If She Had Known

The Deal

I rode for what felt like eternity, pushing my mare to her limits. I rested only for her sake, and cherished whatever sleep would deign to fall over me — no matter how little or restless it was. Two days Northward, without a word spoken or thought wasted.

It took half as long as it once had to find the hole in the wall. It was still marked by the mossy stones, a faint whorl carved into them. Magic stung my nostrils as I steered my horse through the gate.

And then we were through.

A new burst of determination hit me once I was back in Prythian. The colors were bolder, the very air sharper. I was essentially home, but felt none of the peace it should have brought. Not a bird sang, and no monsters lurked behind every tree and bush waiting to pounce. I knew it meant she had come.

I didn't bother with searching the broken Spring Court Manor, and hardly noticed the building as I passed. I wished I had gotten to speak with Alis, but the meeting would have only slowed both of us down and she had no new information to give me. The timing was off anyway. I was weeks early — weeks I had once spent depressed in the human realm painting with Nesta and gardening with Elain.

I thought of Alis' warnings. I was still unused to my human body, regardless of the months I'd had to regain my balance.

Do not drink the wine. Don't make any deals. Do not trust a soul.

I would be breaking every one of her rules. They were all overshadowed by another.

Stay with the High Lord.

It had worked before, I could only hope it would help me once more.

"All dark and miserable roads lead Under the Mountain." I whispered to no one as I neared the cave that would bring me there.

I dismounted my horse and sent her away with a pat on her thick neck. She headed for home, and I sincerely hoped she would make it there. Someone deserved to. I turned back to the dark mouth of the ancient and once-sacred passage.

I gathered all of my stubbornness and hotheaded tendencies. I would free him. Free all of them. This was my father's last request— to make a name for myself. I refused to be afraid. I had done this once before and I could do it again.

I walked into the cave.

*

The passage was no different than how I remembered it. The only sounds my shallow breathing and the crunch of my boots. Just to keep my mind off the task ahead, I thought of Rhys' tattoos. A completely pointless and out of place thing to think about here and now, but it kept my breathing steady. I'd memorized the swirls on his shoulders long ago, and was grateful for it now. I thought of how they moved and rippled as his muscles worked. I thought of the mountains on his knees and the patterns up his forearms that symbolized his promise to me.

The images were enough to keep me calm when I was intercepted by the Attor, it's face just as terrifying as it had been every other time I had seen it. "Hello," it hissed. "What's something like you doing here?"

I didn't answer. I let it pull me along to Amarantha's throne room.

***

The Attor tugged me forward with that slithering gait, it's clawed feet making leisurely scratches on the cave floor. Rhys. Mor. Cass. Az. Amren. My Sisters. I had to get through this for them. I held in my nausea and urge to scream as I was dragged through the dark hall.

Leering faces watched me go by, none of them concerned or disturbed that I was in the claws of the Attor. Few High Fae among them. We kept moving through the passages that were somehow both sinister and beautiful. I hated every part of it. Especially when we arrived in the throne room. Here were the High Fae.