𝙷𝚘𝚠 𝚃𝚘 𝙳𝚒𝚜𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚛(𝙰𝙲𝙾𝚃𝙰𝚁)

𝔠𝔥𝔞𝔭𝔱𝔢𝔯 𝔢𝔦𝔤𝔥𝔱

Months passed by, leaving me lonely and grieving the loss of my sister. Every day I didn't hear from her sent dread deep in my stomach.

But when I came into the sitting room that day, I noticed my sisters sitting with someone, taking tea.

"Where is Father?" the girl asked.

I perked up at the voice. Her back was to me, but it was her. It was Feyre. She was alive. Nesta sighed when she saw me.

"In Neva," Nesta said. "Trading with some merchants from the other half of the world. And attending a summit about the threat above the wall. A threat I wonder if youve come back to warn us about."

I stood frozen behind Feyre, too nervous to approach.

"Don't just stand there," Nesta snarled at me.

Feyre froze, slowly turning to face me. I had to stop myself from gasping as my eye went wide. She was. . . different. Her face was sharper, more beautiful than ever before. But she was alive.

"Sammy," she said quietly.

I carefully approached them. I didn't hug her like I had before. I was too shocked. I sat myself beside Nesta.

"Whatever the reason, Feyre, we are happy to see you. Alive. We thought you were--" Elain began.

She pulled her hood back before she could go on. I truly did gasp this time. Her ears. They were pointed. She had been turned into one of them.

"I was dead," she said roughly. "I was dead, and then I was reborn--remade. I need you to listen."

She told us her story. She explained what she needed from us. She explained what this house needed to be.

"You—you want other High Fae to come here. And and the Queens of the Realm," Elain demanded. She nodded slowly.

"Find somewhere else," Nesta said. "I dont want them in my house. Or near Elain and Samara."

"Nesta, please," Feyre breathed. "There is nowhere else; nowhere I can go without someone hunting me, crucifying me--"

"And what of us? When the people around here learn we're Fae sympathizers? Are we any better than the Children of the Blessed, then? Any standing, any influence we have—gone. And Elain's wedding—"

"Wedding," Feyre blurted.

"In five months," Nesta said. "Shes marrying a lords son. And his father has devoted his life to hunting down your kind when they cross the wall. So there will be no meeting here. There will be no Fae in this house."

"Do you include me in that declaration?" Feyre said quietly.

Nesta's silence was answer enough. I turned to my eldest sister, nudging her and giving her a pleading glance. Feyre was alive. I couldn't lose her again.

"Samara, she wanted nothing to do with us," Nesta snapped at me. "She didn't even write to us to tell us she was okay. She let us believe she was dead." Nesta turned on Feyre, who's face had fallen. "Samara has cried nearly everyday since you left. She's been grieving as if you died. You could've written to her."

"I'm sorry--"

"You were ready to turn your back on us and never return," Nesta snarled. "Leave Samara to believe she lost her sister, no matter how much it hurt her. You're only back now because you need something from us."

I flinched, staring at my lap. Nesta wasn't wrong. If Feyre hadn't needed us, would she have ever come back?

"Nesta," Elain said. "If if we do not help Feyre, there wont be a wedding. Even Lord Nolans battlements and all his men, couldnt save me from from them. We keep it secret—we send the servants away. With the spring approaching, theyll be glad to go home. And if Feyre needs to be in and out for meetings, she'll send word ahead, and we'll clear them out. Make up excuses to send them on holidays. Father wont be back until the summer, anyway. No one will know. Feyre gave and gave—for years. Let us now help her. Help others."