A Court of Desires and Darkness

Chapter 16

I still have a little over a day before the bargain calls me back to the war camp. I plan to take as much time away from the army of Hybern as possible. So, I'll walk as far as I can before having to winnow back to the outskirts. 

I trudge along the forested pathways, my legs still a bit wobbly from the events in the cabin. The sun has mostly set now, casting a blue hue on the world as its light surrenders to the night. The brightest stars poke through the dimming light. A cacophony of birdsong and insects float around my ears, calming the roaring that still rattles inside. 

I thought that killing the Seer would bring some sort of peace. 

I could not have been more wrong. 

Even after everything he has done, it did not help ease the pain of an entire lifetime. He was just the messenger, though. It's the Cauldron who orchestrated the suffering I have endured. It is the damned Cauldron--and the King--who I wish to destroy. But the Cauldron cannot be destroyed... not unless I wish to bring this world down with it. 

Sweat drips down my back as I exhale loudly, glancing up to the sky. A spring wind rustles past me, cooling my heated body. My feet are pounding, my head too. Looking around, I decide to get some sleep underneath the open canopy. When I nestle myself against the large maple tree, I let all the tension release into the earth. 

Not until I am almost completely relaxed, my eyes closed, do I feel the pull. The Cauldron yanks on that tether that connects us, demanding power. It steals the breath from my lungs and I topple over, fingers digging into the ground. 

Stop, I seethe, pulling back. 

I need to see I need to see I need to see, it repeats in a haunting voice. My mind is instantly transported, traveling like black tendrils reaching out, seeking. I realize that I am the Cauldron's powers. We traverse lands in the cover of night, following... a path. A thin golden line gleams in the starlight and we--the Cauldron--follows it. 

It isn't until I see the flicker of faelight and the silhouette of tents that I know where it is going. To the war camp, not ours but Prythian's. 

She spied. She stole and she spied, the Cauldron sang, its voice echoing through the darkness. I feel the shadows around us recoil with the wind as we slither onward.  

Who, I ask. But it does not respond. 

We curve through tents, some dark, some aglow with faelight--all are silent. I feel the tether that the Cauldron follows, attached to... the females turned at Hybern. Around a turn, I see Feyre standing with the one that pointed her finger at the King and I--Nesta, I think. They are accompanied with another who was Made, Amren. A few others stand with them, but we curve away. I see Azriel emerge from a shadow just as we glide behind a row of tents, moving further into the camp. 

I hear the voice of an unfamiliar male calling out from within me. The Cauldron purrs and sings a melodic song, a siren in the night. Movement in our direction causes me to look up. The first to be Made that night... Elain. Her slim figure creeps warily towards me, a look of surprise and relief crossing her face. 

"Grayson," she says, her hand outstretched. 

No, run away! I yell, but only in my head. I thrash against the Cauldron, pulling back hard on our link. If I can sever the cord that ties us, it will vanish. But the hold it has is so strong, unusually strong. 

I watch as the Cauldron's black tendrils wrap around the female and pulls her away into the darkness. When my eyes snap open, I am once again laying in the forest, sprawled out on my back, the night sky shimmering above. I stand immediately and gather my things to winnow back to camp, only to be greeted with a dull response from my magic.