KING OF MY HEART, acotar

IV

    Amarantha had given Feyre Archeron two ultimatums; three tasks that Feyre would go through and should pull through them ( because should she not complete them it would lead to her ultimate death ) or a simple riddle she had presented when Feyre first arrived.

    Zelda was still gathering the full details of the events of Feyre meeting Amarantha from the other servants, but she didn't want to outright ask as that would risk the persona of the quiet, timid girl who was minding her business that Zelda had donned.

    She hadn't seen Feyre yet. Or Rhysand for that matter.

    It had been close to a week since Zelda went into the wretched court. She spent most of time trying to decide whether or not she would make herself meet Feyre.

    Zelda's plan had relied entirely on the chaos that Feyre would havoc when she arrived, she needed enough distraction to formulate a way to safely get Rhysand out of here. While she hadn't exactly anticipated it, Amarantha offering Feyre to go through three tasks once every full moon gave Zelda enough time to do her part in here.

    Zelda was sure Feyre would pull through, with enough help maybe, but she would. Survivors tended to recognize each other from far away, and Zelda trusted Feyre's abilities impeccably. She knew that once the sneering faes saw the mortal girl pass whatever Amarantha would throw at her, the hope would shimmer in their chest and their allegiance would change. Which meant more problems for Amarantha.

    While Feyre had her part in this, Zelda also had some strings to pull. Because what's a better way to destroy a court than from the inside out.

    The commander of Hybern wouldn't know what hit her until it was too late.

    It didn't take Zelda a lot of time to figure out the hierarchies in the court— who was here willingly, who stood with Amarantha, who was secretly against her. Not surprisingly, a lot of the lords and males who had came with Amarantha from Hybern held a strong dislike against her. But some reveled in having her as their High Queen.

    One of them was whom Zelda was currently silently slinking in his rooms. She thanked the Cauldron every day for having met and been trained by Azriel.

    Ostrus was a vicious commander in Hybern's ranks once upon a time, rumored to have bloodthirsty insatiable love for gore— he was one of the few who knew Amarantha's full plan for enslaving the High Lords in Prythian and agreed with her. He had apparently not agreed with Hybern's plans that needed patience. Whatever they were.

    Zelda checked the rooms once, twice, thrice. Mother forbid she be caught here by Nostrus or Amarantha— who frequented these rooms quite many times.

     She got the letter out from her pockets with her gloves hands, making sure to wrinkle it in some places as it had been stashed and hidden under a pillow.

    Zelda walked to the huge, unmade bed in the centre of the room, wrinkling her nose at the scent of sex that wafted from it. It took her some time to figure out which side Amarantha used frequently on the bed and slipped the letter underneath its pillow.

    She walked out of the room when she was sure no one was there, walking around like a ghost that she was almost blended with the shadows of the mountain's corner. She loosed a breath once she was in a clear area near her quarters and hoped everything would go accordingly.

    For she would know when Amarantha found the letter.

    Feyre Archeron had lost the track of time in the cell. She tried to evaluate it from the meals that were brought down to her, if the half moldy bread could be even called that. But she had dozed on and off the first couple of days from the Attor's beatings that she wasn't sure.