A Court of Ember and Decay

Chapter 19

Tamlin and I walked hand in hand behind Feyre and Rhysand. I guess no one wanted to be around for our inevitable drama so it was just the four of us. I wondered why Feyre came though, since she claimed to hate Tamlin so much.

We walked along the river that ran down the middle of the town. Rhysand pointed out all the important buildings and shops. I saw a fabric store and made note to come back before we left for the Spring Court in a couple days. Maybe the Night Court has some rare fabrics that I could use to make clothes. I do love the Spring Court clothes but making my own clothes was one of my favorite hobbies.

Rhysand then took us to an art gallery. The paintings were really similar to the ones that were in Tamlin's super secret room. "Feyre, are these yours?" I asked. "Yes, they are!" "I can tell," I responded. Her eyes narrowed as if she couldn't quite comprehend what I was trying to say. "In my free time, I teach a children's art class. It kind of doubles as art therapy too," she informed us. "Poor kids," I muttered. I guess forgot that Feyre now has the super powerful fae hearing because she spun around on her heels to face me.
    "Look, you intolerable bitch. We invited you here out of the kindness of our hearts. I honestly could care less what happens to you. It's all of Prythian that I care about. So you can go on back to your precious little Spring Court and see what happens when another one of your homes gets destroyed because you clearly don't want our help," she shouted. Feyre stormed out of the gallery and Rhysand just smirked. Tamlin looked a little annoyed. I honestly thought he would be on my side, but I forgot that he actually liked her paintings...if you could call them that.

Suddenly Rhysand laughed, but no one said anything funny so I was confused. Tamlin and I both raised an eyebrow at him but he said nothing and just smiled off into the distance. What a weirdo. "Well I guess that concludes the tour for now," he eventually said and then disappeared into a cloud of smoke, leaving just me and Tamlin in the gallery.

"Listen, Y/N. I'm not sure if you are aware, I know that you're pretty stupid, but this is a business meeting of great importance. It would suit you well not to insult our hosts. I'd prefer not to have my court destroyed a second time," he said to me without an ounce of humour in his tone. This annoyed me because ever since we got here he's been so cold to me. Maybe his feelings for Feyre remained after all.

I stormed out because I couldn't think of anything snarky to say in return, so I went to that fabric store. All the fabrics were so dark and gorgeous. They aren't really my kind of thing but since Tamlin was being so mean to me I decided to spend a bunch of his money and enter my villain era.

I found a cute little park with a bench in the shade and decided to make a new dress. The one I was wearing was super sweaty anyway. I bought four different kinds of fabric so I decided to take a chunk from each of them and stitch them together. Patchwork is so cool! They were all different shades of black. One of them had blue flowers on it, another had kind of a scallop design. One had gray daisies, I bought that one out of spite, and the last was just solid black, but it was made out of leather. I used the leather fabric to make the dress a turtleneck and I also added three-quarter length sleeves. It wasn't super sexy or anything but it was definitely me and I wanted to make a statement.

I went behind a bush and made sure no one was watching and slipped the dress on. I guess I'd lost a little weight since coming here since it was a little big for me, but it still worked. I went back to the floating house just as the sun was setting. I didn't want to take the stairs again so I just shouted up hoping someone would hear me. Feyre and Rhysand both winnowed me and Tamlin last time but since Feyre hates me she probably wouldn't do it again.

Suddenly, the tan dude with the short hair flew down. I hadn't really noticed he had wings before, it just wasn't something that I had bothered to observe. He didn't say anything, just picked me up and flew away. I started screaming because I had never flown before and it scared me so much that I passed out.

I woke up on the couch inside the house and Tamlin was standing over me, scowling. "What are you wearing, Y/N? What happened to your other dress?" "Oh oops I guess I forgot it at the park. I made this one, do you like it?" I asked. "No, it looks worse than my haircut," he responded. I started crying. I'd always been good at sewing and I didn't like it when people insulted my skills. "Why can't you say all the nice things to me like you did before back home?" But I already knew the reason why. He didn't want to show any affection towards me in front of Feyre. He didn't say anything and my heart sank at the realization. I looked away and saw Elain standing in the hall. "Dinner is ready," she told us.