A Court of Water and Shadow

23

Zagra took the initiative to parade the girl around the streets of Hybern today. Announcing that they were engaged and she would soon be their queen. Everyone had the good sense to cheer as they passed, even though their excitement didn't reach their eyes. They still feared the king's assassin, even though the killings have been less frequent. Nobody could forget how she murdered thousands without a second thought.

A shiny black diamond sat atop a silver band on the girl's ring finger. It twinkled in the sunlight on her tan hand that held Zagra's. His thumb swept over the ring occasionally, reminding both of them that it was there and that it was real. There was nothing I could do about it. If the girl is stuck here for an eternity, at least she wasn't being tortured.

As they traveled through the kingdom, the people expressed their concerns over the gossip surrounding the mortal queens. The one who used to be so young, but turned old inside of the cauldron, was dead—killed by Nesta, who the girl had learned was Feyre's sister. When I heard the news, I thought it was interesting how the family had changed Prythian so much, and I felt slightly proud of them. Zagra however, was enraged by the news. The queens were supposed to be his allies, and he didn't like that another Archeron was affecting his kingdom.

So, as one does when they lose control, Zagra gained more by putting a ring on the girl's finger.

When they returned to the castle, Zagra was swept into meetings with his advisors while the girl started her training for the day. Today, the young Fae that trained with her seemed to steer clear of the soon-to-be queen. Nobody wanted to risk upsetting the King if she was hurt in training, which bothered me. The girl could certainly handle herself, and she needed to get stronger.

I watched as the girl meandered over to a punching bag, then got to work. She kicked and punched with rage and skill, steadying the bag when it swung too fiercely.

After about an hour of training, a blaring horn sounded throughout the kingdom. The girl had never heard the sound before, but it seemed as if everyone knew what it meant as the training room cleared out. She followed everyone towards the main doors to the castle, but Zagra caught her just before she left. "That's our warning horn. There's been a breech on the kingdom and we have to get to safety."

The girl opened her mouth to respond, but a guard ran up to them and interrupted. "My King, the intruders are..." He gave the girl a nervous glance. "They're important, but they're killing all of our men."

Zagra clenched his jaw and looked to the girl. "I need you to stop them my dear assassin. Bring them to me alive."

The girl nodded once as the guard escorted Zagra to safety. A weird thrill shot through me as the girl fixed her mask to hide her mouth and ran out of the castle.

She was immediately met with chaos. Citizens of Hybern ran past her, bumping into each other and clawing past each other. It reminded me of that horrible day in Adriata—how everyone was so desperate to get to safety.

The girl swung her head around to look for the assailants, but all she could see were Hybern's people. Finally, she followed her instinct to the south end of the kingdom, where everyone was running from.

She skidded around a corner into an alleyway and ducked as a sword nearly decapitated her. She held the attacker with her water manipulation, then dropped it when she realized it was one of Hybern's soldiers. He gave her an apologetic look as night enveloped him and he died.

Her eyes flicked up and her hands shot out to stop four Fae.

The girl knew these people. I knew she did after all of my efforts of escape. They hand meant something to her once, even if it was only for a short period of time. However, she couldn't afford the pain it would cause her to turn her emotions back on, even if it was only for a second. She was still in Hybern, and the new King had given her a mission.

As the violet-eyed Fae's darkness shot towards her, so did another darkness, one that I was familiar with. When the darkness curled through the girl's fingers and weaved in and out of her hair, the deadly darkness recoiled. But more of the innocent darkness followed.

Shadows encircled the girl, frantically moving about like they were excited. The girl wore a look of confusion, but I knew these shadows all too well. Using all of the strength that I had in me, I pushed myself to the surface of the girl's mind, breaking through all of the fog that made her feel so numb inside. I didn't care about the consequences or about the fact that we were still in Hybern. I needed to see him. I needed the girl to know who he was—who they all were.

I stumbled back ever so slightly and blinked a few times as the shadows started to return to their owner—well, all but one shadow. Frank played in my hair and came to rest on my shoulder. A tear slid down my cheek as I watched him, then I—

"Eve." Azriel breathed from across the alleyway.

My eyes swiftly looked up to see tortured pools of hazel and a face that looked as if it had been through hell and back.

With my emotions turned back on, everything came flooding back. All of the innocent lives I killed for him. All of the pain I put myself through in order to keep myself alive. My hands were free of blood in this moment, but as I looked down at my shaking palms, all I saw was red. I could see every life I took and every tear that fell from their faces before I killed them. I could see them holding their children or their spouses in their final moments. I could hear their prayers to the Mother to bring them to a peaceful place.

My knees buckled and I fell to the ground hard, a choked sob escaping me as I started drowning in the blood I've spilled. I wanted to turn my emotions off again. I needed to feel numb again. I—

Scarred hands lifted my face and tore off the black fabric covering my mouth. "Eve." Azriel's voice was thick with emotion as his arms wrapped around me in a tight hug.

Everything that had come crashing down seemed to get pulled away for the moment as I hugged him back. My tears didn't cease as I buried my face into his neck and his hand came up to caress my head. He ran his fingers through my hair and whispered calming words, but stilled as a voice behind him spoke.

"We have to leave now before more of them come." Rhys sounded determined.

Azriel pulled away and brought me to my feet, but a new wave of sadness hit me. With a shaky voice, I spoke. "I can't leave."

Rhys furrowed his eyebrows together as Azriel spun to look at me. "What do you mean?"

"He forced me into a bargain." I sniffled back more tears and avoided their eye contact.

"Who?" Azriel's voice was low and deadly as his shadows darkened around him.

"The new King. He said I can't walk out of here and I can't kill him." I looked at the group of Fae before me. They were my friends. Well, most of them. There was one that I didn't recognize.

"Those were his exact words?" Mor spoke carefully.

I nodded, then Azriel picked me up as everyone shot off into the sky. I gasped in shock as my hands went around his neck. "What are you—"

"You can't walk out of Hybern, so you won't. We'll fly." Azriel gave me a small smile that gave me hope. A new round of tears flowed easily down my face as I turned and rested my cheek against his chest. "You're safe, Eve. You're safe."