-------Thank you all so much for reading! I hope you have a happy holiday season! Just a reminder that these worlds were created by the wonderful Sarah J. Maas :) ----------
Evalin could hear voices speaking, but she couldn't decipher what they were saying.
Light was making its way into her eyes, but they were cemented shut. Where was she? What had happened?
Wake up, Evalin! She screamed at herself.
She pulled and pulled and pushed and pushed but she could not gain control of her own body. Wake up, wake up, wake up!
And she drifted off.
❖
Evalin woke again. Wiggled her fingers. Her toes. Took a deep breath. Sat up.
She was in the biggest bed she had ever seen in her entire life, with silky, gray sheets and a fluffy, black comforter. There was a dresser on the wall across from the bed and a desk on the wall to her left. She could see a closed door which she assumed led to the bathing room and—
There, sitting in a chair to her right, was the most gorgeous male she had ever seen in her life. He had black hair that seemed to shine blue and sharp features: a pointed nose, high cheekbones, a chiseled jaw, pointed ears. He was fae. She scanned his body to find him wearing a tight, black shirt that showed obvious abs and biceps. Swaggering off of his hips were gray pants with a belt and a scabbard.
Evalin silently crept towards the edge of the bed, slipped her arm off the side, and wrapped her hand around the hilt of the male's knife.
She painstakingly slowly began to pull it out of its scabbard. Slowly, slowly.
Suddenly, a hand seized her petite wrist, not ungently.
"And just what do you think you are doing?" the man seemed to purr.
Evalin swallowed and dragged her gaze up to his eyes. Beautiful violet eyes met her own.
"Where the hell am I?"
"You're in Velaris, Princess." Evalin's eyes narrowed. How did he know she was a princess?
"Am I supposed to know where that is?" she questioned, yanking her arm from his grasp.
He quirked a brow. "You don't?"
Evalin sniffed and began to stand, only to find that a searing pain shot all across her front. She stumbled, but before her knees could hit the ground, she was in the male's arms. She blushed as she realized she was wearing just her underthings, her whole front plastered in bandages. The male noticed and smirked at her.
"Just sit down, Princess. Let me get someone to help you." he said as he sat her back on the bed.
"No! I need to get home." she pushed herself again, but fell, weak, and settled back onto the pillows with a glare.
"That was quite the slashing you took." the male noted.
"I'm fine." Evalin said stubbornly and averted her gaze from the beautiful male's.
"Stay here," the male said as he stood. "I'll be back with people who can help you in just a moment. My name's Nyx, by the way."
Evalin's eyes followed him as he walked from the room and shut the door with a gentle click behind him. Evalin waited until her fae ears could no longer hear his footsteps before she agonizingly pulled herself from the bed, and stood on shaking legs. Evalin ripped off the bandages, being left with just her bra and panties on.
She made her way across the room to the dresser and opened it. Nothing. She made her way to the desk. Nothing. She searched the whole room. Nothing, nothing, nothing. She heard multiple pairs of footsteps and hid behind the door, hoping to surprise her kidnappers.
The door creaked open and she prepared to strike the male, just to find a heavily pregnant female opening the door. She was perhaps the shortest female she'd ever seen in her life. She had short black hair and she seemed completely harmless.
"Princess?" Nyx called as he stepped past the threshold of the door.
The pregnant female whirled around and Evalin found herself peering into the most unnerving pair of eyes she had ever seen. So not completely harmless.
"Sit down, girl. You're going to worsen your wounds." Evalin blinked at the female and watched as the gorgeous male whirled around and met her eyes.
"Princess, I told you to stay there!" he shouted as he pointed to the bed.
"Oh, leave her alone, Nyx!" a female voice called from the hall. "I'm sure she's terribly frightened to have woken up in a strange house with a strange male staring at her."
The body to the voice stepped into the room and Evalin knew instantly that she was of some relation to the male she had awoken to. While she had beautiful golden-brown hair and gray eyes, and he had black hair and violet eyes, they were structured the same. They had the same nose, the same jaw, the same pouty lips.
Evalin still had her fists up, prepared to fight.
"We aren't going to hurt you, love," the female said. "We just want to help."
When Evalin didn't move, the female ordered Nyx and the pregnant female out of the room and then steadily handed Evalin a fresh pair of clothes, as if she were a frightened animal.
The female stepped into the hall and gave Evalin the privacy to change, which she greatly appreciated. She pulled on the pants of the set and found them to be made of the softest material she had ever worn. She pulled the shirt on and looked at herself in a mirror. She had a strip of midriff showing, which she somewhat liked. If she had not been injured, it would be showing off her abs rather than her fading pink scars.
A knock sounded at the door and Evalin retreated a few steps until she was standing against the far wall. It was the female with the beautiful hair. She stepped in and shut the door.
"Hello," she began. "My name is Feyre. I have no weapons on me. You are safe."
Evalin was aware that "no weapons" did not mean "safe" and opted to stay put.
"Can you tell me your name?" she asked, not unkindly.
The first name she could think of came barreling off of her tongue. "Lillian Gordaina."
Her mother had told her of the time where she used that name in the castle of Adarlan, as the king's champion. Oh, how her hatred for that name was terrifying.
The female nodded, though she knew that she didn't believe her. "I am the High Lady of the Night Court. We are going to help you get back home."
Evalin nodded, still unsure if she should trust the female.
"Can you come with me downstairs? You can meet my mate and my family and we can get some food into you." she prompted.
Evalin agreed, if only for the sake of food, and followed the female out of the room. She noted that she kept her full back exposed, as if in good faith, which just made Evalin trust her less.
She followed the female down a long hall to find a beautiful staircase. Feyre led the way down it and paused at the bottom. "This may be a little overwhelming for you. There are quite a few members in my family. If you want to leave the room at any time, don't hesitate to tell me."
With that, Feyre led Evalin to a door and pushed it open. Inside, Evalin found herself gazing at a long dining room table. She counted four females and four males, including Nyx. Two of the females looked so similar to Feyre that she'd wager they were sisters, they all had the same golden-brown hair, though one sister looked cold and sharp and mean with piercing blue-gray eyes while the other looked warm and soft and kind with brown eyes. There was the tiny female with the cropped black hair, and beside her a beautiful female with golden hair and chocolaty warm eyes, wearing a beautiful red A-line gown. There was a male who looked exactly like Nyx, and she guessed that to be Feyre's mate, he had the same hue of black hair as Nyx along with the same strange violet eyes. Standing at his side were two of the scariest males Evalin had ever seen. They were huge with wings flared out behind them and weapons strapped to every inch of their bodies. One had long brown hair in a man-bun and had a smirk on his face. The other almost made Evalin shudder. He was surrounded by shadows and had a haunted look in his eye. She decided then that she would not like to upset him.
Evalin made sure her scent held no fear as she looked down her nose at those in her presence. Her mother always said that no matter your fear, appear the strongest. Feyre began speaking.
"This is my mate, Rhysand, High Lord of the Night Court," she began as she stepped up next to the male. "You already know our son, Nyx. These are my sisters, Nesta and Elain," she pointed to the mean looking one then to the kind one. "This is Nesta's mate, Cassian, and our spymaster, Azriel," at that, she pointed to the brooding males with the glowing stones. They offered her no smiles. "You know Amren, our second, and this is Morrigan, our third." she finished.
"You can call me Mor." the female in red winked.
Evalin nodded, but her expressions did not shift.
"Please, sit!" Feyre exclaimed as she took a seat towards the end of the table.
Her mate sat across from her, their son next to him. To Feyre's left were the spymaster, the kind looking sister, and the pregnant female and to Nyx's right was the other winged male, his mate, and at the very end, the blonde, Mor. Evalin took a seat at the head of the table, in between the High Lord and Lady. She inched herself closer to Feyre.
"Can you tell us how you got here?" the High Lord asked.
Evalin averted her gaze to the table.
"If you cooperate, we won't hurt you!" the winged male with the long hair shouted from down the table. Evalin flinched.
"You should do well not to hurt me anyways." she hissed through clenched teeth.
"So she speaks!" the same male jested. Evalin looked him straight in the eye. He had the decency to look away first.
"What's your true name?" Feyre asked.
Evalin pondered the harm in telling the female. On one hand, her name might mean nothing to them. On the other, they may realize who she is and may take her home sooner. She weighed the benefits of telling them the truth, and decided she would.
"My name is Evalin." she stated.
Feyre smiled warmly. "It's a pleasure, Evalin."
"Where are you from?" Nyx demanded.
"Terrasen." she said snippily. Silence greeted her answer.
"Maybe she's delusional." said the long haired male.
"She's not delusional, you idiot! She's from a different world." the blonde female, Morrigan, stated as she rolled her eyes.
"Enough," Amren growled.
"How did you get here?" Rhysand asked her.
"I cannot say." Evalin promised her Uncle Dorian that she would never tell anyone about Wyrdmarks and she intended to stick with that promise.
"Who taught you to create portals?" Amren asked. She did not let her surprise show, and glued her mouth shut.
"What are your intentions for our world?" the stoic-faced sister demanded. Evalin looked straight ahead.
"Are you here to harm us?" the nice one questioned. Evalin remained unblinkingly attached to the far wall.
"Evalin, I'm going to tell you something right now," Rhysand began. "I am a daemati. I can break into your mind at any moment I decide. Whether I do or not is entirely up to you. But you must answer our questions."
"No. Some of the questions you asked are better left unanswered" she growled through a smirk as she slumped back in her chair, her arms crossed.
"We must ensure our home and family is safe. I really don't want to do this."
"Then don't." Evalin stated, as if it were simple. And then she felt it, the gentle probing that felt like claws. Rubbing against her brain. "Get out of my head!" she snarled as she leaned forward and banged her hands against the table.
He let his claws drag along her shields of white ice. She blasted fire at him. He merely raised a brow.
"I promise I am not here to harm anyone," Evalin began. Rhysand leaned forward. "I like to explore worlds. I wasn't expecting to be attacked by that thing."
Feyre frowned and locked eyes with Rhysand. Evalin knew they were having a silent conversation. She looked to Nyx. For some strange reason, in this room full of dangerous strangers, Evalin felt that she would be safe as long as he was with her.
"Evalin," she turned to Feyre. "We promise that we will help you to get home, but we must get the answers we desire."
Evalin dipped her chin.
"Again I ask, girl. Who taught you to create portals?" Amren demanded as she put her palms flat on the table.
Evalin breathed through her nose and contemplated her answer. "My uncle."
"Who is your uncle?" the eerie winged male questioned.
"A king of my realm."
"What is he?" Amren shot out.
"That is irrelevant. All you must know is that my uncle taught me to use Wyrdmarks, I created a portal to explore this world, as I have done to countless others. I am not here to harm you, your family, or your people. I am here to learn, that is all. I will not answer any more of your questions." and with that, Evalin sat pin-straight and leveled the glare of Adarlan's Assassin upon each and every person in the room.
"Surely we can take what dear Evalin has told us in good faith." Nyx stated as he glanced at her.
"Nyx, you know that is not how this works. We must know more." Rhysand pointed out.
"Father, we can trust her! I saved her life, she has no reason to attack us."
"Unless it was planned." Azriel said, his tone barely above a whisper.
"You think I planned for myself to be attacked?" Evalin demanded with a cold rage in her voice. "I am only here because Nyx had the decency to save me, no reason more. I just want to go home."
Feyre reached her arm out to put her hand over Evalin's. "We will help you, sweetheart. I promise we will let you go home, we just have to ensure that we will be safe."
Evalin raised a brow, as if to say: my cards are on the table. Make your decision.
So Rhysand, High Lord of the Night Court, made his decision.