doing an art project."
She left, I began folding the paper in stacks of ten, pointing five holes down the middle. When she returned, I stitched it all together. It had no cover, but this was all I needed.
"I would like to be left alone if possible. If only for a short time."
"Of, course." She bowed and left.
I know my language was not her language, and I wasn't sure what there's was called, but I was happy knowing I had at least this much memory from my previous life. I used numbers and abbreviations as well as acronyms to encrypt it as much as possible. Spelling words without vowels and using a little Latin.
I put important details in this makeshift book, added side details about the important ones. The characters, their roles, how it all came together. I especially wrote all the things from under the mountain. The wyrm, I would have to face it if she deemed it necessary. The wyrm, I would have to face it if she deemed it entertaining.
The answer was love, but I would need to play my cards correctly to get what I wanted. That was to, at a minimum, free all those under the mountain. I familiarized myself with all the lingo, like blight, and sickness on the land.
As I wrote, I worked on hardening my mind, buy that, I meant keeping it clear or filling it with random thoughts like images or dumb conversations. I was human, having a wall up around Rhysand would be nearly impossible.
Empty thoughts, that's not a hard concept, but for a random mind like my own, it would be nearly impossible. Random thoughts, dogs, cats, purple eyes. Fuck. Damn, if I ever faced him, I was doomed.
All that beautiful fan art, if Tamlin looked that close and the art on him was much smaller, than the vast beauty that was made of him was also close. I laid in bed and curled up.
I wanted to see him for real, but I was different, I probably would not see him. I took a short-lived nap before dinner, Tamlin and Lucian sitting there looking at me like I changed.
"Is that the same girl?"
"Yes, emissary. It is." I took a bite of food as I glared.
"You clean up nice, did Alis do this?"
I shook my head. "I did, and thanks. Um… I have a question." I looked to Tamlin.
"That is?"
"I want to learn how to read, I saw the library and the vast books inside. It's okay if you don't want to. Anyone would due."
"Well, that makes this all even better, an illiterate human killed Andres."
"Lucian… behave." Tamlin growled. "Lucian can show you things from time to time when he is not busy with patrols. I can pick up where necessary or even Alis."
Score. I ate the food given, being sure to aim for the meats. Learning to read is coming soon, the between time will be spent training.
Leaving the table, I could hear Lucian dogging on Tamlin for not being so good with the ladies anymore. I smirked, that might be his downfall. He was not that impressive so far.