A Court of Storm and Legacy

Worried for me?

Tate

One second I was in the stone room with Nyx, surrounded by flames and creatures that resembled corpses, the next I was falling face forward onto a large oak desk.

It took me a moment to process what had happened.

He'd winnowed me.

The bastard had winnowed me, without him.

I didn't even know that was possible!

I turned my head around the room, trying to get a sense of where the hell he had dumped me. I turned to my left and locked eyes with Rhysand, sitting baffled in his chair.

I scrambled off his desk quickly, shuffling about a thousand papers at once.

Rhysand seemed to see something in my eyes because he immediately stood up from his chair and crossed over towards me quickly.

"What happened?" His voice was rushed and I heard the slight tremor of panic.

"He–He, oh my gods," I burst into tears. Which is something I almost never did. I cursed myself for getting emotional at the worst possible time in the worst possible situation.

Rhysand gripped my arms.  I realized he was trying to steady me as I just noticed I'd started rocking back and forth. The adrenaline from battle was fading quickly. It all happened so fast.

I only realized I'd spoken that last bit outloud when Rhysand nodded jerkily, "What happened?"

Before I had the chance to speak, Feyre, Cassian, and Nesta burst through the doors.

I was thrown backwards slightly as Nesta barrelled into my chest. She stroked my back as my body shook with sobs.

I'd abandoned him.

It hadn't been my fault, but he's there facing those creatures alone because I couldn't see what was coming next.

I realized I needed to focus. I pushed Nesta back, and wiped my hands across my face, trying desperately to emotionally distance myself from this situation.

"He got Hybern to sign the treaty," I turned back towards Rhysand, who's panicked eyes left his mates to find my own. "We made a deal with the King that if he signed the peace treaty we would go and retrieve someone for him, someone who had been locked up with old magic. He assumed Nyx would have no problem since his magic is such a cosmic fluke."

I scrambled over to the map hung on the wall next to Rhysand's desk, and took a large pen to circle the location. "He sent us to the Shadowed Slopes, more specifically Mount Feall, the largest of them." Turning back to the group, I watched Nyx' mother's face turn ashen white.

"We had only been in the mountain for less than an hour before we got ambushed by these– these creatures. We were fighting them off but they were just so many and they just kept coming."

I zone out the room, ignoring their imploring stares and fixing my eyes on the map. "Nyx said something about needing to unleash his magic and the next thing I knew I landed here."

"We need to send someone there to help him, now," Cassian shouts.

Rhysand nodded, "I agree, but unlike my son, not many people can make the enormous jump from Velaris to a mountain range in Hybern. It will take multiple jumps. I would go since I could probably cover the most ground but–" I turned towards him when he didn't continue. His expression looked shell-shocked, and Feyre began to sob.

"But I'm pregnant," she whispered.

There was a long beat of silence.

Rhysand broke it first, "I'll call Idris. He'll be able to winnow Myer and Elinor, they can be his backup once they arrive." He went over to hold his mate against him. "They're leaving now, all we can do is wait."