𝐂𝐎𝐒𝐌𝐈𝐂 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 ! [ rhysand ]

𝐢𝐱. amarantha's first strike !

"You're okay, you're okay," Ana whispered, rubbing Feyre's hair and ignoring the warmth of the blood on her clothes. "Come on. Let's get you back to the house and cleaned up."

The two didn't spare Tamlin a glance as they made their way out of the woods and into the manor, Ana guiding Feyre toward her room while also asking for Alis to come and help. Ana knew what Feyre was going through. Fighting for your life was draining, and making the first human-like kill was always difficult. She'd be there for Feyre. Just like how her friends had been there for her. 

While Feyre was soaking in the bath, Ana sat in the bedroom, writing another letter to Izzy. Now that she knew she could communicate with her Parabatai through Fire Messages, she was going to write as often as she could. Parabatais were never meant to be apart from one another after the bond was made. They are, after all, partners in battle whose hearts beat as one. Being without a Parabatai felt like you were missing a part of yourself. 

Feyre finally came out of the bathroom after an hour, wrapped in her silk robe. Alis, who had made her hot chocolate to calm her nerves, guided her into a low-backed chair before the fireplace in the room and began to brush out her hair. Ana finished her letter and set fire to the paper, thinking about Izzy as she did so. When the paper was gone, Ana stood from the desk and approached Feyre and Alis.

"How're you feeling?" the blonde asked carefully.

Feyre shrugged. "Like I just ran for my life from evil faeries."

Ana chuckled. "Well, at least you didn't lose your sense of humor in that battle."

When the other maids had finally gone downstairs to help with the evening meal, Feyre asked Alis, "If more faeries keep crossing the court borders and attacking, is there going to be a war?"

Ana had been thinking of that after learning about the attack and seeing the damage. The naga, which were faeries from dark corners of Prythian, had heard when Feyre had captured a Suriel and came to claim it while also getting entertainment from killing a human. But a part of Ana believed that the naga hadn't come just because of the Suriel. Amarantha had sent them, she was sure of it. A warning to Tamlin to either give up or hurry the fuck up.

Alis stilled. "Don't ask such questions. You'll call down bad luck."

As if their luck isn't bad enough.

Feyre twisted in her seat and glared. "Why aren't the other High Lords keeping their subjects in line? Why are these awful creatures allowed to roam wherever they want? Someone⎯someone began telling me a story about a king in Hybern⎯"

Alis grabbed her shoulder and turned her back around. "It's none of your concern."

"Oh, I think it is." Feyre was not stopping. Ana just sat back and watched as the human glared at the faerie with such fire in her eyes. "If this spills into the human world⎯if there's a war, or this blight poisons our lands . . ."

The panic was evident in Feyre's voice.

"The less you know, the better. Let Lord Tamlin deal with it⎯he's the only one who can." Ana found herself disagreeing. She knew Rhys was fighting from the inside, so Tamlin wasn't the only one who could rid Prythian and the world of Amarantha. Sure, he was the only one who could kill her, but the other High Lords were doing their best (according to Rhys) to gain Amarantha's trust so when Tamlin did manage to break the curse, they could have her weakened. "You think no one would tell me what you asked the kitchen to give you today, or realize what you went to trap? Foolish, stupid girl. Had the Suriel not been in a benevolent mood, you would have deserved the death it gave you. I don't know what's worse: this, or your idiocy with the puca."