The Court of Nightmarish Behaviours

The House of Wind

She stayed silent as they left under the mountain, she felt in a daze as they leapt into the sky in Cassian's arms. Wings beat all around her for a few seconds before they were winnowed to just outside the House of Wind. A few more flaps and they were landing at the well known House of Wind, Anella had never been out from under the mountain, yet alone to Velaris, and started to look around with great interest. She was so distracted by the night sky, Anella didn't notice the male carrying her was shaking. 

It was only when they landed she realised the High Lord and Lady were not with them, they must have snuck off when they arrived in the city. Two pairs of feet thudded onto the stones, Mor slid gracefully out of Azriel's arms. Exhaustion masked his features and he sighed heavily, Mor exclaimed loudly as he started to walk away into the darkened corridors. "What the hell Az? What did they even do?!"

"Leave it Mor, you wouldn't understand."

Mouth agape, she watched him leave. Steps swaying slightly reminding them all of how much he had drunk that night. Cassian slowly placed her onto her feet, she noticed for the first time that his hands were shaking.

His feet stumbled as he stepped back from her, facing her with a pale, disbelieving expression on his face. Anella stared back at him, terror alighting her eyes as she remembered why she was here. In about 2 seconds, she knew she would be on her knees begging him to spare her and find someone else to keep him entertained that night. But he didn't reach to touch her, he simply shook his head once, and the expression was gone, replaced by a cocky bastard who may be slightly drunk and said "Welcome to Velaris."

Anella glanced back at Mor and then back to the general who stretched his back and wings and stepped across the room to grab a glass of strong smelling amber liquid. 

"You should be proud of yourself Cass, that was the most convincing you've been in months. Nearly as convincing as when you said Rhys and you were just sleeping in that cramped war  tent."

Cassian snarled a response which Anella didn't care to understand and filled his glass yet again. "I'm not in the mood Mor."

"When are you ever not in the mood? All you do is fuck and fight and do you honestly expect me to believe you can't do both at once?" Anella took a step back quietly, away from the general and the High Lord's third, she wasn't sure what was going on but she sure as hell needed to find a way out.

The male spun towards her and plastered a sickeningly false grin on his tan face, "You're Mor's responsibility, she is the one who didn't want to leave you there after all." The accused started to interject but the general slammed his glass down on the wooden counter and his grin turned feral as he targetted his focus on his friend.

"No. Not my problem. Yours." Footsteps echoed as he strode off down the corridor his bastard brother had taken, looking to the world a slightly pissed off Illyrian warrior who couldn't give two shits what he was walking away from, but Mor knew him well enough to see the twitch of his wing which betrayed his guilt.

The older blonde pivotted to the young female still staring after her previous tormentor. "He's got a big heart and an even bigger dick, but he can be such a cunt sometimes."

"What does he mean by I'm 'your problem?'" First words since the Court of Nightmares, soft and quiet, unsure but not trembling. A brutual acceptence of whatever suffering she expected to find here.

"He means it's up to me to find you a bed for the night, come on slinky we got places to be!" Mor's tone was light, but the word bed made Anellla flinch.

"To sleep in, honey we're not barbaric," a slight shake of her head, a tut and a sigh, before she took off down a different corridor to the 2 males and gestured for the younger female to follow.

They wove through lit corridors, that felt like dark tunnels leading into the deepest pits of hell. Fae lights were positioned like torches along the stone walls, no windows in sight, not this deep into the mountain, and the smell was not entirely unpleasant. It was not blood, it was not rot, it was the smell of ash, of brightly burning log burners and warm drinks. But Anella stayed on her guard, her dark blue dress continued to swish around her pale, too thin legs. For the first time she considered if she was unfit, already being out of breath through these halls made her think perhaps she was. A few more turns made her think she definitely was.

Why had she not exercised at home? Was it even her home, or was it a prison made by her father to hold her long enough to wed off. To make ties to other families and to punch heirs out of the well behaved beautiful girl who was what the Morigan had failed to be, it would show her father to succeed where Kier had not. An attempt to pull himself up a few notches, an attempt now ruined by Cassian and Mors' decision to take her back with them. She wondered if the Morrigan saw herself in Anella, or if she simply wished to spite the Court of Nightmares. Maybe both.

"Here, you should be comfortable enough for the night." The voice startled her out of her thoughts, the tone was softer than before, perhaps realising she was in shock. A dark door swung open infront of her revealing a light coloured room of ivory white and olive green, there was a small window in this room but no balcony, likely on purpose. A large bed in the centre and clothing storage by the right wall. The left wall had a large mirror and a door to what looked like a massive bathing chamber. She would investigate that later.

"Nuala and Cerridwen usually take care of guests here but... uh.. Azriel has likely got them preoccupied." Slow blinking cleared her vision and she turned to consider Mor.

"Preoccupied?"

She winced and shrugged, "Anger and drinking tends to lead to other emotions."

Anella simply stared at her, having lived under the mountain her whole life, sheltered by her father, she truly didn't know much. Mor raised an eyebrow aqt her and shook her head with a slight laugh.

"Doesn't matter, are you okay to get yourself ready?"

"I'll manage." Her tone held a sense of finality and tired, tired acceptance.

"Well... someone will be here to check on you in the morning, then we can... discuss our options." The High Lord's Third regarded her a moment longer then glanced toward the open door and stepped back, leaving the path to the reprieve clear. Anella practically shot into the ivory and green room then spun round, not wanting to leave her back exposed for a second. Her skirt swept around her, the cut down the leg widening and exposing more of her pale skin. Mor's eyes flicked down then back up to the others face, before giving her a genuine smile and saying "Nice dress."

A dainty courtesy was the only response before the door gently closed.

Now all she had to do was work out how to hell to bathe and change so that she could go to bed. Couldn't be too difficult right?