Flames of Cobalt and Crimson

The Infiltration

Cassian had been gone for five days and in that time, despite increased efforts, my spies had still not managed to bring me one single word from the Court of Nightmares. The only interesting tidbit I'd gleaned was the fact that Eris had not been seen in the Autumn court in quite some time. Rumors varied on the duration of his absence, but the consensus was the same: he was not currently in residence.

Rhys pretended nonchalance when he asked me about the Hewn City in every meeting we had, and he had seemed especially troubled by the news of Eris. I knew we were both wondering the same thing. Keir had the resources and temperament to present a problem for us if he decided to, and Eris wanted to inherit his father's title sooner rather than later. The fact of his still-living father notwithstanding.

The complete absence of information combined with the disappearance of the Autumn Court's heir was deeply unsettling. I needed to speak to Cassian about this, but he was off hiding somewhere. That's not fair , I mentally chided myself. My frustration distracted me from what I suspected Cassian was currently trying to process. It hadn't taken a huge leap of logic to imagine what might have occurred that morning with Nesta, and my heart ached for my friend.

I had winnowed to the street outside the town house that day to see if Elain wanted to chat in the garden, and hopefully speak to Cassian to discuss whether he had any information. I already knew Mor had nothing, and I would never have asked her anyway, but Cassian hated Keir and that court as much as I did and I could've used his help with this.

Just like the night before, however, as soon as I had appeared outside the house, that thing inside me had materialized and then violently yanked , harder than I had ever felt before. I had physically stumbled forward, the first step toward the house involuntary. My mind had started spooling up horrible ideas about what could cause that jerking feeling, but before I could spiral too much the front door had flown inward and Nesta had stormed out, heading straight for me.

Cassian had simply stood in the open doorway, his face an uncharacteristic mix of devastation, grief, and shock that I hadn't seen him wear in a very long time. I don't think I had seen that exact expression since the day I rescued Mor from the Autumn Court. Nesta had brushed past me without a glance, and Cassian had simply flown away without speaking to me. I had searched the house, surprised to find no one else present, and had been so preoccupied that I hadn't noticed any changes to the feeling in my chest until I abruptly registered that it was gone. And it had not returned.

The news about Eris changed things, and now I would have to act without Cassian's help. I needed to make a personal trip to the Court of Nightmares.

I folded the darkness around us to pass through the world, and we appeared in the sky high above the Hewn City and about two miles south. What I did wasn't truly winnowing, but that's what I still called it, for lack of a more accurate term.

My two spies - who were each clutching one of my scarred hands - materialized with me, and we dropped a short distance with a lurch as their weight dragged me down and they began to flap their wings. They were trained for this, and the moment they needed to orient themselves was expected. Even so, it was an uncomfortable feeling to be dragged down in midair. I had needed to train for that maneuver, too.

I employed many spies, the majority of whom were not Illyrian, but we'd needed wings for tonight's task. I had chosen Dox and Caspan, two of my best Shadows, who had the additional advantage of being very fast and very quiet, both in the air and on the ground. Dox, the elder, was on my left, and Caspan, with his youthful face and crooked nose, was on my right. They bore the same general traits that most Illyrians possessed, with dark hair and tan skin, and wore black leather armor similar to mine. They wore no siphons, their speed and immortal agility their best qualifications for what we would do tonight.