Aelin didn't quite know what to make of the female in front of her. She was obviously Fae, with her otherworldly beauty and arched ears. She didn't appear to have the elongated canines that Aelin herself did, however. The female's golden-brown hair seemed alive in the still-lingering glow of Aelin's fire. Something about her struck Aelin as familiar, but she couldn't think about that now.
"That's a long name." The female remarked. Aelin smirked. She thought it best to give off an air of importance for now, at least until she'd deemed the female non-threatening. She certainly didn't look very intimidating. Although her crown was another story. It looked to be made entirely of diamond, and Aelin found herself staring at it.
"And who might you be? I don't believe I've ever seen you in Erilea before." Aelin marveled at how easy it was for her to slip behind her swaggering mask again. She felt like she was back at the Assasin's Keep, interrogating another victim. Only, without the violence.
The female's brows knit together. "I'm Feyre."
Aelin waited for more, but she received nothing. "Hm. I'm disappointed. I expected more of a mighty name from a queen."
"I'm not a queen." Feyre replied. "I-" suddenly, the room they were in began to shake, the white walls vibrating. Aelin glanced around, then met Feyre's eyes again.
"This isn't you, is it?" Feyre asked. Aelin shook her head. The shaking slowly subsided, and Aelin put her hands on her hips.
"If you aren't a queen, why do you wear a crown?" She asked. Feyre looked away from her. Aelin could see this female was used to keeping secrets. Just as she was about to ask another question, she felt an odd sensation at the back of her head. It took her only a moment to realize what it was.
"NO!" She roared. She lashed out a hand, sending a spiral of flame straight for Feyre's blue-gray eyes. Feyre ducked just in time, but Aelin launched herself at her, knocking her to the ground. Feyre growled, and suddenly she was gone. Aelin whirled around just in time to see Feyre aiming a fist at her face. Aelin swung backward but tripped over her dress.
"Shit!" She yelled, throwing the long fabric behind her. Why'd her dream self have to be wearing this dress?
"You could tell I was entering your mind." Feyre noted, still in a defensive stance. She didn't look happy to be wearing a dress either. And hers didn't allow as much movement. "How?"
"Is that what you were doing? I couldn't tell." Aelin replied sarcastically. "Forgive me, Majesty, but you aren't very sly."
"I told you, I'm not a queen." Feyre said.
"Then what are you?" Aelin demanded, summoning more flame to her hands. She wished she had Goldryn.
Feyre's face twisted into a scowl, and she raised her hands as well. Water and fire appeared in her palms, swirling together to create a maelstrom of elements.
"I am High Lady of the Night Court. And I don't know who you think you are, but-" Feyre suddenly stopped dead. Her magic evaporated. She was staring at something. Aelin followed her gaze and saw the Amulet of Orynth sitting against her chest.
"The stag." Feyre murmured. She took a step toward Aelin, as if forgetting they'd been trying to kill each other a minute ago.
"What of it?"Aelin didn't move, but caused her burning hands to flare a bit. Feyre didn't seem to notice them, and kept moving towards her.
"That symbol burned in the streets of Velaris today." Feyre said. Aelin had no idea where Velaris was, but she could tell it was a place that meant a lot to Feyre. Feyre met Aelin's eyes again, the fight long forgotten. "Who are you?"
"I've already told you. I'm-"
"You don't need to repeat your strangely long name, please." Feyre interrupted. "What I mean is, who are you, to be here in my dream and save me from a magical fire that was also present in my home today?"
Aelin blinked. "What did you say?"
"I said, the fire you saved me from just now appeared in real life today. In Velaris." Feyre looked genuinely concerned for Aelin's health as Aelin staggered back a step.
"And where exactly is Velaris?" Aelin managed to say.
"Why?" Feyre asked. "Actually, while we're on that subject, where is this Terrasen you say you rule? I've never even heard of it before. Is that stag-" She pointed to the Amulet of Orynth- "The symbol for your kingdom?"
"Yes." Aelin said, straightening her back and crossing her arms. "Tell me, Feyre... does this Velaris happen to be set between mountains? Mountains with three stars crowning the top?"
Feyre nodded warily. "Why?" She repeated. "What's that have to do with anything?"
Aelin couldn't meet Feyre's eyes anymore. If what she was saying was true, then Lysandra's suspicions had been confirmed. The Lock was broken. Feyre was from another world. A world that was now being affected by the same magic her own was.
But Aelin couldn't fathom how the Lock had been broken. It wasn't like it was an object someone could steal. It was nothing more than a thought, magic and memories and life woven into a proverbial block that shut all doors to other worlds.
"Feyre." Aelin said, forcing herself to look at her. "You're not from Erilea, are you?"
"No. I'm from Prythian. Where the hell is Erilea?" Feyre looked rather annoyed by all these questions with no explanation from Aelin. But Aelin sure as hell wasn't going to tell her anything yet. She had no idea why the gods had come after Feyre. For those voices who'd controlled the fire had most definitely been the gods. She'd only felt presences like that a few precious times before, and it felt the exact same. Cold, heartless, and cruel. Feyre must be powerful if they'd deemed her worthy of their attentions. Feyre Cursebreaker, they'd called her. Perhaps in her world, she was even more powerful than Aelin herself.
The room began to shake once more, and this time Feyre fell over from the force. Aelin tried to catch her, but her fingers passed right through her arm.
"I think I'm waking up." Feyre said, meeting Aelin's eyes again. "Was this real? Are you real?"
"I'll explain everything if we ever meet again, but if we don't..." Aelin paused, not sure what to tell her. "Be careful, Feyre Cursebreaker. The gods are not done with you yet."
Feyre vanished in a flash of light, and Aelin was alone. She looked down at her own hands and saw that they were turning transparent as well. She closed her eyes...
-----------------------------------
When Aelin opened her eyes again, the first thing she saw was Rowan standing over her, his brow knit in a heavy scowl. The minute he saw her staring at him, his face collapsed into an expression of relief. Before she could even sit up, he'd pulled her forward in a tight embrace.
"Thank the gods, Fireheart. She's awake!" He yelled off to the side. Aelin heard footsteps running towards them, and saw Aedion, Lysandra, Elide, and the entire rest of her court rushing towards her. They were closely followed by Chaol, Dorian, and Yrene. Manon was nowhere to be found.
"What's wrong? What happened?" Aelin demanded. She noted the grave looks they were all giving her. "And why are you all gawking at me like that?"
"Aelin..." Lysandra said, stepping forward. There were tears in her emerald green eyes. "You've been asleep for three days. We were beginning to think you wouldn't wake up."
BEAUTIFUL art by Starbitart!!
Ok ya'll, so you know Black Friday starts tonight, right? Well, for the first time EVER I'm actually SO EXCITED!!!! There is this AMAZING bookish website that sells all things fantasy books, Tshirts and sweatshirts and all kinds of stuff. It's called Blissfullybookish.com, I HIGHLY recommend checking it out sometime this weekend. Their Black Friday sales go from 12pm EST TONIGHT to Monday morning. They have all kinds of fandom merch there, not just everything SJM. They have Six of Crows, Serpent and Dove, a lot of Cassandra Clare stuff, and more!! I personally will be buying one of these:
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