𝔸 ℂ𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝕃𝕠𝕧𝕖 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕎𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕙 (Book 2)

Two

I stood outside, barefoot in the grass as I listened to my sister argue with her fiance. MY eyes wandered to the woods in the distance that held such secrets.

    "I want to go," Feyre demanded.

    "No," Tamlin replied.

    I tore my eyes away from the secret woods as I watched the couple. Feyre's arms were crossed over her chest as she wore a pleading expression. By the look on Tamlin's face, I could already tell he was set on his decision. He controlled the two of us like his puppets and my sister was so blinded by her love that she couldn't see it.

    I ceased trying to leave the house further than a few feet away from the door after so many failed attempts. Tamlin had threatened to not let me leave the house at all if I argued, he'd told me to be grateful for how much he provided that he didn't need to. I hated how much control he held over me. How he could make me do something against my will with his threats that I wasn't so sure were empty.

    Lucien hadn't helped, he had protested to Feyre and I's near imprisonment, yet he always backed down. He would never go against Tamlin's orders in the end. Other than his unwillingness to stand up to his High Lord, Lucien had been a sort of friend to me. It turned out he wasn't as foul as I'd expected.

"It's been months. Nothing happened, and the village isn't even five miles—"

    Tamlin cut her off, "No," he repeated. I wanted to stand up for her. To help. And yet I knew my attempts would only make things worse in the long run. Tamlin was readying to mount his horse and ride somewhere I didn't care to pay attention to. Lucien was a small distance away on his horse, I watched as his eyes wandered around, trying to act like the conversation that was going on wasn't. A series of sentries behind the fox.

    Tamlin walked away from my sister and she stormed after him. I stayed a distance behind, slowly wandering as I looked at the same roses, the same everything that I had for the past few months. I already knew how this conversation was going to go, it wasn't the first they'd had that sounded similar. Tamlin always won in the end.

    This was one of the rare occasions I had been allowed out this far by the stables, I wanted to enjoy the fresh pollen-filled air while it lasted. I had only been allowed this far because Feyre insisted I come, and Tamlin wouldn't jeopardize his image in her mind.

    Tamlin made her happy. And I wouldn't jeopardize that either.

    "The village needs all the help it can get." Feyre reasoned as she came to a stop next to Tamlin's black stallion.

    And we're still hunting down Amarantha's beasts," Tamlin argued back, mounting his horse. The stallion started into a slow walk as he listened to Feyre try to reason with him "I don't have the sentries to spare to escort you." He spared a subtle glance at me as if gauging whether I would try to go with her. Even if I did, I knew there would be repercussions later.

Feyre lunged for the bridle on the horse, keeping it in place, "I don't need an escort." she said. Her golden ring glinted in the sun. Two months ago Tamlin had proposed. And now only two weeks stood before Feyre's wedding day.

"Please. The recovery efforts are slow. I could hunt for the villagers, get them food—"

"It's not safe," he interrupted again. He nudged his horse into a walk again. "Especially not for you."

"Then Danika can come, she can protect me." Feyre threw her arms in the hair as she suggested something that I just turned the percent to zero. Tamlin barely let me out of the house. He would die before he ever let me go to the village.

Tamlin shook his head and Feyre tried again, "People want to come back, they want a place to live—"

"Those same people see you as a blessing—a marker of stability. If something happened to you..." He halted his horse once more at the start of a dirt path that would take him to the village only a few miles beyond the manor. Lucien waited a few yards in the distance. There's no point in rebuilding anything if Amarantha's creatures tear through the lands and destroy it again."

"The wards are up—"

"Some slipped in before the wards were repaired. Lucien hunted five Naga down yesterday." I looked at Lucien, he'd lied when I'd asked where he'd been. I shook my head, more so disappointed than I was mad. I thought I'd made him a friend and yet he'd lied to me.

Tamlin said softly to my sister, "I can't do what I need to if I'm worrying about whether you're safe."

"Of course I'll be safe." She exclaimed.

"Please—please just do this for me." Manipulative bastard. Tamlin jerked his head back to the house, "I'm sure there are things to help with around the house. Or you could paint. Try out that new set I gave you for Winter Solstice." I was the only one in Spring Court that knew Winter Solstice was my sister's birthday, she'd asked me not to tell anyone. I also knew Feyre hadn't painted since Under the Mountain.

"Fine." Feyre breathed. Giving in to what Tamlin asked. She always did. It was always the same. "Be careful."

"I love you," Tamlin said quietly to her. She nodded, murmuring it back before Tamlin left.

The two of us began walking back to the house. Feyre was silent in her disappointment. And all I could do was bask in the air for a moment, wishing I could just stay outside for a little longer. Sure, I could read out on my balcony for a while, but it was never the same as sitting out in the sun for a while or exploring the woods.

One of which I enjoyed doing at night.

Tamlin may have been able to lock me up during the day, but I snuck away during the night. I never wandered further from the haven, but still, it was nice to have that small freedom.

The wyverns had been my true saviors. They were the only reason I had yet to break entirely. I had flying almost every night since I'd first ventured back. It was my only taste of freedom. ANd It was addicting.

Seeing the Wyverns something I refused to give up even if The High Lord ever found out I'd surely suffer the consequences.

The two of us entered the house. My cage. How had I managed to trade one prison for another? I could have wept at the familiar walls. The same furniture. The ugly decorations. I was sick of it.

And yet I couldn't bring myself to fight back as I should have. Somehow the thought of it just made me...exhausted. It had been months. I was broken. I knew that.

And yet there was nothing I could do to fix it.

─── · 。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

A/N: ahhhh, thank you all for ur support🥹🥹 it literally gives me so much motivation