A Court of Death and Shadows

Chapter 5: The Journey

Chapter 5: The Journey

Nyah

         "Now." My heart sunk at his cold and harsh tone. I felt Nesta flinch and Elain gasped with horror. My Father seemed to shrink even deeper into himself at the words.

        "My trap line is set for the winter but you'll have to move it in summer. I notched all the trees for both so you shouldn't have a problem finding it." I went into full older sister mode and started to panic. So much, there was so much they didn't know about survival.

       "The venison will last you two weeks and you need to make jerky. The money from the pelts will last you a while if you're careful." The beast snarled and stalked out of the house, waiting for us to follow. I stared at Nesta and then slowly walked over to her. Our eyes met and both of us blinked away tears. Neither of us were emotional but leaving my twin, it felt like a piece of me was getting ripped apart. Elain was still cowering by our father and neither would make eye contact. Nesta straightened and whispered,

        "You never look back, and never let them see you weak." I nodded and gripped my hands together.

       "Whatever you do, don't marry Tomas Mandray. His Father beats his wife and no one does anything to stop it." Feyre's voice floated through as if I was far away and I snapped back to reality. I stared at the cabin for a moment, Feyre's paintings all over, stars for her and a shadowy forest for me on the dresser. The chair where my father whittled his carvings, the iron bed we had all slept in for years. I mimicked Nesta's posture and walked swiftly out before anyone could say anything else, leaving Feyre to say her goodbyes. The beast seemed to stare into my soul as i stood beside him, refusing to show fear. His shoulder was covered in blood but no visible sign of the wound I had inflicted with my knife.

       "You surprised me, that won't be happening again." He growled, sensing my pride at my own bravery.

       "You never know what could happen," I snap back. Feyre came out before he could retort and she gripped my hand tightly as we followed the beast into the woods. As we entered the woods there was a white mare, her coat silky and glowing in the moonlight, she seemed to almost bow her head to the beast which was almost the oddest thing I had seen tonight. The beast motioned for us to mount and I only stared at Feyre as she got on, I felt numb.

        "Nyah," she hissed and I shook my head. Feyre and I were alone now and I had to protect her. It gave me a sense of purpose and I hopped on behind her, I gripped her hand as tight as she was mine and the mare walked swiftly off behind the beast deeper into the woods. Every beat of the horse's hooves seemed to echo Prythian, over and over and over again. As the hours passed and I felt my muscles tensing with each minute, the cold seeping in. My mind was racing and I was doing my best to keep my bearings as we wove throughout the trees. I felt Feyre suck in a breath,

       "What manner of faerie are you?" she asked, her voice carrying straight towards the beast.             "Do you have a name?" she asked another question since he didn't answer the last.

       "Does it even matter to you, human?" he snarled in response.

       "Why would she ask if she didn't want to know?" I snapped back at him. I saw his body tense with annoyance before smelling a metallic scent and felt something swarm around in my head, almost as if it was trying to find a way in. I blocked everything out and imagined throwing the scent into a box and locking it, a moment later Feyre slumped in front of me. I panicked, they'd used magic to shut her up. The beast paused a turned slightly, I instinctively went limp behind her and slowed my breathing to match hers. The beast walked towards us and sniffed, after a moment he seemed satisfied and continued on. For two long, torturous days I stayed like that. My stomach didn't growl thanks to the full belly I'd had when leaving the house but hunger was the least of my problems. The thirst hid around midday when the sun started to beat down through the trees and I assumed magic was keeping us warm because the frigid air never hit after the first few moments of the ride. What was driving me absolutely insane was the urge to use the bathroom. Perhaps faeries didn't feel the urge but I was overwhelmingly human and every bump along the way seemed to drill that into the deepest darkest corners of my brain. Finally, two long excruciating days later, Feyre jolted awake and I followed suit, sitting up fully straight did little to ease my discomfort. We passed through the wall and a chill went through me as I felt what I assume was magic soak into every pore in my body. A set of giant ornate gates swung open as we passed through and our horse followed without complaint. My eyes widened and Feyre sucked in a breath, I'd never seen anything like it. Sprawling green hills and a gentle-looking forest stretched out before us, the air itself was warm and a fresh scent hit me, it was like springtime at home but much better than I had ever experienced before. An estate with ivy and roses surrounding it stretched before us, it's stone walls shone brightly in the sunlight, it was grander than anything I had ever seen in all my years among the rich in the human world. It felt like a place full of life yet I frowned, there wasn't a single sound that I could hear, no matter how hard I tried. No one was around, not a human or faerie that I could see was tending the gardens or walking the paths. I wiped sweat off my brow and Feyre shifted uncomfortably in front of me, our clothes were meant for winter and not whatever this was. She hissed and kicked the horse but to no avail, I had tried to turn the mare early on, had tried everything I could but she only followed the beast, no amount of persuading could get her to budge. She slipped off and nearly fell as I grabbed her arm to keep her upright, rookie mistake, riding used muscles we hadn't had to use in years and I could feel every single one of them at the moment. I eased off of the white horse and blinked hard as spots danced throughout my vision. After a moment they went away but I nearly groaned at the thought of walking. She grabbed my hand and we started walking slowly up the steps of the house, using each other for support and we made our way into the house where a large door swung open softly and a growl echoed from within. It would appear that we were being summoned by his royal highness, I felt like a dog at the moment. As we entered the room my eyes widened at the sight of so much food on a table bigger than the main room in our cabin, the beast plopped onto a chair and in a flash of blinding light, became a sullen golden-haired man with an ornate mask obscuring the upper part of his face. High Fae. This beast, now man, was one of the High Fae, humans had been enslaved by them for centuries and were the reason for the wall and thus the treaty in place today. I felt the coolness of the knife against my chest, I had stolen it off of Feyre the first night she was unconscious, using a deer that had run across our path as a distraction.

       "You should eat something." the Fae said, his voice less threatening now that he had gotten rid of his beast form. He swallowed an entire glass of wine in one gulp and sighed after.

        "Who are you?" Feyre managed to gasp out.

       "Sit and eat." he ignored her and waved a tanned hand rather grandly in front of him over the table that took up much of the room.