A Court of Water and Shadow

16

The palace was chaotic this evening. The girl quickly threw on her assassin "uniform" and opened her cell door, which they left unlocked these days.

Yelling came from the throne room. From this far away, the girl couldn't tell who it was. Neither could I for that matter.

It had been months since Tamlin had requested the King's help. Months have passed where the girl hasn't heard a word of any sort of plan to get Feyre back. I thought it was strange that they hid their plans from the girl, but I assume its because they know of my friendship with the Night Court. Little did they know that this girl probably didn't give two shits about the Fae I used to know.

As the girl climbed the stairs from the dungeon, two guards blocked her path. More screaming ensued from the throne room, causing the guards to look at one another warily.

"What's going on?" The girl spoke.

One of the guards stood taller. "The King has guests that he'd like to torture himself. He's asked that we let you rest, you have a long day tomorrow."

Rest my ass. They're hiding something, I just wish the girl cared enough to figure it out. Instead, she gave them a singular nod and returned to her cell.

The girl tried to fall asleep, but the screaming became worse and worse. Whoever he was torturing must have really angered him. But there were multiple screams of different voices. Some were male, but most were female. I listened intently, trying to make out the words they were saying when the screaming stopped, but the girl wasn't close enough to the throne room.

Finally, the girl's eyelids began to drift closed. Slowly, she faded away into sleep, where I'm sure she dreamt of nothing. As I watched her breaths start to calm, a loud and agonized yell woke her up. It was male, and he was yelling a name. Feyre.

I still couldn't tell who yelled it, but if Feyre was here then the girl could be taken back to the Night Court. I pushed and pushed to reach the surface of the thick fog that buried me until I found an opening. I took it with one last push, then a wave of icy black forced the opening closed, causing me to fall back down.

Maybe it was for the best, the girl is still in Hybern after all.

—

The girl spoke in her sleep for the first time since I've been clouded by fog. Every word made me more hopeful that my efforts to escape weren't for nothing. She said their names one by one. Azriel, Rhys, Mor, Cassian, and Amren. Not one of their names seemed to stir any sort of emotion inside of her, but she still said them, so I held onto my hope.

I wondered if my efforts weren't as small as I thought. Perhaps by trying to break through the fog I was giving the girl bits and pieces of my memories. However, the more she remembered, the more dangerous it was for myself.

I can't risk myself again. I have to be smart and wait for the right time to try to break free again.

By the morning I was thoroughly intrigued with the commotion of the night before. When Zagra visited the girl in the morning, I was even more intrigued that the girl seemed somewhat eager to start the day.

"What happened last night?" She asked, her voice flat and emotionless as she put on her black mask.

Zagra sighed with a smug smile and leaned against the wall of the girls' cell. "My father held up his end of the bargain. He broke the mating bond between that High Lord and Feyre so that she could return to the Spring Court. Apparently, Rhysand had forced her into the bond and put some sort of spell over her. I wish you could've seen the show, it was very dramatic."