Tamlin's Daughter

Chapter 4

We walked into the meeting, and I realised we were last, my father glared at me, still on Mor's shoulder.

The Night Court all sat, and everyone stared at me.

"So, what did you find out?" The sun dude asked.

"Her name is Odette, she didn't come here to spy, she just turned eighteen and she is the daughter of a High Lord." Rhysand calmly replied.

"Which High Lord?" The sun dude asked, obviously surprised.

Rhysand's eyes turned to me, and I jumped off of Mor's shoulder and flew over to my father, hovering next to him.

I didn't stay there for long, landing back in Mor's now cupped hands.

"You have a daughter Tamlin?" the sun dude asked my father.

"Not anymore," he snarled at me as I was picked up by invisible bonds and thrown against a wall.

I shifted back into my fae body as I fell to the floor. All of the High Lords and their courts were on their feet.

My father picked me up by the neck and held me against the wall.

"I thought I could train you to be my spy, you found shifting easy, but you had to betray me like that, tell your mother I say hi," he growled before he began to choke me, I couldn't draw in any air.

Panic took over before I realised, I still had my powers, I turned into a wolf and swiped my claws at his face.

He let go and I landed on my four paws. He shifted into his beast, and we started a snarling match, I would not lose this fight.

"Stop," a male who I hadn't yet hear speak yelled and we both stopped growling.

My father turned to face the male and I shifted into the tiniest insect I could think of, a flee.

I flew to Mor, hiding in her hair, I wished I could mind talk with Rhysand.

'You can, where are you?' His voice said.

'In Mor's hair, could you tell her to cover her shoulder?'

'I can'

Her hair swayed and I landed on her shoulder.

'Ok, I'm going to shift into a snake and wrap around her arm like an accessory, could you tell her, so she doesn't freak out please.'

'Ok, she knows, we can talk properly when we get back to the Night Court.'

I shifted into a thin golden snake and twisted myself around Mor's upper arm.

"Where is she!" Tamlin was yelling.

"She just vanished, she probably winnowed," the sun dude said.

"She doesn't know how," my father snarled.

"Then she probably turned into a small bug and flew away," he carried on.

He growled at the dude before winnowing away, I let out a breath.

"You can shift back now," he continued looking at me.

I unravelled from Mor's arm and set myself in her lap, turning back into the bird, it was the form I felt the safest in.

"Well, I was hoping you would turn back into your fae form, so we could talk to you," he said with a small smile.

I knew that I should, so I hopped down to the floor and shifted once more. A chair was set next to Mor, and I sat, looking at my lap.

"None of us have ever heard of you," the sun dude said.

I looked up, meeting his eyes.

"I don't know you either," I told him, and he looked surprised.

"My name is Helion, I am High Lord of Day," he told me,

They all went round the room, telling me their names and which courts they rule, there were only two High Ladies, Fayre being one and Viviane, High Lady of Winter, the other. Only Beron, High Lord of Autumn and his court were missing, apparently, they had to go back home.

"It is lovely to meet you all," I said, giving them all a small smile.

"Odette we all have questions for you," Helion continued.

I dipped my chin and he carried on.

"All of us have visited Tamlin at one point or another in the past eighteen years yet none of us have ever heard of you, why?" He asked, the other High Lords nodded in agreement.

"He kept me in the tower, I haven't ever left the room, not until he brought me here. He kept the window and door locked and only one other person knew I even existed." I practically whispered.

"You haven't seen the outside?" Viviane asked me.

"I had one window and I saw the view out of that, and Clara, the other person who knew I existed, stole the key to the window four years ago and she used to unlock it and open it for me so I could feel the wind on my face, but I always had to close it when I heard my father coming up the stairs." I told her.

"How was Tamlin so sure you didn't know how to winnow?" Tarquin asked.

"He kept me in ash wood for as long as I can remember, I didn't even know I had powers until he snapped them off me on my eighteenth, two days before the meeting, he told me that I had to shift into something small and watch the meeting, I became that bird and for the first time in my life I felt free, he gave me those two days to learn how to fly even though I could only fly around my room, then he brought me here, you know the rest," I said, hating how pathetic I sounded.

Pain radiated through my middle and I let out a yell, falling to my knees. I felt my blood running through my fingers, crap.

There were blue specks in my blood, and I heard some people swear. I looked up and saw shocked faces around me.

"Help," I gasped out.

"That is what was in me," I heard someone say but I couldn't think around the pain.

I fell onto my side, but I was caught before I could hit the floor. Mor's face hovered above me, she pressed a hand to my middle, hissing through her teeth.

I was terrified, I wondered if this was how I died.

Thesan knelt next to Mor, and she took her hand away from my middle, holding me close to her.

"She has pieces of Faebane rock in her, we need to get it all out or she will die." He said, looking down at me.

My eyes widened; I really was going to die.

"Rhysand, you need to knock her out," he continued.

I didn't want to, I wanted to see more of the world. Mor held me close to her, whispering words of comfort as I felt Rhys slip into my mind and steal my consciousness.