A Court of Fear and Hope-ACOTAR

Feyre

When she finally reached the cells, she could hear the crack of the whips and the screams of the Fae. The guards that were supposed to be at the entrance were slumped against the wall with an empty bottle of faerie wine between them.

Artemis stepped over the fatter one and started looking for the human. Most of the cells on the first level were empty, apart from the very middle one. Artemis had to mostly rely on scent, but she found the human. Surprisingly enough, there wasn't a lock on the door, just a latch only accessible from the outside.

Artemis glanced behind her to make sure nobody was near. It was oddly silent in that moment, and when she slid open the latch, she cringed at the small echo. She half excepted the door to creak open, but it was silent. When the door was fully open, Artemis first saw golden-brown hair amongst the dirty cell.

When the human didn't move, Artemis bent down and put a hand on the female's arm. Artemis pulled in a long, deep breath and let her eyes widen. She could feel the pain that the female was in, but Artemis knew she couldn't do anything. When she was about to pull away and leave, the human stirred.

Artemis pulled her hand back as she opened her eyes. The human was startled and quickly pushed to the back of the cell, but that only left about two feet of space between them. Artemis stayed in her crouch as the human panted.

"Who are you?"

Artemis pushed a lock of her hair behind her ear.

"The better question is: who are you? I have to say, you're quite brave for a human."

The female allowed for her breathing to become deeper when she realized that Artemis wasn't a threat.

"My bravery has kept me alive."

Artemis tilted her head and contradicted her statement. "Your bravery might get you killed."

The human narrowed her eyes. "Why are you here?"

Artemis gave a slight smirk. "Straight to the point. I'm not here to take you to freedom. That would just get us both killed. In all honesty, I'm here to know your name."

"My name?"

Artemis swallowed. "Yes, your name. What do you call yourself?"

"Why do you want to know? Are you going to tell her?"

Artemis furrowed her brows. "Amarantha? Gods no. She doesn't need to know everything." Artemis let out a breath. "I'm simply curious."

The human sniffed. "What's your name?"

Artemis's smirk reappeared. "Artemis. What's yours?"

The human hesitated a moment. "Feyre."

Artemis genuinely smiled. "It's nice to meet you, Feyre." Artemis stood and Feyre leaned forward.

"That's it?"

Artemis wrapped the shawl around her body. "What more did you expect?"

Feyre shrugged. "I don't know."

Artemis hesitated at her broken words. She let out a breath before she slipped the shawl from her body and bent close to Feyre and covered her shoulders with the fabric. Artemis made sure she was warmer before she spoke.

"Contrary to what you might believe, but not all fae hate humans."

Artemis went to leave again, but Feyre stopped her. "Your eyes. I've seen that colour before."