𝔸 ℂ𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝕃𝕠𝕧𝕖 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕎𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕙 (Book 2)

Forty-Eight

Rhys had flown me up to the house of wind to meet with Mor and Feyre the next morning. We'd be going to see my sisters in the Mortal Lands today and as much I liked to think I was prepared, I knew that was just an attempt to mask the fact that our family would hate us.

    Hate what we'd become.

    Feyre and I hadn't seen each other since that first dinner with the circle, I'd been so busy with the tornado of events that seemed to keep circling me that I hadn't had a moment to speak with my sister.

    I missed her.

    After Under the Mountain, we'd just...grown apart. It was sad, but it was inevitable. I'd predicted it before anything, before the wedding, before what Tamlin had done... We had both been shattered so harshly after what Amarantha had done to us, that I think neither of us wanted to admit just how badly we'd been broken. How much our darkness had grown.

We'd seen each other in those passing months before I was spirited away to the Night Court, but we were ghosts, there and yet we couldn't be found.

I was glad that I was finally going to see her, I wanted to talk to her. We'd—I'd made this decision about using our family's house without so much as asking her. I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel guilty about it. I shouldn't have agreed so quickly without thinking it through. But this was War, we didn't have the luxury of time. Decisions needed to be made—sacrifices needed to be made, good or evil, so long as we won. And I was nothing if not an expert at chaos.

    I walked through the house of wind searching for my sister and Mor, this house was so big I was sure I'd be searching for hours.

    I hadn't really looked at the house before, so that was an upside I suppose. I wandered, my pace taking on a slowness as I looked at the etched walls, and very poor carpet choices.

    I walked along a slim hallway, filled with doors and rooms that likely had no use other than convenience. It was there that I finally heard the shuffling of footsteps. To my knowledge, the only people here were Mor and Feyre so I followed the sound.

    I came to a stop at one of the doors that honestly looked exactly like the rest. I didn't let myself hesitate as I knocked on the door twice. Again the footsteps. They grew closer, and closer until finally, the door snapped open.

    Feyre.

    "Hi." she said.

    "Hey."

    We stared at each other for a moment as an awkward silence settled between us. "Mor isn't here yet," she spoke as she seemed to look anywhere but at me. Well, this was lovely.

"Actually," I drawled, "I was looking for you. Can we talk?" I questioned, Feyre furrowed her brow as if the idea was impossible before she absently nodded and opened the door wider for me. I stepped inside, coming face to face with a light and airy room filled with windows that smelled like seawater.

    Feyre walked over to the two small seats by the window and the two of us sat down. It was a clear view of Velaris. I was always struck stupid by the sheer beauty of the city, how Rhys had managed to keep all of this along with his people safe was a wonder.    

    I took a breath as I looked out at it, but in doing so I caught a scent on the chair. It wasn't fresh but it was rooted as if the person had been here a lot. I recognized it.

    "Does Mor come here a lot?" I questioned my sister. It wasn't an accusation, but I was more curious. Curious as to what the Suriel meant, and whether my sister and Mor had grown close.

    Feyre looked at me and nodded, "She visits me almost every day."

    A pang of guilt hit me all at once. Mor had come. Mor had been there. Why hadn't I?

    I gave her a soft smile that I hoped was convincing, "I'm glad."

    Another silence settled over us, and I thought it may have been the worst interaction she and I had ever had. But I didn't come here to sulk in silence. I came here to talk.

    "I'm sorry," I spoke as I looked out the window, unable to face her. "I haven't been there for you. I should have. After Under the Mountain, I should have been there." I let out a ragged breath. I couldn't find the right words. Couldn't express how sorry I felt. "I was so caught up in how I felt. What she'd done to me, that I dismissed what she'd done to you." I looked at her, "I'm so sorry, Feyre."

    She inhaled, remaining silent for a moment. It was as if an internal debate was going on in her head. "Tamlin used to say that you couldn't be trusted." she began, "He said that your ties with this place would corrupt you eventually." I closed my eyes. Of course, he did. "I told him he was wrong. That you loved me and would never betray us." she paused, looking away.

    Silence again, "But then every time you came back, you grew a little more distant." and she thought that was because of Rhys. It struck me then, that she truly never knew what Tamlin was doing to me. I'd always thought that somewhere deep down she knew. But-but she didn't. "And then...he locked me up in that house and you got them to bring me here...at first I didn't understand, didn't get why you'd bring me to the Night Court, a place revered for violence even after we'd been through what we'd been through." she met my eyes again, "But then I met these people, and they weren't what I expected." Her face crumbled a fraction, "But-but I don't get it, you left, and not just to the Night Court. Where did you go?" her voice cracked.

Secrets. I kept so many secrets from her. She didn't even know that I was still in that cell Under the Mountian and not in a room on the opposite side from her. Secrets were toxic. Like a poison that killed you slowly until they were finally let loose. I shouldn't have kept what I did from her. And...I should have told her the truth in the first place.

    And so I told her. I told her everything. All of it. My darkest secrets. My deepest fears.

    And it felt like being stabbed in the heart as I told her about what her fiance had doen to me. I could barely stand to watch as her face dropped and the tears began. I think at some point I cried too. Gods, I hated crying. I felt like that's all I did these days.

    But at the end, she hugged me. And it finally felt like that tie that connected me to my sister had once again connected, as we talked and she told me about everything she'd kept locked away.

    As hard as the conversation may have been...I almost felt happy for a moment.

─── · 。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

A/N: oppppsss posted this in the wrong story first