𝔸 ℂ𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝕃𝕠𝕧𝕖 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕎𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕙 (Book 2)

Ninety-One

They would, in fact, reveal themselves again, they would have to if they wanted me killed. I knew that to be the truth, and once I saw their miserable faces again...I would do such unspeakable things to each and every one of them until their screams could be heard those very universes I had been sent to.

I nimbly made my way through the forest and back the way we came. We wouldn't find anything else. Not a single branch out of place if I knew anything about them. It was hopeless...for now.

As long as nothing could be done, I intended to go through with the exact reason we had come to the Court of Nightmares in the first place. To get the Veritas. Focus on this one thing until we had done that...and then I would deal with the rest.

The Court of Nightmares lay beyond a mammoth set of doors carved into the mountain itself. From the base, the mountain rose so high I swore it tangled in the clouds. Coveting the white wisps as its own. So high I couldn't see the palace above.

The palace I had once stayed in month after month as my world was overturned in Spring Court.

There was no one outside. No people or guards. As though the court itself was so fierce that it did not need that sort of protection.

I welcomed it. Pushing away the fear and instead embracing the power.

I did not care whether or not Rhysand had followed me through the dimly lit woods. Not when I found Mor waiting near the gates in her usual attire.

─── · 。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

     The world was still and quiet as the female in red stood beside me. Both of us staring into the gates before us with such raw determination that we both knew we would not fail today. Would not leave without what we had came for.

      The two of us entered. My body tensing of its own accord as we entered the full darkness. The silent and yet whishful void.

Not Under the Mountain, I told myself over and over and over like a chant. A song. A spell. Willing myself to believe the words I knew to be true. I would not be ruled by my fears over logic.

And slowly my panic ebbed. Not gone, and yet not entirely there. Like a shadow concealed from the light. It didn't bother me, not when there was so much t obe done.

Indeed, Amarantha's court had been the work of a child.

The Court of Nightmares was the work of a god.

Under the Mountain had been a series of twists, turns, and hallways. A maze. But this...this was truly a city. A forbidden and cruel sanctuary concealed from the world.

The walkway Mor led us down was an avenue, and beside us buildings and spires rising high into the gloom of the mountain. A metropolis carved from the dark stone of ancient rock, no inch of it left unmarked or etched with lovely, hideous artwork. Figures danced and fornicated; begged and reveled. Pillars were carved to look like spirals of night blooming flowers.

It was glorious.

The Hewn City. A place of such terrible beauty that it was all I could do to keep the marvel off my face. Music was already playing in some far off corner, a melody of both darkness and light. The people we passed—only High Fae—were clothed in finery, faces deathly pale and cold. Not a single one of them stopped us, smiled or bowed. Each of them all looked unearthly empty, though nothing less could be expected from people who dwelled beneath a sunless mountain.

Mor and I ignored them all. Confidence radiating form us in thick waves, our movements like the finest silk and full of utmost grace. There was a small and subtle tilt to my lips, a touch of smugness in a world of very few emotions.