A Different Type of Meeting

Chapter 12 - Rhysand/Feyre

Rhysand

As the soldiers turned and fled, I knew that this was just the end of the beginning. Then, merely seconds after they disappeared, I felt Feyre's mental shields fall. But not voluntarily. I winnowed straight to where I had last seen her. My mate. My mate. My mate. What if she never knew? What if I never got to tell her? But she wasn't dead. No. I would have known, I had felt it before. She couldn't be dead. Could she?

I arrived to Cassian on his knees checking Feyre's pulse and Azriel staring at the place where the soldiers had been standing, oblivious to what was happening behind his. I could see the shadows whispering in his ear, and it didn't seem like it was good news. But at the moment, nothing mattered except Feyre. My mate.
"What in Cauldron's name happened?!" I shouted, and only then did Azriel turn. Shock and worry crossed his face as he noticed what happened.
"There is a pulse." Cassian said, letting out a sigh of relief that was echoed by my own.
"She probably exhausted herself." Azriel said tonelessly, his expression turned to nothing yet again. My attention averted from Feyre as I fully took him in, I could see the worry in his eyes, swimming just beneath the surface.
"The Spring Court did not act by themselves." He said breathlessly. "They acted with Hybern."
"Who's that?" I let out another sigh of relief at Feyre's voice. Thank the Cauldron she was okay. But with Spring siding with Hybern, choices in this war could very well make every second we had together vital.

Feyre

I heard Rhys' sigh of relief when I spoke, and I couldn't help but wonder how I had gone from prisoner to this in less than a month.
"Our enemy." A simple answer. No more words need to be said, the meaning was clear enough. This wasn't good. I closed my eyes, trying to steady my breathing as I thought of what could come from another war. Of what Amarantha had done in barely 50 years, what could happen if we didn't win. Then I opened them again, and my eyes were drawn immediately to the blood. And then the bodies. Death. Too much death. Not again. Innocent.
They were all innocent.
And I screamed.

Not just a normal scream, one that made your blood curdle and hair stand on end. Rhys was immediately by my side, desperately trying to calm me down. Whispering soothing words in my ear. It stopped the screaming, but nothing could stop the images flashing through my mind. Amarantha. Clair. Death. Blood. Darkness. Then it was all gone. Swept away by a cooling wave of beautiful night. I gave Rhys a thankful smile, trying not to show the ghost of terror and sadness that lurked under it. He gave me a small, sad smile in return. Then I grinned,
"So, I have seen the war part, where is the camp part?" I stood from my seated position on the floor, Cassian following suit and grinning from ear to ear. Rhys chuckled slightly,
"A High Lord just declared war on us and that is what you choose to say?" Rhys said, and my grin turned to a sad smile.
"This was all my fault." I said, looking around at the battlefield. The bodies. "There was a note last night, from Tamlin. He threatened me. And now they are all dead because I didn't leave." Tears gathered in my eyes at the thought. I could have stopped all of this.
"But you saved so many more than you killed." It startled me when the words came from Azriel's mouth. "You fought better than many I have seen, and you delayed the battle long enough so we could push back." I smiled at him, a few tears forcing their way from my eyes, but whether they were from happiness or sadness, I did not know. Acceptance was the one thing I strived to gain, and I had found it. Finally.
"Thank you." I whispered and Azriel nodded, winnowing away. I wiped away the tears, putting my mask back into place. "I owe it to them to make sure everyone is okay. You Illyrian males do need a lot of coddling." Cassian laughed out loud, and Rhys chuckled slightly, before extending his hand to take me to the makeshift hospital. I took it, and could have sworn a few tingles ran up my arm, but I just added that to my pile of secrets.

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A/N
A short chapter, but I hope you enjoyed it! Exams are finished, so you will start getting more updates regularly (*fingers crossed*), and don't forget to check out my newest addition to the collection A Land of Memories and Prophecies!
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