A Court of Lichen and Twilight / An ACOTAR Fanfiction

Chapter Four: Daydreaming

We winnowed in, taking the usual path through the Night Court, to Day, to Dawn, to the Middle, to Autumn, and finally Spring. What a trek it was from our home in the north eastern end of the map. Everyone was exhausted by the time the swirling wind dissipated around us and left us standing in a grassy knoll with buzzing bees and floral air. The land we stood in now was a far cry from the rocky desolation and salt water spray of our bluffed home.

Caelum had just mastered his winnowing skills a few years prior and had successfully executed them today to keep up with us during the trek. This was his first multiple winnowing trip he had taken by his lone some instead of going with mother or father. He felt too dignified to be seen clinging to Cyra or myself at his age now. My mother stretched and tucked her wings away and motioned for us to disguise our own before we proceeded to the manor.

Our good and family friend Rhysand always taught us to hide our wings away at diplomatic meetings in order to obscure them and keep them a surprise element. It was also for a vanity point of view. The wings enticed people to hate us for our long mixed High Fae and faerie heritage as no truly pure High Fae really possessed them. Without them, we looked just as normal of High Fae as my father was. Often people forgot our past and didn't discriminate if the wings weren't there as a reminder of the outcast offspring we all were.

Alastor's short gold hair matched my sister's own locks and the enamoring sunlight from the enveloping spring time glowed off of their structured features in unison. Undeniably, the looked like they even might belong to this court as they blended into the setting. My mother stood by my father, watching us all one by one glamour the black feathered wings off of our backs. Next to her, my father was truly the yang to my mother's yin. Her darker complexion starkly contrasted his, just the other two of his children also inherited from her.

Caelum ruffled his hair, adjusted his lavender shirt, and staggered from the expense of energy the winnowing and glamour had caused him. My mother caught him before he totally hit the ground in exhaustion. Chuckling, she righted him upwards and patted his back as if to tell him 'it happens to the best of us'. With my father's Dawn Court healing powers, he'd be back to tip top shape in no time. Especially after the feast and wine and the chance for him to sneak off with a Spring Court woman that laid before us.

My mother bore a high necked, sleeveless, royal purple gown; her dark brown hair fixated up in a braided bun at the crown of her head with a rose gold tiara of our court's insignia bared at the front. The bolt of lightning in the center was embezzled with tiny chips of amethyst mined from our island's cliff sides. My father's crown matched hers, and his outfit followed suit even down to the same color vest he wore to compliment her. Purple and blush sunset hues were the colors of our court, for the brilliant dusk time our skies painted nightly. In diplomatic outings we always wore our respected color pallets.

Cyra went for a mauve toned gossamer dress, tulle billowing and puffy as it belled from the tight corset top that accentuated her slim physique and bust. The gathered straps were slung effortlessly off her shoulders and draped to the crooks of her arms lazily. Her golden hair was half up and down, curled and lovely and before where her hair gathered, Vidya set a similar diadem to my mother's tiara. She was the epitome of a female beauty. If the High Lord here didn't wish to court her after this meeting...I don't know how he could resist. One person who would was her off and on lover, Xavier. That guy was a prick.

I went for a simple gown this morning before we left. Pale lilac and made of silk, the long dress barley grazed the floor when paired with the heeled strapped sandals I had chosen. Where the straps cascaded over my shoulders and down to my low back, it revealed all of my skin from the nape of my neck to the v shape before where my backside blossomed. Backless, my preferred dress style. Mor always told me I had a nice back and these style dresses are always what she chose. Rose gold accents on the straps and a tiny chain necklace dotted with a single, polished purple gem helped break up the rich silk shift. Nila insisted I wear some jewelry to distract from the dip of the dress's backing.