A Court of Pain and Sorrow

A killer

Feyre stood in the balcony of the House of the Wind, looking at the night sky.

"Are you okay?" Rhysand's voice asked, joining her in the railing.

"I'm fine... I just really miss my sister." Feyre whispered, her gaze never leaving the stars.

Would Rhaella be looking at the same sky?

"Which one?" Rhysand asked, turning to look at her.

"Rhaella." Feyre smiled. "I haven't seen her since she left to work when we were sixteen... She got a job in some tavern a couple of towns away and had to move there."

"But the money still wasn't enough." Rhysand concluded.

Feyre nodded.

"But it helped. A lot." Feyre smiled at the memory of her sister. "She is the kindest person I've ever met. She is sweet and gentle and caring... I don't think she would ever hurt anyone... Not on purpose."

"Didn't you spend a brief time with your family? Before Under the Mountain, I mean." Rhysand asked, confused. "You saw her there."

Feyre shook her head.

"She wasn't there. Father said she had left, again. He didn't tell me more... No one talked about her. Almost as if she didn't exist."

Rhysand frowned.

"I could send someone to find her." He said. "Appoint a meeting."

"We are at war, Rhys." Feyre shook her head. "We need to focus on that... I'll see her again, I'm sure of it... But now that we have the first half of the book, we need to meet with the Mortal Queens."

What she didn't tell Rhysand was that she was scared.
Scared that her sister just didn't love her anymore.
That she wasn't enough for her anymore.

She hadn't bothered going home when she was there, she hadn't tried to reach out.

Maybe Rhaella didn't want to be her sister anymore.

"They haven't answered my letters." Rhysand chuckled. "I bet the Supreme Commander is wiping the blood of her hands with them."

"She really is cruel, isn't she?" Feyre frowned. "That battlefield... It was awful... How can a human being do that and continue living with themselves? She left no survivors, she took no prisoners... She killed them all..."

"As much as I hate the King of Hybern, his people are not responsible for his mistakes... They are just fighting the war their king commands them to." Rhys agreed. "Monsters like her don't understand it."

"May the Mother assist us."

Rhys let out a dark laugh.

"I don't think we should be praying to the Gods that left us to the mercy of monsters like her."

Feyre's frown deepened as she looked forward.

"I'll write to them. To the Mortal Queens. Maybe they answer if it's my name in the letter."

Rhys nodded.

"Are we still going to see your sisters tomorrow?"

"We have to." Feyre remained him. "We need a place to meet."

"There is no chance we are going to the Mortal Queens' castle." Rhys nodded, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"And there is no way the Supreme Commander is coming to the Night Court."

They stayed together in the railing for a while, not really looking forward to the meeting of the following day.

***