A/N: Let me know what you think!

A hour had passed since that fateful encounter between myself and Tamlin and I was no closer to understanding the situation now then I had been then. Tamlin had ordered me to a guest room and to be made as comfortable as possible. I was still shell shocked that I followed quietly.

Enough time had passed that I had finally come to terms about my fate. No one had come to visit and anger started to settle in. I was not to be kept locked up. The need to escape came on strong and I felt a light pulse of guilt across that strange bond. A few minutes later had brought Tam to my door with a timid knock.

"May I come in?" How could I refuse such a request?

I sat down on the bed and faced the door. "You may." I was braced for anything that might occur. This was the enemy still and I was nothing but loyal until my last breath. 'Lord Rhysand, please forgive me.' I offered in my head.

The door opened slowly to reveal an anxious Tamlin; a far cry from the almighty High Lord I was expecting. With a gentle nudge, he shut the door and turned to face me fully.

"I'm sorry about the accommodations." The guilt flashed along the bond, stronger now that we were close. "I just… I just didn't know how to…"

I interrupted him before he could finish, "I understand. I still don't understand." I carefully got off the bed and walked toward my mate. "I never expected to find my mate in this lifetime. I thought such things were not for me." I raised a hand and gently pressed it to his face. "It seems the Cauldron had other ideas."

His eyes flashed brighter and understanding filled me as well as sadness. "I'm sorry for this." He removed my hand from his face. "But I was convinced for awhile now that there was only one person for me." Those green eyes looked down, breaking our eye contact. "But you proved me wrong." Anger flashed across his eyes when he reestablished eye contact. "Who are you."

A demand. For answers. For anything.

My anger rose at his demand. "I am not someone you can boss around, nor am I someone you will relegate to something less than I am." I stepped back and rose to my full height, even if I only came to his shoulders, my wings starting to slowly spread. "I am Stellar, the only Illyrian female warrior who earned the Blood Rite and the right to fight along side my male counterparts." I spread my wings farther. "I am second to no one, but my Commander and High Lord." I narrowed my eyes at my mate. "I am the best strategist Prythian has ever seen and I will not let this mating bond between us take that away from me."

Tamlin's ire had risen throughout my declarations and he stalked forward with claws for hands. "How dare you speak to me like that, Stellar. You are not the only one who was caught off guard by this, this mating bond." The amount of disdain the High Lord put into those two words caused me to flinch.

"Then go back to Feyre! I'm sure she'll be more than happy to be with you now that you've found your mate!" I stormed past Tamlin, my mate, and tried to yank the door open, but I was met with a pair of lips crashing into mine instead.

The kiss was brutal and demanding and I responded in kind. No one ever got the best of me and I fully intended to show this little High Lord that. I fought back after the initial shock from the kiss wore off. I fought him at every turn. Each play for power he made, I countered him, refusing to give up an inch to this… Rude male.

Unfortunately for me, my resistance brought out a different side to Tamlin and, with a low growl, he grabbed me and flung me on the bed. The power stole my breath away and the male suddenly smothered me as he crawled on top of me. His clawed hands had pinned mine above my head.

I revealed in his anger and let it fuel mine. No one would ever defeat me, and if they should, my death had better be close at hand. With a growl, I flipped us and stretched out my wings, attempting to sooth the lingering pain. "How dare you try to subdue me." I brought my face closer to his. "How dare you try to overpower me when you know nothing about me." My wings fanned themselves out on their own accord.

The emerald eyes darkened in lust and the new shade caught me off guard. They were exquisite and I found myself drowning in them.

A knock at my door startled us out of the haze and I flew off of Tamlin, refusing to let myself remember how his body felt under mine or how I had felt under his. The coiled power in both of our bodies thrummed with unfulfilled desire and it radiated the room.

"Yes?" I asked, breathless and unsure.

Tamlin had slowly gotten up, his eyes never leaving mine.

"Can I come in or is this a bad time?" Feyre sounded almost… smug, like this was just the excuse she needed to free herself of this place.

"Of… Of course." My eyes wandered back to Tamlin who was now standing between the door and myself as it opened. Through the bond, I was able to feel that Tam was upset about what happened and that we were disturbed at the best part.

I trained my eyes as Feyre walked in and took in the scene before her. I thanked the Cauldron that she had come when she had or else I would have done something that I would never be able to take back. But his lips felt so soft…

A small smirk flitted across Feyre's face and quickly disappeared. "I'm sorry to interrupt you, but Lucien said he needed to speak with you Tamlin and I wanted to check in on our guest." I refused to let myself feel relief at her timely intervention.

I glanced at Tamlin who nodded and walked out without a glance behind him. I slumped to the floor once he was gone. Never had I felt so drained and alive at the same time.

Feyre sat down next to me and patted my knee in sympathy. "It was the same for me." Relief rushed through me at her words. I felt like I was going insane with all the feelings pulsing through me. "We'll discuss that issue later, and at length, but for now, while he's occupied, fill me in on what the plan is, or was, to get me out."

I slumped forward and wrapped my arms around my knees. "It doesn't matter now. I failed you and Lord Rhysand." And for the first time in decades, I wept over my sudden failure and sudden mating to the High Lord of the Spring Court.