eclipsed nova (UTM Feysand)

9

Rhys was gone when I awoke, but then again, I hadn't expected him to be there anyway. The night before came tumbling back down on me at full weight, threatening to crush me underneath the burden of it all. My entire body ached, the pain from the cuts on my palms, knees, and feet a deep, burrowed throbbing. Hissing at the sting, I sat up in Rhysand's bed, taking note of the fact that he'd already cleaned up all of my spilled blood and mess. The thought flashed across my mind, making me wonder if he'd ever even slept at all.

    I wanted to know how he'd known where to find me. I was hesitant to believe he'd truly gone looking for me so conveniently. Particularly after the way he'd assured me he could not care any less about what happened to me. Had my mental begging for him somehow gotten through? Was he able to hear me from that distance? How far away from him could his awareness stretch, and how loud did I have to be for him to hear? I wondered if it had made him angry to have me calling out to him for help.

    Nuala and Cerridwen came a few hours later to unwrap, disinfect, and recover the wounds on my body. It seemed Amarantha had once again called her Court to gather. I supposed she truly had nothing better to do with all of us trapped below ground at her mercy. This time, the girls brought me a tee shirt and a pair of athletic spandex pants that nearly made me fall to the ground in thanks, because they actually fit my body. The girls rubbed a salve across my cuts, double-wrapped them, and helped me ease my feet into a pair of tennis shoes. I cried out when I finally stood, placing weight on the mutilated parts of my feet.

    The girls helped me down the hall as I limped, but once we came into view, I shook their grips from my arms and forced myself to walk normally despite the pain. Rhys had told me to never let Amarantha see my weakness, and I didn't plan to show it to her now. I manually created a mask on my features, keeping myself from wincing with each step. I managed to look bored with a flat affect.

    I leaned against the back wall, allowing myself to relieve some of the weight from my feet and also allowing me to see everything without having to worry about watching my back. I scanned the crowd for Rhysand but couldn't see him anywhere. Tamlin caught my eye, though. His expression was unreadable from this distance, his golden mask glinting in the light of Amarantha's flamed sconces.

    The energy of this gathering immediately differed from ones before. It was incredibly tense. No one moved about, mingling and chatting. Instead, everyone stood still as stone, eyes far away as they watched Amarantha tap her nails on her throne and arch a brow as the last few members scampered in, trying their best to not grab her attention. She looked livid. Her dark magic was roiling off of her in thick, humid waves. It made the air feel hard to pull into my lungs, like her enchantment had wanted to remind us she could steal that breath if it so chose.

    "I had thought my earlier demonstration effective enough to ward off further efforts of betrayal, but it seems that I was wrong," Amarantha began, addressing the silent room. "More among you have thought themselves quite brave, in fact. Last night, my guards caught a group attempting escape near a point they'd scouted and thought weak. Including one member of my council. I wish to show you how expendable every one of you are to me. No matter how safe you believe yourself to be, you are entirely replaceable."

    My heart was jackhammering in my chest. Where was Rhys? I was careful not to move my head as my eyes searched the crowd again. I looked for a mess of raven hair, and found a few, but none of them were the High Lord. Who of her council had been trying to escape? He'd alluded to attempting to kill Amarantha once. Was he of the ones seeking escape? Surely, he wouldn't be so foolish?

    "Therefore, I will ensure my point comes across clearly when you all join me for my evening festivities," Amarantha smiled with a clap of her pale hands. "However, before we all depart, I wanted to complete this ritual right here, for all of you to plainly see." With a quirk of two fingers, Rhysand emerged from Amarantha's wing, a man at his side. The man was bound and gagged, the only slack being that between the cuffs on his feet that allowed him to shuffle forward slowly. My gut churned at the sight.