A Court of War and Sacrifice

31. Insightful Revelation

The artwork above is not mine.

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    "Why didn't you say something sooner?" Amren hissed, pacing around the library.

    Azriel crossed his arms, watching her coolly. "Do you know what's going on?"

    "It sounds like her mind is under a spell of some kind. She's forgetting certain things."

    "How could someone cast a spell like that over her? You know how strong her mental shields are."

    "Yes." Amren tapped her chin with a sharp nail. "Someone powerful would have had to break her shields before using magic of that sort on her."

    "Can you help her?"

    Amren nodded. "If that's really what is happening, yes. I think so. I need to be sure, first. I'll watch her for a few days. If it happens again, I'll know and I'll try to break the spell." She thought for a moment. "Or, Rhys and Feyre will break the spell. If it's in her mind, only a Daemati will be able to find the magic and destroy it."

    "All right." Azriel gritted his teeth. "Who could have put a spell like that on her?"

    "Who was in the manor besides her?"

    "Elain, Lucien, Jurian, Vassa, and the dread lord. To my knowledge, no one else was there. I'm not even sure if there were any servants."

    "I doubt it was Jurian. He's human. Even if he spoke a spell, he wouldn't have been able to break her shields. The dread lord is also human."

    "Lucien and Elain wouldn't do something like that to Seren. Vassa was stuck in her firebird form during the day and I don't think they ever spoke to her at night."

    "Hm. We'll keep an eye on Seren. If it's actually a spell and we're able to remove it, we'll learn the truth soon enough."

    "Amren! Az!" Feyre hollered down the corridor. "The others are back!"

    Azriel stepped out of the library and headed towards the entryway. Amren trailed after him. He found Seren climbing slowly down the stairs. She rubbed her eyes wearily. Ever since her nightmare two nights ago, she hadn't slept well. Not that she'd been sleeping well before it either.

    Azriel slipped an arm around her waist and she rested her head on his shoulder. Elain, Lucien, Mor, and Emerie entered the house and smiled at their welcome. "Did you find Tamlin?" Amren asked.

    "Was there any trouble?" Rhys added.

    "There was no trouble," Lucien replied. "Although we did have to hide from Beron's scouts a few times."

    Mor combed her fingers through her hair and sat down. "We never found Tamlin, but the scouts didn't either. We found the remains of dead animals that he'd clearly hunted. Occasionally, we could hear him at night, but we never saw him."

    "Wherever he is, he didn't want to be found." Elain fought back a yawn until she'd finished her sentence.

    "You should all eat and rest. We can discuss everything in more detail later," Rhys said.

    Lucien shook his head. "Let's get this finished now."

    "All right." Rhys looked over Lucien and Elain. "Eris said that Beron met with the dread lord in the Mortal Lands."

    "What?" They exclaimed simultaneously.

    "No," Lucien protested. "Jurian would've said something."