A court of Night and Fire

the inner circle family dinner

Feyre POV

Rhysand pulls me close to him briefly as we arrive at the river house
Nyx and Ash are going to love her he says down the bond
Of course they are. I have a feeling everyone will.
Do you trust her?
I do. I didn't go into her mind but I could feel it. She wasn't lying. 
Rhysand thought for a moment. I was right, the worlds are connected. 

I smiled up at him and he leaned down to kiss my brow. I feel sorry for her being pulled away from her family and her home like that.
We'll try to find a way to get her back. But if not, I'd imagine we can give her a home here.
Only if she wants one.

We break apart and I take Asterin's hand and lead her into the house. I found some leggings and a black sweater for her out of my old clothes from when I first came to the night court. She'd braided her blonde hair back and I felt fascinated by her eyes. Turquoise ringed with gold. 

I led her through the hallway and into the dining room where the others were already waiting. Silence fell as we entered. Cassian was sat next to Nesta at the far end of the table. Gwyn and Azriel sat opposite them. Nyx and Ash were lounging next to Cassian, both sitting up straight when they saw Asterin enter. I smirked slightly and watched Asterin scan the room quickly, taking in the two illyrian warriors and all but dismissing Nyx and Ash.

"everyone this is Asterin" Rhysand says, glancing to her. "Hi Asterin, i'm Cassian" Cass says, standing up and walking over to shake her hand "Cassian is the general of the night court armies" I explain to Asterin as she shakes his hand. Nesta gets up to join him so Cassian introduces her "this is my mate and wife Nesta" Asterin nods in greeting. Cass and Nesta take a couple of steps backwards as Nyx and Ash approach. "I'm Ash" he says, his hazel eyes meeting her turquoise ones "my son" Cassian explains.

"And I'm Nyx" Nyx says, his violet eyes gleaming as he takes her in. "my son and heir to the night court" I say when Asterin turns to me for explanation. Ash grabs Nyx and leads him back to their seats where they appear to have a silent conversation mind to mind. I smirk slightly. Typical Illyrians. Azriel and Gwyn approach next "I'm Gwyn" she says, smiling "I'm one of the valkyries" "I'll explain later" I say in response to her confused expression. "I'm Azriel" Az says, smiling slightly. I can see he's hidden his shadows slightly, although one still curls around his neck. "I'm the spymaster" "nice to meet you all" Asterin says, smiling. 

"you still haven't met all of us" Cassian points out. He has a point Rhys says to me. I wonder what Amren will make of her. "I've already told them everything they need to know" I say to her as I lead her over to the table. "are you really from another world?" Nyx asks, unable to help himself. "yes" Asterin replies, glancing over to him. I lead Asterin over to sit next to Azriel who glances to me in silent question. Az, you can't scare her  I reassure him. Azriel doesn't seem convinced. Az, the first thing she did this morning when she saw me was draw knives. He looked torn between admiration and anger. It's my fault, I scared her, I remind him and he settles down, smiling at Asterin slightly. 

I take a seat to Asterin's left with Rhys on my other side. Once everyone starts eating, the usual banter begins. Nyx and Ash quieter than usual, probably due to the conversation they're having mind to mind about Asterin. Cassian is the first to address her "so, Asterin, do you know how to fight?" Asterin flashes him a grin "of course. I have been trained since I was born" Cass grinned "so, if you're staying , you'll need to continue training, right?" It took all my effort not to laugh. This feels familiar I say to Rhys. I remember the first time I met Cassian, when he offered to train me.

"well, yeah, I guess so" Asterin replies. "Well, I reckon I could teach you a thing or two" Cassian says, still grinning. Asterin just raises her eyebrows slightly "who says she wants to be trained by you?" Nesta cuts in. "in case you've forgotten Nesta, I trained you. And Feyre" "doesn't mean you have to train her, besides, what if she kicks your ass for a change?" points out Gwyn. Asterin smiles slightly. Cassian sees it and smirks "if you think you can beat me Asterin, go ahead" Asterin looks at him, grinning "I guess we'll find out" is all she says. I watch Azriel smile slightly beside her.

"so what do you normally do in your world then?" Ash asks her. Asterin shrugs "it depends really. I usually train in the mornings with my brother. The afternoons usually depend on what mood I'm in. Sometimes I'll read, other times I'll go down to the wyverns or the horses and sometimes I just fly" "fly?" questions Cass, confused. "yeah, either with the wyverns and occasionally the Rukks if Nesryn and Sartaq are there but usually just by myself" At the shared confused expressions she explains "in our world, fae have animal forms. Most have one, I have two - a hawk or a wolf. I fly a lot in my hawk form with my father." 

"so you can fly on you own?" asks Nyx, smirking slightly. He's planning something. "in my hawk form, yes" "what are wyverns and Ruks?" asked Gwyn. "well, to put it briefly, Ruks are like massive birds and wyverns are like dragons" "and you ride them?" I ask. I can only imagine the size of a wyvern. Sitting on one does not sound particularly appealing. "yep. I spend a lot of time training the younger wyverns." "if you ever get back to your own world, I want you to show me one" says Nesta, her lips tugging up slightly. Most likely at the thought of the destruction a wyvern could bring. Asterin laughs. "If I get home, I'll take you flying on one" Nesta actually smiled at that.