♚✭♛
Rhysand and Feyre were in the study, when the room's door burst open and a frustrated Aadya walked through it.
Both of their head snapped towards her, as she plopped herself on the couch that was near the stairwell on the other side of the room, far away from everyone. The High Lord of the Night Court opened his mouth to speak, but stopped when Aadya's frustrated voice echoed through the room.
"Is it really, that important to wake up at this ungodly hour in the morning for breakfast of all things?" At her tone the others in the room knew, this was not her best day. But Rhys being Rhys, seemed amused by her frustration and decided to taunt her even more.
"Tea?"
Aadya threw him a flat stare, which made his lips twitch, but he watched her with concerned eyes as she laid her head back and closed her eyes to the world. Feyre too, watched this scene in amusement but decided to bring the topic back to what she wanted to know from the either of them.
"How does it work-- this bond that allows you-- both of you," a nod towards Aadya, "to see into my head?"
Not answering her question, Rhysand stood up with a steaming cup of tea and walked to where Aadya sat and placed it in the table in front of her, and turned back but not before nudging her awake and making a motion to her to drink it. After giving him an annoyed eye roll, she did as he said.
He took a sip from his own tea, before answering Feyre's question. "Think of the bargain's bond as a bridge between us-- and you. And at a end is a door to our respective minds. A shield. My innate talents allow me to slip through the mental shields of anyone I wish, with or without that bridge--unless they're very, very strong, or have trained extensively to keep those shields tight." He pointed a finger at Aadya, who was blowing on her hot tea, "like her, she even has a serpent guarding her mind. I cannot get past that." He playfully narrowed his eyes at the said woman, who gave him a small innocent smile. He then turned towards Feyre with a nonchalant expression, "Sometimes we hear them, sometimes we don't."
Feyre scowled, clenching her fork harder, before turning her glare to Rhysand. "And how often do you just rifle through my mind when my unwitting shields are down?" She aimed this question at Rhys, not worrying if Aadya had been scrummaging through her mind, and Rhysand clearly didn't miss that. But before he could answer, Aadya spoke up from her place as she looked outside the mountains of the Night Court.
"I cannot end the bargain that you have with us, but I can stop Rhys from having access to your mind, without your permission."
Feyre perks up at the new information and looks at Rhys with a smug look, before turning to Aadya with a hopeful look. "You will do that for me?"
"No."
Feyre's mouth opens to protest, or even plead if she has to but one look at Aadya's far-off look, she knew that she lost the argument. Her voice was defeated as she, looks between Aadya and Rhysand. "What do you both want with me? You said you'd tell me here. So tell me."
Rhys leaned back in his chair, folding his arms and looks at Aadya, a silent conversation happening between them and when Aadya gave a curt nod, he turned back to Feyre. "For this week? I want you to learn how to read."
♚✭♛
"No."
Aadya let out an audible groan, at the girl's persistence. Feyre still didn't budge after multiple times of trying from both Aadya and Rhys. Even Rhys, the mountain of patience was visibly getting annoyed and frustrated. "What else are you going to do with yourself? Paint? How's that going these days, Feyre?"
"What the hell does it even matter to you?"
"It serves various purposes of mine, of course."
"What. Purposes."
"You'll have to agree to work with us to find out, I'm afraid."
Feyre growled at both their statements, as she unknowingly folded the fork into a tangle of metal. When she sets it down on the table, Rhys chuckles. "Interesting." while Aadya murmurs under her breath, "That's not good." both of them heard her silent words, and Rhys turned to her with a narrowed eyes, Feyre's were filled with slight fear.
Rhys turned his curious eyes away from Aadya towards Feyre, then it drifted to the mangled fork. "Has anyone ever told you that you're rather strong for a High Fae?"
"Am I?"
"I'll take that as a no." He popped a piece of melon into his mouth. And then started filling another plate filled with food and handed it to Aadya who silently took it, without any argument, which made Rhys more suspicious. "Have you tested yourself against anyone?"
"Why would I?" Feyre snapped. She was enough of a wreck as it was.
"Because you were resurrected and reborn by the combined powers of the seven High Lords. But you were not waking up. . ." he turned to Aadya, who convieniently was eating her food, not meeting his eyes, "atleast not until Aadya did a spell, which no one knew anything about. And Aadya's self- righteous personality, might have come into play and she might have done something, reckless." his words were carefull, but the insinuation was clear. "If I were you, I'd be curious to see if anything else transferred to me during that process."
Before Feyre could deny the assumption, Aadya snapped at Rhys. "Nothing else transferred to her." She placed her half-eaten plate on the table and stood up, to probably leave. But Feyre watched as both Aadya and Rhysand went still as death. Aadya caught the scent of the same woman, from last night coming this way and now she defintely didn't want to be here. Rhysand's lazy grin returned as he leaned forward. "We have company. We'll discuss this later."
"No, we won't," Feyre replied as Aadya said at the same time, "I have to get out of here."
The quick, light footsteps sounded down the hall, and then she appeared. Her bright, golden hair was tied back in a casual braid, and the turquoise of her clothes offset her sun-kissed skin, making her partially glow in the morning light.
"Hello, hello," she chirped, her full lips parting in a dazzling smile as her rich brown eyes fixed on Aadya.
"Aadya, Feyre," Rhys said smoothly, "meet my cousin, Morrigan" a teasing look at Aadya, who matched it with a bored look. "Mor, meet these two lovely, and charming ladies. Feyre and. . .Aadya."
Mor's eyes sparked with recognition, as she gave Rhys a wide-eyed look, before stroding towards Aadya who was already standing in a guarded position. "Ah, the girl I've heard so much about. It is so nice to meet you." Aadya ignorned the first statement, as she regarded the woman in front of her. Her name seemed so familiar.
But before Aadya could get a word out, she was pulled into a bone-crushing hug. Aadya didn't know what to do with her hands pinned to her sides, so she just gave a awkward pat on her back. Mor pulled away and grinned rather fiendishly. "Your name sounds really familiar and not because Rhys couldn't stop talking about you. Have we met before?"
"No, I don't think so," her voice came out stiff, and strained as Rhys stood up in concern but didn't close the distance. "Liar," Mor said, but didn't push further as she helped herself to some tea and loaded her plate. "You both want nothing to do with us do you? And wicked Rhys is making you both sit here."
"You're. . .perky today, Mor," Rhys said.
Mor's eyes lifted to her cousin's face. "Forgive me for beingexcited about having company for once." She then acknowledged Feyre's presence, who was still gawking at Mor. "You must be Feyre. It's nice to meet you too." and Feyre just gave her an awkward smile.
"You could be attending your own duties," he said testily. Aadya glanced at him, questioningly. She had never seen Rhys. . .irked. Not this much atleast.
"I needed a break, and you told me to come here whenever I liked, so what better time than now, when you brought your two new friends to finally meet me?"
Aadya blinked, not knowing what to make of the statement or about someone else from her past coming back. She was brought out of her thoughts at Feyre's comment. "You two look nothing alike."
"Mor is my cousin in the loosest definition," he said. Mor grinned at him, as she devoured the slices of tomato and pale cheese. "But we were raised together. She's my only surviving family." and at the last sentence, Aadya's mind went blank as the vague memories of blood on her hands flashed in front of her eyes. But she pulled herself back to reality, by clenching her fists and using pain as her anchor.
"And as my only remaining relative," Rhys went on, "Mor believes she is entitled to breeze in and out of my life as she sees fit." Aadya looked up to find his eyes, stuck on her face filled with concern. He could probably see the inner turmoil she was having by her dificulty to breathe and clenched fists.
"So grumpy this morning," Mor said, plopping two muffins onto her plate.
"I didn't see you Under the Mountain," Aadya found herself saying, she could atleast get some answers about what Rhys was hiding from her, for so long.
"Oh, I wasn't there," she said. "I was in--"
"Enough, Mor," Rhys said, his voice laced with quiet thunder. While Aadya said at the same time, "Do tell." she could feel her temper raising, as to why she didn't know. "What is Rhys hiding from me? from Prythain? hmm? I can feel the strong magic somewhere along this side." Aadya pointed to the west side window, where she was standing before. "Tell me, please. because I can always feel him and his magic, however far I am." The two cousins were still, as they looked at eachother with a knowing look.
Aadya was getting tried from not sleeping, and she could feel her magic pushing against her, trying to cross her resistance for a release. And Aadya was not keen on having another episode in front of any of them. So she pushed her way through Rhys' mind, through the bridge and not directly. She knows she might not be able to get past his shield.
"I don't care, what your hiding Rhysand. If you don't tell me, why you called me back here using that bargain. I'm going back. I have a kid and a kingdom to take care of back home. When you finally decide to tell me, the actual reason, send it down the bond. Until then don't try to contact me. I will be at the Day Court." She ignored the look Rhys sent on her way, or his entrance inside her mind as she turned towards Mor, who was watching the interaction with curiosity and even some amusement.
"I'm sorry about that. You just caught me on a bad day."
Mor gave her an understanding smile. "Whenever you want company, just give a shout." Aadya was pulled into another hug by Mor, which she actually returned this time. "I might just do you a favour and throw him off the balcony for you." Mor said with a mischeivious smile, as she looked at Rhys who was watching their interaction, with an unreadable face. Aadya gave her a amused smile, as she parted ways.
"It was nice to meet you too, Morrigan."
♚
✭♛
Sorry about the delay for this chapter.
Filler Chapters are a real bitch to write.
Vote. Comment.Share. ❣️
Thank you for 6.8k+ reads. So grateful 💝