A Court of Night and Shadows

Chapter 21

I'd noticed the difference in her when she'd come downstairs whilst Cassian and I had been guarding the two of them. Between the group we hadn't been able to leave the presence of either our High Lord or his mate, refusing to leave them undefended in their current states. Nevermind that Rhysand was the most powerful High Lord in the history of Prythian. He was also our friend.

And that was exactly why, while I had noticed Feyre's differing appearance to the one I'd met her with, I said nothing. And I never would.

Even Cassian was smart enough to keep those observations to himself.

"You don't have to be anything for us," Mor replied softly.

Cassian and I glanced her way simultaneously.

"Thank you," Feyre replied, her voice low. When I looked her way I thought I saw some other emotion beneath that reply - a reply she'd offered to Mor, but faced Rhys for. He met her gaze and their faces softened together.

I kept my opinion to myself.

A silence ensued as we all ate, our plates beginning to empty and I placed a nonsensical bet in my mind at whether Cassian or Mor would be the one to break it.

Most likely Cassian.

"So what do you plan on doing now that you're awake? You've gotta see Velaris. And then we could all go to Rita's tonight, if we aren't off on a mission of some sort, of course."

Yep, it was Cassian.

"Well, actually, I guess I was hoping to jump into whatever you guys were up to, so exploring and going out for dinner sounds like fun." Her voice gave the tiniest quiver and I wondered what about the idea of wandering the streets of the best kept secret on our continent and dinner at a restaurant would make her nervous. Then she gave a brief glance towards Rhys, who had yet to speak even when Amren had and I realized she must be worried for him too.

Even though we were all well aware that they were mates, something about her suddenly entering our group, our family... I didn't trust it just yet. But maybe if she was as in tuned with Rhysand as she seemed, knowing when his behavior was unusual, maybe I wasn't giving the mating bond enough credit. Maybe I wasn't giving her enough credit.

So I decided to test her.

"We might be busy," I said, cooly.

Cassian raised a blase, unbelieving eyebrow. "Oh?"

"King Hybern is trying to resurrect Jurian," I said, laying it all out there, hoping I wasn't chipping away at the long built trust between my High Lord and I.

"Bullshit," Cassian spat. "There's no way to do that."

Amren had gone still, and I observed each of her breaths like they'd tell me more than she ever would.

"Jurian?" Feyre asked.

"Do you remember Amarantha's ring? The eye?" Rhysand asked her, avoiding looking at any of us in particular.

Feyre cringed when he said her name and we all pretended not to notice. She nodded.

"Jurian fought in the last war. Amarantha imprisoned his soul within that ring for killing her sister."

Mor groaned, easing a bit of the tension from Rhysand's voice. "Why would the king want to resurrect Jurian? He was so odious. All he liked to do was talk about himself."

"That's what I want to find out," Rhysand said, his tone lightening into the leader's voice we all knew well. "And how the king plans to do it."

Amren at last said, "Word will have reached him about Feyre. He knows it's possible for the dead to be spared, brought back to life."