A Court of Water and Shadow

17

This celebration sucks.

The girl doesn't even get to put on a pretty dress. She's still in her leathers and mask, standing against the wall near the guards.

Once upon a time, I used to enjoy dancing and singing with my friends...

Not that I would dance and sing here, but the sight of everyone enjoying themselves makes me miss my friends in the Night Court. I miss the spontaneity that Mor had and how snarky Amren was. I miss Cassian's crude jokes and Rhys's brotherly love. I miss Azriel and how he always seemed to know what to say, even if he didn't speak much. I miss feeling safe with them.

I miss my parents. So. Bad.

But I don't have eyes to cry from or a heart to truly ache. All I am is trapped inside of the girl, who stares at the crowd blankly.

The girl's eyes move to the King, who's sitting on his throne with a deadly smile as he looks upon the crowd. A few Fae dare to approach him and congratulate him, but their words are short and they walk away on shaky legs.

Then, she finds Zagra in the crowd and observes how he interacts with the guests. He's laughing and smiling with them, moving his hands as he talks. The drink in his right hand sloshes around in the glass, but none of it ends up on the floor. Zagra catches the girl's eye and excuses himself from the males he was talking to. When he approached, he wore a sly smirk and stood next to her along the wall.

"Enjoying the party?" He asks with a hint of mischief.

The girl shrugs.

"You know, you don't have to be so stubborn. It's okay to smile once in a while." Zagra chuckles as he takes a sip of his wine.

Cauldron boil me.

The girl looks over to Zagra. "How do you know I'm not smiling with this mask on."

"I would see it in your eyes Evelyn." Zagra turns serious, his words gentle for someone who is such an ass.

The girl just blankly turns her head back to the party, watching the crowd as they dance and laugh together.

"Would you like to dance?" Zagra holds his hand out to the girl and she takes it, allowing him to lead her to the dance floor.

I watch, wishing that I could ignore the dancing going on. The girl was never an extraordinary dancer, but I remember the times when I would let loose on the dance floor. I wasn't bad at dancing to the beat of the music. But ballroom dancing...no way. The girl let Zagra lead her in a dance that wasn't too complicated, and the girl took it in stride.

After a while, Zagra had become tired so he led the girl over to a quiet part of the ballroom and ordered a servant to fetch them some drinks. Once they settled into their seats, he turned to her with a look of admiration. "You're so beautiful."

The girl blinked at Zagra. "My face is covered." She stated plainly.

Zagra chuckled. "I don't need to see under that mask to know you're beautiful. Your hair is my favorite. Would you like to know why?"

Her hair? Her hair isn't even hers you dumb piece of shit. Her hair was corrupted by that female.

None of my rage showed on the girl's face. "Why?" She asked, even though I doubted she was curious.

Zagra twirled a strand of the black hair around his fingers with a gentle smile. "Because it shows just how dangerous you are. I think I really like that side of you Evelyn. I like that you'll do what my father tells you to do in order to make this kingdom better. Some day, it'll be my turn to rule, and I'll have you standing next to me as my queen and my assassin."

The girl just nodded at Zagra, then pulled her mask down to sip from her drink.

What a tool. He likes the girl because she does as she's told? I would never stand for that bullshit, but I guess the girl will, because next thing I know Zagra is leaning in for a kiss and the girl allows it to happen.

Thankfully I don't feel any part of that kiss, but even just seeing it has my nonexistent body wanting to hurl. That or cry.

Commotion in the crowd snaps the two of them out of their kiss, and a harsh yell from the King clears out the room. In an instant, the girl pulls up her mask as Zagra leads them to the throne. They bow before it, then wait for the King to speak.

The King paces with a letter in his hand, then in a fit of rage he tears it to shreds and turns to Zagra. "Your cousins are dead and Tamlin's Made Fae has returned to the Night Court. She killed them. I want her head."

"Why would she go to the Night Court?" Zagra narrows his eyes at the King.

"They're still mates." He seethes, and I burst with happiness.

I knew that it couldn't be that easy to break a mating bond. I also knew that Rhys would never be the kind of male to force that on a female. I hope they send the girl to kill Feyre. Then, when she's away from Hybern, I'll push through the void and return to myself. I just have to wait a little bit longer.

Zagra's jaw drops. "But how—"

"Enough." The King bellows. "Prepare our armies. We'll continue with our plans. Feyre's time will come...and when it does, I want to feel the life drain from her body in my hands."

Zagra nods, then pulls the girl with him back to her room, where he locks her in her cell for the night.

—

The next morning Zagra is there to wake the girl. "Come Evelyn, I want to train you."

The girl rubs the sleep from her eyes and follows Zagra to the bathing chamber. "Train me for what?"

"To fight. If our enemies are using faebane, you should learn how to defend yourself without your powers." Zagra says before leaving the girl to bathe.

When she's finished getting ready for the day, she throws on her usual outfit and follows Zagra through the castle.

I'm interested to see how Zagra will train the girl and I'm hoping it doesn't involve any more kissing.

As they enter the obvious training room, I'm a little underwhelmed by the lack of equipment. It makes sense that they'd take the girl to one with no sharp weapons, but still it's been nice to be treated fairly for once.

Zagra led the girl through a series of stretches, then he taught her the basics of hand-to-hand combat. He taught her how to form a fist in order to deal the most damage without breaking her fingers. Then, he taught her how to stand and hold her balance. Next, he led her through the basic punches and blocks and soon enough she was attacking the pads with a furiousness that I didn't know she had in her.

After an hour of repetitive training, the girl was allowed her first break. As she sat down on the floor and drank some water, her eyes scanned the room. I followed their movements to every dark corner and every object that casted a shadow from the light entering through the singular window. I knew what she was looking for, but sadly Azriel's shadows weren't here. If they were, the girl would be safe by now.

Zagra pulled her up to stand, and then they got back into training for another couple of hours before the King's guards sent for her to do her daily killings.

At this rate, the King will have no more Fae to rule within the next month.

—

A/N

Sorry for the short chapter and sorry for the wait. I'm trying to get my writing mojo back and it's been a struggle.

The chapters will probably be shorter until I can go back and edit them. For now, I'll focus on the key points and do the finer details later.

I don't expect there to be daily updates, but I'll try to do them more frequently. We're almost halfway through part two though! Who's excited for the reunion?

-Em