𝙳𝚊𝚛𝚔 𝙿𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚎(𝙰𝙲𝙾𝚃𝙰𝚁)

𝖈𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝖙𝖊𝖓

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

song of the chapter: pretty when you cry by lana del rey

"all the pretty stars shine for you, my love"

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

      We waited anxiously in the war room for Feyre to be done with the Weaver. I had bitten my nails raw by the time Rhys and Feyre flew in through the window.

     Cassian and Amren paused their argument as the two landed. I stared at Feyre's bloody face. She was covered in dirt and grease.

"You smell like barbecue," Amren said, cringing a bit.

"You kill her?" Cassian asked, referring to the Weaver.

"No," Rhys answered for the girl, loosely folding his wings. "But given how much the Weaver was screaming, I'm dying to know what Feyre darling did."

      Feyre vomited all over the floor. Cassian swore, but Amren waved a hand and it was instantly gone—along with the mess on her. I knelt by the girl's side and wiped the vomit from her mouth with my sleeve.

"She detected me somehow," Feyre managed to say, slumping against the large black table. "And locked the doors and windows. So I had to climb out through the chimney. I got stuck, and when she tried to climb up, I threw a brick at her face."

      We all stared at her in disbelief, completely silent. That was extremely impressive. My eyebrows furrowed as something occurred to me.

"Where were you during all of this, Rhys?" I wondered, crossing my arms and leaning against the wall.

"Waiting, far enough away that she couldn't detect me."

"I could have used some help," Feyre snarled.

"You survived," he said. "And found a way to help yourself."

"That's what this was also about," she spat. "Not just this stupid ring," she reached into her pocket, slamming the ring down on the table, "or my abilities, but if I can master my panic."

    Cassian swore again, his eyes on that ring. I studied it, surprised she had managed the find the thing.

"Brutal, but effective," Amren nodded.

"Now you know. That you can use your abilities to hunt our objects, and thus track the Book at the Summer Court, and master yourself," Rhys said.

"You're a prick, Rhysand," Cassian said quietly.

Rhys merely tucked his wings in with a graceful snap. "You'd do the same."

   Cassian shrugged, as if to say fine, he would.

"I want you to teach me—how to fight. To get strong. If the offer to train still stands," Feyre said to Cassian.

"You'll be calling me a prick pretty damn fast if we train. And I dont know anything about training humans—how breakable your bodies are. Were, I mean," he added with a wince. "We'll figure it out."

"I don't want my only option to be running," she said.

"Running," Amren cut in, "kept you alive today."

"I want to know how to fight my way out. I dont want to have to wait on anyone to rescue me." She faced Rhys, crossing her arms. "Well? Have I proved myself?"

     But he merely picked up the ring and gave her a nod of thanks. "It was my mothers ring."

"How'd you lose it?" she demanded.

"I didn't. My mother gave it to me as a keepsake, then took it back when I reached maturity—and gave it to the Weaver for safekeeping."

"Why?"

"So I wouldn't waste it."

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

       I knocked on Feyre's door the next morning, pursing my lips as I waited for her to answer. She opened it, seeming surprised to see me.

"I was wondering if you could help me," I explained. "I have no idea what to wear to mortal lands." She chuckled softly.

"Let's see what you have," she said, walking back to my bedroom with me.

      We entered my closet and she began shifting through my dresses. I felt a lot of them were too fancy. She began sorting through them.

"What did Tamlin do to make you leave?" I wondered, finding myself curious. She froze, and I worried that I had crossed a line. She sighed, turning to me.

"He put a ward around the manor," she said quietly. "He locked me in that house. He didn't even notice that I was suffocating in there."

"Feyre," I said quietly, sorrow in my words. "I'm so sorry." I hated Tamlin, but I never thought he'd do that to her.

"Were you two truly friends?" she wondered. I laughed a bitter laugh.

"I despised him," I confessed. "We didn't get along at all until you showed up. The only reason we were civil was because we didn't want to scare you off. We needed you to break the curse."

Tamlin and his family murdering two people who were basically a mother and a sister to me had been something I was never able to forget. We would go back and forth arguing for days during my banishment. When Feyre showed up, there was an agreement that the fighting would stop.

"What are your sisters like?" I wondered. She snorted.

"Nesta is cold and determined," she informed me. "She spent every penny I made and let me risk my life in the wood every day without lifting a finger to help us. But she did try to save me when I was taken by Tamlin. Elain is sweet and quiet. She never helped me because it didn't occur to her that she could get dirty."

"Eve and Mor are like sisters to me," I sighed. "I love my brothers, though." She went quiet, turning to look at me.

"Rhys told me what you did for Azriel," she admitted.

       I raised my eyebrows, feeling my face go a bit red. I stared down at the spiraling tattoo on my right arm.

"I'm sorry," she said to me. "That you had to go through that." I smiled at her, shaking my head.

"It was a long time ago," I sighed. "He can't find me while I'm in Velaris." She nodded, pulling a violet dress from the rack. She handed it to me.

"I think this is perfect," she smiled.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

       Rhys, Feyre, Azriel, and I were ready to go to the mortal lands—Amren, Cassian, and Mor remaining in Velaris to run the city and plan our inevitable trip to Hybern.

       Rhys would winnow us off the coast, right to the invisible line where the wall bisected our world. There was a tear in its magic about half a mile offshore—which we'd fly through.

      Azriel and Rhys were in fighting leathers, but I opted for the dress Feyre picked out. I didn't like wearing those leathers. It was very uncomfortable on my wings.

"I'll fly with Azriel," Feyre decided.

      Eve and I exchanged a glance, both of us wondering what had happened between her and Rhys, but Azriel merely bowed his head and said, "Of course."

        Rhys winnowed in me first. I let go of him and nodded my thanks before he went back for Azriel and Feyre.

        The three appeared in front of me again, Feyre clutching onto my brother. Then, we found the wall and took off in flight.