A Court of Horizon and Shadows

10.

Two months later, the girl was still alive.

Ruth was Auriella's eyes and ears out there, taking in every piece of information that she could gather to bring back.

The girl's name was Feyre, a human who resided in the Spring Court, hopelessly in love with its High Lord, who was at the mercy of Amarantha.

Auriella never expected the girl to survive the first trial. From her room, Auriella could feel the rumbling of the mountain, loud screeching, and cheers coming from Amarantha's subjects. Every cheer felt like a failure in Auriella's mind, unsure if whether the girl had survived.

But when Ruth came back to her, she revealed what her two out of three trials consisted of.

The first trial was a huge, man-eating, wyrm. Amarantha had made a maze, dropping Feyre inside of it, wanting her to find a way to kill the wyrm. Ruth had mentioned how impossible it seemed of how she killed the monster, but she did, coming out with major injuries to her body; injuries she somehow survived.

The next month, the second trial had come. Feyre had to solve a puzzle before a ceiling of nails came onto her and one of the servants of the High Lord of Spring. Ruth mentioned that the girl only had one chance to choose the correct answer and she did. Now, Auriella was intrigued, knowing that Amarantha was not the right person to best.

But now, the third month came. It was the final trial.

Auriella could not control her nerves, feeling like her mind was running in circles because of what was happening. She could not bring herself to sleep the night before, thinking of how the girl, Feyre, was so close to bringing the Fae to freedom.

Freedom.

It seemed foolish to believe that she, along with all the others, could see the outside once again. Before Feyre, she had run out of hope, had given up on fighting, but now, she was unsure of how she felt about everything.

Auriella paced around her room, biting her nails, and trying to think of something else other than the final trial.

But suddenly, her door opened.

One of Amarantha's guards stood there with a rope and a rag in his hands. He gestured for Auriella to come towards him and she did. He bound her wrists, tied the rag around her mouth, and led her out of her room for the first time since she had been put there.

Auriella could feel the change that was happening Under the Mountain. It seemed that Amarantha's subjects were on edge. They did not expect the girl to survive this far.

As the guard led her into the throne room, Auriella could see Amarantha on her throne, staring at the glass of wine in her hand, swirling it in circles. Her other hand was on the handle of the throne, tapping her fingernails on the black quartz.

For the first time, Amarantha was nervous.

Auriella never thought she would see the day where someone had the upper hand against the Lady Under the Mountain. It was a surreal sight to see; the face of fear.

Then Amarantha's eyes locked onto Auriella, noticing that someone saw her nervousness, saw the first flaw in her.

Auriella's was dragged to the stands, forced to be next to the guard. He took off the cloth from her mouth but left her hands bound. She had to witness whatever wickedness Amarantha had planned for Feyre. From where she sat, people were trembling in their seats. The High Lords sat on either side of the stands, their faces hard and emotionless under their themed masks.

She could see the new High Lord of Summer, Tarquin, standing a couple of spaces down, his hands clenched into fists and biting the inside of his lip. Auriella remembered when Amarantha had killed Nostrous, the former High Lord of Summer. She didn't witness the killing herself, but it didn't take long for the truth to be spread throughout Under the Mountain.