A Court Of Flames and Endless Darkness

Chapter 5

Feyre

   "Why do I have a feeling you played matchmaker tonight," Rhys said.
   Feyre gave herself a satisfied smile, "It's for the best, and Mor completely agrees with me."
   Rhys snorted, "I think Rayila's more likely to kill Nyx than fall in love with him in that house."
   "You're probably right, but it will at least be fun to watch." Feyre dipped her feet in the Sidra River from the dock they sat on.
   "It would be more entertaining if we locked Nesta, Rayila, and Amren in a house."
   She chuckled, "I would prefer not to have half of Velaris get destroyed." Feyre kicked the water and thought of something, "When does Amren come back from the Summer Court?"
   "Five to six days. Why?" Rhys said and put an arm around her waist.
   Feyre scooted closer to him, "Just curious." They fell into a comfortable silence and she savored the moment of quiet.
   It lasted only a few minutes before Rhys interrupted it, "I bet ten gold marks, that they end up being mates."
   Feyre laughed into his arm, "Make it twenty, and I bet that they aren't mates and Nyx tries to kiss her before the weeks through."
   "Deal."

Nyx

   "Who would be faster? You with your wings or me in my fae form," Rayila asked, then shoved a piece of toast into her mouth.
   Nyx leaned forward on his chair in the dinning room where they ate breakfast. "I would with certainty, love."
   She pressed her lips together, "I wouldn't be so certain."
   "Are you proposing a race?" It was no doubt why she brought up the question.
   "Of course."
   Five minutes later they stand on the front lawn of the townhouse with Rayila finishing braiding her sliver hair. Today, she wore something more casual and relaxed, one of his mother's navy blue tops and high waisted black pants. The top was short enough that it exposed her tan midriff.
   "The race will be simple. Whoever lands on the tallest balcony on the House of Wind first wins," Nyx said and positioned himself for taking off and let his wings louse.
   "No winnowing," Rayila told him.
   Nyx flashed her a smile, "Wouldn't dream of it princess. On the count of three. One. Two. Three." Nyx pushed off the ground and flew as fast as his wings would let him.
   But of course, Rayila was faster. No matter how he bent the wind to his favor or how hard he flapped, Nyx could never beat the hawk a hundred feet in front of him.
   When he got to the House of Wind, Rayila was sprawled out on the ledge, "What took you so long? I've been here forever."
   He folded his wings back and scowled at her. "Very funny, love. Just get inside. We have a library to search through."
   Nyx stormed in the building, and made his way to the library, but not before Cassian noticed him and his pinched expression. "Why is he mad? What did you do," he asked Rayila who shadowed after him.
   She grinned at the general, "I beat him in a race and now he's pissed."
Cassian barked out a laugh, making Rayila beam at him and let us pass to the library.
Thousands of books made up the library under the House of Wind, and nearly three dozen priestesses worked here to preserve the books. Nyx didn't know why, but he looked to Rayila to see her opinion.
She shrugs, "I have bigger." Nyx tried to imagine a big library than this, and failed. The selves were numerous and towered over his height. Rayila traces her finger along the spines as we pass them and walked to a priestess at the end of the row. The priestess had a long scar running down her face from her cheek down to the bottom of her neck. "Can you bring us books about portals and lists of those who could create them?"
The priestess nodded wordlessly and disappeared down the row. Rayila and Nyx found a cherrywood desk with plus velvet chairs and the priestess return. She brought six more priestess, each carrying a stack of books.
So they read and read. They read and skimmed through page after page, changing positions about every hour. They read lying on the desk. They read by the dark empty pit. On pillows. Even Rayila used his lap as a cushion for her head.
They found nothing, and the priestess kept bringing more books.