A Court of Secrets and Shadows

Chapter Eighteen

Nyx knew what she must do. Her walk home took longer than she needed it to be but in those moments she plotted.

Though the longer she thinks on her plan the more she proves her brothers claim to her insanity. She was known for having crazy tactics but even for her sneaking into Hybern is a death warrant. But the chance that her love would be pulled from her resting place and thrust back into lands on brink of a war was what made her steel herself.

She knew that Rhea was at peace with her death. She was around her family and has told Nyx multiple times she just wants her to live her life before joining her in the stars.

She left the same night she got back from the forest. She left a note for Azriel and stared at herself in the mirror once more. A dull set of brown eyes looked back. Her once shining dark hair was now a muddy brown. Her skin was the paler color most Hybern citizens were. All of the scars were gone from her body as were her wings. She looked like a stranger. She looked utterly forgettable.

Perfect.

It took power to keep up a glamor as strong as this one but unlike her brothers with their stones her power flowed freely. With the help of her enchanted necklace, something she had made centuries ago for glamours that had to last a while, it sealed her new form to her old one.

She pulled her gaze away from the mirror and let her shadows pull her into the darkness.

When her feet finally touched solid ground she was still not happy. She was on the edge of a cliff on a small ledge miles away from any Hybern villages. She knew some of the only places in Hybern not being monitored was the highest mountains backed against the vast ocean. The breeze was strong as she fought to gain a good footing. She closed her eyes for a moment letting herself drown in her own ignorance. She knew this was not a smart move. Her shadows reminded her multiple times until she got annoyed with them and sent them away. They were also under the glamor but without them visible around herself she felt naked. But she would go to the ends of the earth for Rhea.

Reopening her eyes didn't make the situation she was in any better as she tried to find the fastest route down the mountain.

The sun had started to rise when she was halfway down the mountain. Her hands were bleeding despite the callouses made from hundred of years working with her hands. But the pain was only making her more sharp. The constant sting was better then the pit in her stomach that was telling her to turn around.

She let herself drop a few feet down landing on a large enough ledge that she could sit down on. Azriel would be noticing she was gone pretty soon if he already hasn't. She knows he won't be able to follow her despite his wants. She was the only one who knew that path in existed. She even kept it a secret from Orin, knowing that if he knew he would've sent her to spy on the psychopath long ago.

She plucked the leather skin water jug, from her small bag she had on her back, and drank it generously. She only allowed herself to stare at the rising sun for a few moments longer before slinging her pack back over her back and restarting her downwards climb.

Near the end was when her hands stopped cooperating with her mind. Unable to unclench her hands she hugged the wall of the mountain as well as she could. She glanced down. Only a few more hundred feet, she told herself silently mourning the loss of her wings that came with the glamor, but if she hadn't come into his territory with her glamor on since he would be able to sense that amount of power appearing and disappearing.

After a hugging the wall for way longer than she should've let herself do she pried her clenched hand open and winced at the pain it caused her. She flexed it a few times ignoring the protests the mussels in her hands made. She did the same for her right hand and once they were looser than before she continued.