Sound of silence

Part 32

Gwen stumbled across the finish line first. Panting, bloody and bruised.

"Well?" She huffed as nesta and gwen appeared at her side. Althea stood smirking beside her mate.

"You already have your prize. You just passed the blood rite qualifier. Congratulations." He said simply. Gwen gasped, nesta and emerie froze and althea let out a small sqeal of excitement.

"That was why you invited them?" Gwen finally asked. Thats when they all realised the on looking stone faces of lord deom amd another male scowling.

"I had a feeling today would be the day." Cassian murmured to nesta.

"You told the priestesess not to come?" Nesta asked to the two soldiers before her.

"We informed clotho we might have some observers today." Azriel answered. The conversation went on for a while before nesta ended it the most simple reply.

"Id rather be a valkyrie." The otheres agreed and althea clapped smiling.

"Thank god one of you said it." Althea breathed a sigh of relief and they all smiled.

Spring soon came around and althea was weakend to barely being able to walk to her own bathroom. She had been given a chair that helped her get around, even spelled to take her up and down stars but she prefered to stay on the lower floors so she didn't need to.

Feyre often spent her now heavily pregnant days talking reading and painting with her sister. Neither one coud bring themselves to acknowledge either of there conditions. Somewhere inside both of them they knew althea may never meat her neice or nephew, it terrified feure that she would be in a world without her twin sister. It was slowly breaking both of them each time they danced around it so feyre decided it was time.

"We need to talk. And we cant avoid it any longer." Feyre said. Althea sat up, tired eyes bore into her sisters. She nodded and feyre sat beside her.

"Im terrified, of what will happen to all of you when im gone." Althea finally said.

"Im terrified to. Your my sister, we shared a womb. I know we dont have a lot of time left. And i dont want you to go without knowing how much you mean to me and how much i love you." Feyre stared to tear up as she spoke and althea sat forward into her sisters embrace.

"I dont want to go fey, i dont want to die. But i dont want you to remember me like this. Remember all the good times. I want you to be able to tell your babe of me with a smile on your face not tears in your eyes." She clung tightly to her sister and silently thanked rhysand for loosing his spell on her whilst they where alone.

"I promise you wont be forgotten. Ill make sure everyone knows what you did for us and this court." Feyre promised.

"Thank you for everything fey, really."

Thea and feyre sat for hours talking over old memories, remember all that was good. Rhysand had secretly been watching for a few minutes before he finally had to interupt.

"I have bad news." He said catching there attention."nesta, gwen and Emerie have been taken to compete in the blood rite." He watched and althea used up all ther strength to stand and face him.

"They will win. I know cassian is probably going wild right now but you need to put some faith in those women. I believe they can do it. You should to." She said to him. He nodded walking over and placed his hands on both her shoulders.

"I believe they can do it, but i fear this goes deeper than angry misogynistic males." He watched as she seemed to search for something. Something she did find amd she fell limp against him, she gasped.

"That magic mirrors my curse." She had undoubtedly felt it by how pale and weak she became. "Whoever is interfering cursed me." She growled.

Days went by, althea spent most of her days unconscious in azriels or feyres arms. The life was being drained from her even faster the past few days and everyone feared she wouldn't make it to the end of the rite.

Across the continent nesta had collect the death trove.

"take me to see the sunset." She asked Azriel, he nodded cradling her in his arms. He used his shadows to travel onto a small part of the roof where they could look over the city as the sun began to set. Inside they where both unaware of feyre suddenly going into labour. And across the continent nesta was fighting a battle that could change all there fates.

"Azriel, remember I love you." She whispered her head falling limp onto his shoulder as she took in the huge of pink and orange, purple and red. A single tear made its way down her cheek as he whispered his love back. She closed her eyes trying to savour her last moments in her mates arms.

Althea's breath stopped, her heart slowed, and her body fell limp against her mate. Azriel looked down at her body unable to contain his tears. He roared, tears streaming down his face as he cradled her body tightly.

Azriel was pushed back slightly by a burst if pure magic, he looked up from his mate to find a ripple of magic emitting from her, he gasped as another thick wave knocked him completely away from her. He crawled on the roof tiles to get back to her before another erupted from her and she screamed. Her screams shook everyone down stairs to utter fear, they to had felt the magic erupting from her.

Azriel watched wide eyed as she gasped for a steady breath, tears running down her cheeks. Her hand clutched her tunic above her heart. He didn't waste a second to crawl to her side taking her Into his arms and held her tight. She cried harder gripping onto him with all the strength she had left.

"im alive." He couldn't quite tell if she was crying if pain or relief so he just held her tighter.