𝔸 ℂ𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝕃𝕠𝕧𝕖 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕎𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕙 (Book 2)

Sixty-two

I braced myself. Waiting for them to say something that would doom everything. To scream, to yell, to curse. Anything.

    But they sat there. Staring at me as though I were a new person. Some mystery they were each piecing together in their minds. I held myself together mercifully.

    For some reason, my eyes wandered to Rhys, sitting on my right. His eyes were shocked. For a moment, I thought he might pass out. I also didn't think he was blinking. Thankfully, he seemed to pull himself out of it as he shook his head. Though he still wasn't blinking. I wondered if his eyes were dry...

    Not the time, Danika.

    I looked to Mor, who sat beside him. Her brows raised as she stared down at the table with her hands clasped in front of her. It was like I could see the thoughts running through her mind.

    Feyre sat beside her. I might have been dreading the reaction most. I hoped that the rest of them would think I didn't tell them because we had only known each other for a short time. But Feyre...we'd used to tell each other everything until Under the Mountain. I wondered if this was our breaking point.

    My gaze eagerly wandered to another person, needing to look away from her. Cassian's mouth was agape, his jaw nearly on the floor as he stared at me freely. I worried that his eyes were going to pop out of his head with how wide they were. Azriel sat next to him, silently observing.

    Amren sat there twirling her wine—I had no clue how she'd even gotten it—as though she had no cares in the world. In fact, she looked a little bored.

    She'd known. I didn't know when she'd figured it out, maybe the first night we'd met. I'd exposed my knowledge in the hopes of learning what she knew about me, but I likely revealed myself in the process.

    It didn't matter. Not anymore.

    I waited again, needing one of them to say something first. I wouldn't force anything on them. I wouldn't make them accept something that took me months to come to terms with.

    Mor gulped, looking up. The first to break free from her shock. "So, what you're saying is...you're a prophesied ruler of—"

    "Prythian." Rhys butt in almost immediatly as he recovered as well. "You're a prophesied ruler of Prythian." He looked at Mor, the two of them sharing a look that was too swift for me to understand before he looked back to me. He opened his mouth but didn't say anything.

    I nodded, confirming their words. Accepting my fate.

    There was a whistle from the other side of the table, and I watched in horror as a roguish grin appeared on Cassian's face. "Queen Danika." he thought out loud, "What a pretty title."

"You're joking." I deadpanned. It was then that I realized my mistake in telling the General. He'd never let me live it down. Ever.

    "How rude of me," he teased, "I forgot to bow. We're in the presence of royalty after all."

    I sighed, leaning back in my chair. "I'm doomed."

    "Oh, most definitely." Rhys finally chimed in, a bit of color returning to his ashen features.

    "I don't understand." Feyre chimed in, and I looked to her. The small fraction of amusement in my mind faded to nothing more than a distant ember as I saw the betrayal on her face. "I–" she trailed off, stopping herself. "I thought we were close, Dani. But...You find out that you're a mystical Fae ruler, and you don't tell me."

    I blew out a breath. Knowing this was coming hadn't made it easier. "I needed to come to terms with it first, Feyre. Just like I had with everything else when I told you about..." I trailed off, she knew what I was talking about. The details of my childhood that I'd only told her.

    There were somethigns I didn't think I'd ever come to terms with. Some things I wouldn't be able to talk about for a very long time yet...

    She took a breath, raising her chin. "I need some air." she pushed her chair back, fleeing from the room as if it held disease.

    Mor looked after her, "I've got this." she said, quickly getting up and following my sister out of the room.

Once again, the room was engulfed in silence. A different silence than the last. A knowing quiet.

I closed my eyes for a moment as I pushed out of my chair. "Excuse me." I said, exiting the room the other way toward all the bedrooms. I'd just randomly pick one. I didn't care whose it was.

I closed the door behind me, quickly locking it before I went further into the room. I took a few breaths. I was prepared for this. It was the right thing to do. And yet it still hurt.

I wouldn't cry. I was sick of crying. Everything had been terrible since Under the Mountain, and I was so very tired of hating myself. I wanted it over. I just wanted everything to stop.

But that wasn't life.

There was no on and off switch. I couldn't pick and choose what I wanted to feel, no matter how much I wished I could.

I took another breath, calming myself. I couldn't control what happened today, and I'd done it knowing that. I would live with the consequences.

A knock clanked against the door, and I sighed once more. I turned around slowly, going toward it. I centered myself once again as I reached out for the door handle and twisted it. Rhys stood on the other side, a knowing look on his face.

"Are you going to let me in?" he questioned as we stood there. I opened the door further, and he waltzed in, his hands in his pockets as he immediately went to the chairs on the other side of the room. He plopped down, crossing his legs as he looked at me once more.

"She'll understand." he finally said.

I sat down on the bed, "You don't know that."

"No, but I know she's your sister." he reasoned, tilting his head toward me just an inch. "She might feel betrayed right now, but she'll come around."

I put the backs of my hands to my eyes as I brought my knees to my chest slightly. "This is crazy." I spoke as I pulled my hands from my eyes.

"It's always going to be crazy." he replied as he stood, "We have to keep finding moments where it feels normal." he stalked to me.

    I snorted sadly, "That's impossible." I stared up at him.

A cheeky grin flowed across his features. "We'll manage."

I shook my head, "You say that now, but we're on the brink of war, Rhys." I stood from the bed, throwing my arms in the air. "Hybern is still a threat, and right now, it looks like there's nothing we can do to stop it." I squeezed my eyes shut, "I feel useless."

Rhys walked to me, turning me to face him. "You are not useless, Danika." he said, staring straight into my eyes. Nothing but truth shining through them.

I shook my head, "It's too much. War, destiny's, saviors, it's all too much."

A bitter look of understanding crossed his features. "There's nothing I can say that will help you." he said lowly, his voice soft. "You can't expect to fix this world in a matter of minutes." he looked away for a moment before his eyes wandered to mine once more, "One thing at a time...it's the only way we'll keep ourselves from insanity."

─── · 。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

A/N: AWEEEEEE

Also, I have drama, and I need advice, but also, I'm not sure you guyss want to hear that. LMKKKKKK