A Court of Fire and Starlight (ACOTAR Fan Fiction)

Bitter Bitch

Just wanted to give you all a fair warning that Astra and Eris are written as flawed characters. They both have attitude problems and neither has figured out how to effectively deal with each other yet. Hence, the angst <3

*~*~*

ASTRA

Astra had not expected to wake up cold and alone the morning after Calanmai. In her fantasies, she'd imagined being preoccupied all night and waking up next to someone that felt warmer than most.

When she wiggled her toes, they felt numb since she'd fallen asleep lying on top of her bed rather than under the covers after she'd cooled the temperature by putting out her fire.

She'd been a mess of tears, though she still hadn't decided if she were angrier at Eris or at herself for being stupid enough to get caught.

The last thing she remembered before dozing off was sitting on the edge of her bed, waiting to see if Eris would knock on her door to apologize or yell at her. Anything would have been better than the nothing she'd received.

She spent far too long staring at the ceiling, reliving the kiss that had completely undone her. The skilled prick had ruined any future kiss she'd ever receive - it could never be topped.

Astra's anger resurfaced when she moved past her sexual frustration and on to what Eris had said.

Ensnared in the thrall of magic... lapse in judgment... handle this as I see fit... nothing to discuss...

Those dismissive words and his cruel tone bounced around her head over and over until they started to make her crazy. They thoroughly burrowed their way into her heart and painfully punctured it each time she recalled them.

She knew Eris was an avid liar, but he often seemed sincere when speaking to her, which made it difficult to discern if he'd spoken the truth or blatantly lied to Lucien, but the more she debated it, the less she cared what he'd meant by it. It hurt either way.

Astra slowly got out of bed when she decided how she wanted to deal with Eris.

Her first response when someone hurt her was always to lash out – reject before she could be rejected. It was a tactic she used to make herself feel in control. Deep down, Astra knew that it wouldn't fix her problems, but it might provide her with some amount of twisted satisfaction if Eris felt a fraction of what she felt and then begged for forgiveness.

Nobody had ever described her as levelheaded or tolerant and she saw no reason to bother trying to change herself now. She mostly erred on the side vindictive, rash, and as Eris had once said – irritable.

---

Astra arrived at the caves much earlier than she normally did. Her body was still chilled from her cold night, so she wore a set of full Illyrian leathers.

She was pleased to be alone – no Rikoh and no Eris yet. Just as she began loosening her stiff muscles, the patter of several sets of paws invaded her solitude.

Four sleek smokehounds circled where she sat on the floor of the cave, stretching her legs. She tried to ignore them, but Vulcan came closer than the rest and began sniffing the purple marks Eris had left on her neck.

She longed to reach out and see if he would let her pet him, but she valued her fingers too much to try. Astra was staring at his floppy ears when she saw his sharp teeth flash and jaw widen.

She tensed and prepared for the sting of a bite she'd be too slow to avoid at the close distance, but she was surprised when the gentle feeling of a slobbery tongue brushed along her neck instead.