A Court of Light and Embers

Chapter Nineteen

Life under the water wasn't completely horrible. Their food, for example, was quite delicious. There was fish, obviously, but also rare and exotic delicacies such as seaweed, deep-river oysters, and so on.

They hadn't been questioned any further, and Tharion hadn't been to visit since Feyre sent her letter. They she hadn't received anything from Rhysand, Aelin could tell that she was waiting eagerly for a reply.

It was on their seventh night when something happened.

They were relaxing on their bed, discussing their next move, when Tharion burst into the room. They shot upwards, concern on their faces.

"There's been a mandatory broadcast from the Umbra Mortis," he said, his face hard. Aelin and Feyre turned to each-other, frowning. Tharion glared at them. "Let's go."

They quickly swam after him, darting out of their little home and towards the main circle of homes. In the middle was a large and spacious gathering area, with a large sheet of glass erected in the centre. They stopped in the front and centre before it, just as a blinding glow erupted.

Feyre covered her eyes, but Aelin stared straight through it as the light faded. What she saw made her swear viciously.

"Feyre," she hissed, too low for anyone else to hear. She blinked away the glare, then appeared to swallow her throat as she saw Rhysand, bounded and bloodied.

His hair was matted with blood, and his lip was cut and swollen. One eye was closed completely, and blood dripped from his temple. Aelin gripped her arm hard.

He opened his mouth, and a raspy, groaning voice came out. "Feyre Archeon and Aelin Galathynius. The Umbra Mortis has a message for you." Aelin could feel Feyre trembling in her grasp. "He says that you both have to turn yourselves in, or he'll kill me. Please." The screen shut off.

Feyre let out a shuddering breath as murmurs started around them. Aelin quickly dragged them behind a building made from ancient stone. "Feyre," she hissed. "We can't do-"

"It wasn't real," she breathed, swiping under eyes. "It was fake."

Aelin sighed hard, rubbing the spot between her brows. "I know."

Feyre blinked red eyes. "You did?"

"Rhysand doesn't know how to travel between worlds. Only Rowan and I. And, anyways, I'm fairly sure his ego and pride are large enough that he would never beg for help."

Feyre wrapped her arms around herself. "I knew it wasn't him, but just seeing him face..." She froze. "How did they get a picture of his face."

Aelin stewed on this for a moment, then swore. "That memory you but in Quinlan's brain. Rhysand must've been in it. They must have created a message using that image of him."

"We were so stupid to put our trust in her," Feyre buried her face in her hands. "I just want to go home."

Aelin sighed. "Trust me, so do I. But first, we need to sort out what to do next."

~

The next three hours of that night were spent devising our plan. Aelin was a wicked genius, and I had to admit, I was extremely impressed. I was still shaken up from seeing that fake message from Rhys, but I knew I had to be strong. For him. For Mor. For Cassian and Azriel and Amren. For my family.

The plan was risky, and would require skill, speed and a lot of luck. But there was a high chance with Aelin's experience, my powers and our combined skills, that it would work.

Before the sun rose above the surface the next day, we had slipped out of that sunken home, leaving a note pinned to the dresser claiming we had continued to travel to other colonies in the west. Our tails propelled us to the top, making our ascent quick and without much effort.

My head broke the surface, and I swallowed down lungful's of cool, salty air. Aelin sighed, lifting her tail fin out of the water. "I'll admit; I'm going to miss this."

I shook my head, a smile on my lips. "Let's just get back on land. I want my legs back."

We quickly swam to the shore, where I sighed as I shifted back to my normal form. My naked body lying in the foam, I concentrated and focused on my shadow magic. Like Rhys always did, I pulled a pile of clothes from in between the folds of the universe. As I changed, wringing out my hair, Aelin dragged herself through the sand and towards the pile of sand under the bench. She swiped away the sand from the painted rock, chanted a few things, then a bright red glow surrounded her. When it cleared, she was back to her normal Fae body. She recovered her sand-logged clothes from the sand, burnt away the grains, then wriggled into them.

The sun was slowly rising as I winnowed us into a nearby, abandoned warehouse. Though Aelin still had some knives she had managed to stash Cauldron-knows-where, we still needed more weapons. After hunting through the boxes and crates, we came up with some metal tools and odd bits and bobs. Aelin and I melted them down to a pool of ore, then she masterfully used her fire to mould them into smooth daggers and knives. The weapons were warm and heavy on my side as we hurried from the building.

The sun was well and truly in the sky as we broke into a clothing store, using Aelin's lock picking kit. We raided the aisles, burning our old clothes to ash as to leave behind no evidence. We also found some wigs out the back, providing an even better disguise.

When we slipped out the back door, blending into the early-rising beings, I could barely recognise Aelin with her long black hair, dark pants and leather jacket, with a white shirt beneath. I hadn't changed, keeping my haggard appearance. A small sheath under my shirt carried my makeshift knives.

Aelin's telling turquoise eyes were hidden behind a large pair of tinted glasses. "We need go back to the 33rd Legion," she murmured as we strode pass restaurants. "Stick to the plan, and we'll be alright."

I nodded just as we reached said Legion. Instead of walking in, however, we abruptly turned down an alleyway. I looked at Aelin for permission, and she nodded. I swiftly grabbed a knife, resting it against the base of her throat as I trapped her back against my front. I winnowed us straight into the front office, where the security guard leapt back, a gun in his hand.

"Take me to the Umbra Mortis," I hissed, shaking Aelin slightly, "or she dies."

Aelin whimpered, a realistic sob working its way out of her. "Please," she whined.

The male slowly lowered his weapon, and his eyes darted over my shoulder. I swiftly summoned a shield around us as there was several loud bangs. Small metal pieces clattered to the ground. I pressed the knife a little harder into her throat, drawing a bead of blood. "I said," I repeated coolly, "take me to the Umbra Mortis."

The guard gulped, before walking shakily down a hallway. I dragged Aelin along with me, keeping up the act of keeping an innocent hostage.

After a few minutes, he stopped in front of a door, swiping a metal pad with a card. The door fizzed open, and revealed Hunt sitting at a desk. He shot up, hissing as I smoothly stepped into the room, the door closing behind me.

"What the fuck-"

Aelin ripped off her wig, grinning like a mad-woman. "Surprise again, bitch."