A Court of Storms and Shadows

Chapter 10 - Rhysand

If anything, Rhys was confused.

The human girl who had randomly appeared in their lives at the most inconvenient time not only knew that there were demons in his world before he did, but was also married to a fae.

As Rhys took in the fae, he quickly came to the conclusion that the male was a warrior. In addition to having visible scars, he stood like one as well. A harsh tattoo covered half of his face before disappearing under his shirt. Rhys was pretty sure it meant something in a language he couldn't read.

It was practically impossible to guess the fae's age, but if he had to, Rhys would go with 'old'.

Celaena was full of surprises. Rhys doubted they really knew anything about her at all.

When she'd announced she'd be able to get a legend to fight for them, Rhys had been sceptical at best. How a human with, for as far as he'd noticed, practically no knowledge about their world would be able to find a legend, let alone convince them to fight on his side of the war was beyond him.

However, she'd been right about the demons and frankly, he was quite desperate. He'd taken her south of where the hawk had last been sighted, since it seemed to be traveling south.

Within half an hour she'd met up with a silver-haired male and introduced him as her husband. The first twenty minutes or so she'd just stood there, her eyes closed. He'd kept them warm with his magic, unsure of what to do.

After waiting for what he considered long enough, he'd asked her how she planned to this. She'd acted as if they'd only just gotten there. Rhys had been confused then.

Now he was beyond confused.

He didn't see the connection between the male—Rowan—and the hawk. When he showed Feyre what happened, she didn't have an answer either.

Rhys hadn't had the time to get to know their guest much, but both Azriel and Cassian seemed to have taken a liking to her. She hadn't caused trouble so far, so he didn't have any reason to regret not locking her up yet.

He was starting to become inpatient. He could be in his tent with Feyre and his family, enjoying what might be some of their last moments together. He could be doing useful things, preparing for war.

Instead, he was staring at Celaena and Rowan as they seemed to communicate without talking, much like Feyre and he did.

He hadn't gotten any clear answers from Celaena yet, and it was annoying him more and more.

Suddenly, they both turned to him.

"I'd like to suggest you stay where you're standing right now," Rowan said, not unkindly.

"Why's that?"

Rowan smiled slightly. "Your other option is getting turned into ash."

Rhysand didn't know he could get more confused. Did this male have fire magic?

Turning to Celaena, he softly grabbed her hands and murmured something in her ear. She nodded and walked further into the snow, away from Rhys. Rowan walked towards him.

"Okay, we're not entirely sure what to expect, but she seems to like both you and your court and wants to help you." Rowan looked him up and down, as if he wasn't sure why Celaena would like him. "I suggest that when I shield, you do the same thing."

So Rowan wasn't the one who was going to burn him. Rhysand made sure to keep his cool exterior.

Really though, he was letting Feyre into his mind. She'd felt his massive waves of confusion and wanted to see what was going on.