𝐆𝐎𝐍𝐄 ☽ a court of thorns and roses

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄

☽༓☾

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 | the house of the wind

☽༓☾

If you told Zara, that a field trip was going to turn out into her being transported to an entirely different world, she would have had a good laugh. Yet, here she was, in a strange world, with people who weren't human, she learned, but fae. And she had no idea how it had happened.

Zara was given a clean set of clothes as the others left her alone in the room they gave her. A room in a house that they had flown to. Yes, flown. Apparently, the house had been protected from people trying to winnow in, whatever that was supposed to mean.

Her head spun as she went over everything that had happened in the last hours. In just a matter of days, she went from having everything figured out to not knowing if she'll ever make it back home.

Zara would never admit it out loud, but she wished she was back in her algebra class with that teacher she absolutely hated. At least everything had been normal then. Everything had been predictable and safe. She used to hate that once.

Now, the only thing that was predictable was that she was going to take a bath. She was still wearing her dirt-stained jeans, and she was certain that the rest of her body resembled her jeans. So, she went to the bathroom they pointed her to. Surprise filled her when she found the bath already filled with water, steam drifting up. She could smell the lavender and jasmine-scented oils, as she stared into the fogged up mirror.

She wiped it with her sleeve, brown eyes stared back at her. Her face looked like her, but it wasn't human. She was no longer human, also something that was new to her. This isn't Shadowhunters she thought, people don't just change like that.

She slowly stripped herself of her clothes, and carefully stepped into the bath. She felt her muscles relax and closed her eyes. Only then she realized how exhausted she was. She wanted nothing more than sleep, but her body was alert and merciless. She knew that she would not get any sleep today.

By the time she got out of the bath, it had gone cold. Zara cringed at the clothes they gave her. It showed a lot of skin, not exactly something that she was comfortable with. She always opted for jeans and some graphic t-shirt, but something told her that she would not find clothing like that here.

She did look healthier, stronger even if you didn't count the dark circles. A sharp knock shook her out of her thoughts. "Come in," Zara answered softly.

Morrigan peeked her head through the door. The woman was beautiful, blonde hair cascaded down her shoulders. Zara could name no woman from earth who resembled her, at least not the women she knew of. "Hi, Zara." She said gently. "How are you holding up?"

Zara looked at her and considered her answer for a minute. "Honestly?" She asked, and Morrigan nodded her head. "I feel like I am having some weird fever dream."

Morrigan frowned, confused at her statement. "A weird fever dream?"

Zara sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "I don't know, I suppose that I wish this was a dream. I know by now that it's not though."

"We are about to have dinner and we were wondering if you would like to join us?" Morrigan asked. "You don't have to, if you don't want to. I'll make sure that you'll get to eat your dinner here."

Zara looked at her before nodding. "I'll join you." Sitting in this room wasn't going to help solve anything anyway.

"Great, I'll show you to the dining room." Morrigan beamed at her and waved her hand as if to say, follow me.

Zara took in her surroundings as they made their way to the dining room. The house was beautiful, you could tell that it had been carved into the mountain it resided on. She supposed that a home like this would be the perfect place to hide from the summer heat she used to have back home. She could faintly hear chatter coming from a distance, and she swore that she could already smell what she was going to eat. She felt herself getting slightly nervous as she neared the room.

"It's okay, Zara. I'll be by your side the entire time." Morrigan said, and gave her an encouraging smile, before entering the room, Zara closely followed.

The room instantly got quiet as all the attention turned to her. She felt her cheeks get warm. "You can sit here, Zara," Morrigan said, and she pointed to the chair across from her.

Zara hesitantly made her way over to the seat, and sat down, taking in her companions. Well, this is awkward. She mentally said to herself.

"How are things with Keir?" Rhysand asked Morrigan, drawing the attention away from her. She gave him a thankful look, and she swore that she could see amusement in his eyes. He handed her a bowl of potatoes before turning his attention to Morrigan.

"Tense." Morrigan answered, "He doesn't like the way you insulted him the last time."

Zara had about a hundred questions. Who was Keir? Why were things tense? Why did it matter? But she bit back her questions and forced herself to focus on her food. She only half-listened to the conversation around her.

"Zara? Are you okay?" Her head snapped up at the question.

"Fine," She answered, nodding at her question. "I'm fine."

Morrigan looked at her with pity in her eyes. "I was thinking that you could come with me to the city tomorrow. I need a new dress and I still haven't found anything."

"Dress shopping?" Zara asked, she wasn't sure if she heard it right. Dress shopping was about the last thing that was on her mind. The only thing that she wanted was to find a way home, back to her mom and Lizzy.

Zara felt anger simmer within her when Morrigan nodded in response. "How can you act like there is nothing weird about me being here? Like everything is fine? I literally transported from Earth to whatever this place is and I have no way to go back. I'm sure you mean well, Morrigan, but the last thing I want to do is go shopping for a dress."

They all seemed to be taken aback from her mini breakdown, and blinked at her. Zara took a deep breath to compose herself. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. I'm just a little overwhelmed that's all."

"You don't have to say sorry." Cassian said after a minute. "I can only imagine what you're going through right now."

Zara turned her attention towards him, and then to the shadow-clad man next to him. They both carried a pair of wings, and they were the most beautiful, yet terrifying thing Zara had ever seen.

"Trust me, Zara, I'm doing everything in my power to find out if there is a way for you to go home, but until then, we just want to make sure that you're comfortable." Rhysand added.

"You're right, and if your offer still stand, Morrigan, I would like to join you. I could use the distraction." Zara asked Morrigan, who gave her a big grin.

"Deal."

☽༓☾

hi guys, short filler chapter for today. I promise there will be more action in the next one.