Son of Night and Daughter of Stars

Chapter 60: The Unraveling

Though Nyx was dressed in his usual jacket, Estelle was still in the shift she'd been wearing when she woke up. While Estelle ran to change, Aelin sent Nyx to join Rowan, Rhys, Feyre, and their courts. 

When he got there, his mother immediately brought him to the window, pointing out at the Oakwald. There, on the edge of the forest, stood a woman of slight build with moon-pale skin that was very at odds with her fire-red hair. 

"She's putting Lysandra's shape-shifting to use, it seems." Feyre said. Nyx frowned. 

"Why is she just standing there? Why hasn't she come here yet? And where's Cassian, Azriel and Artemis?" 

"Right here." Nyx turned to see Artemis and Amandla walking in. "Father and Az are on their way. They went to raid the armory." 

Rowan turned around at that, frowning. "Do they not have enough already?" 

It was Amandla who answered, grinning. "We're Illyrians. We can never have enough weapons." 

Rowan sighed, turning back to the window. Nyx thought he heard him mutter something that sounded like, "Anielle all over again." He decided to ignore it. 

"And as for why she's just standing there," Artemis came to the window and scowled down at Marzanna, despite her distance. "We don't know. We followed her here once she figured out Lysandra wasn't you. But then she just... stood there. So Uncle Az winnowed us here so we could make a plan." She glanced around. "Anyone have any ideas?" 

"Well, obviously," Amandla pointed at Feyre, Artemis, and Nyx. "Keep these three away from her, and anyone else with Archeron or Galathynius blood." 

Feyre and Artemis made very similar expressions of annoyance. Nyx suspected he looked the same as well. 

"I hate being stuck in a corner," Feyre muttered to Nyx. She glanced up at him. "Sorry, love. I suppose it's my fault we're in this mess." 

Nyx looked down at his mother in shock. "How in the world is this your fault, Mother? You and Aelin did everything you could to prevent this." 

Feyre sighed, adjusting the diadem on her brow. "I know, love. But we might have just delayed the inevitable." 

It came to Nyx, then, just how different she looked to him. He'd only been apart from her for a month, maybe a little more, but she looked so much... older than he remembered. He'd always thought of his parents as immortal, something that would live forever. Something he'd never have to tell goodbye. But he could see the effects of the past months, maybe years, on his mother. While she was still beautiful as always, a High Lady by every angle of her muscled body, underneath he could see the weariness weighing her down. There was a tired darkness in her eyes that he didn't like. 

Nyx leaned down and wrapped his mother in a tight embrace. She didn't question it, just slipped her arms around his waist and perched her chin on his shoulder. For a few heartbeats, they didn't say anything. Nyx just stood in his mother's arms, wishing he'd known to stay there longer. 

When he finally pulled back, Feyre touched his cheek, smiling sadly. Whatever his expression told her, she seemed to understand, because she stood on her toes to kiss his forehead. She squeezed his hand, then turned away to walk to his father. 

When Nyx looked up, Aelin and Estelle entered the room. Aelin moved to join Rowan, Rhys, and Feyre, while Estelle walked over to Nyx. 

And Nyx thought he might have forgotten how to speak for a moment as she stopped in front of him. Estelle looked exactly like the queen she'd be one day. Her silver armor was strapped tightly to her body, the slim black shirt beneath the breastplate glimmering in a way that told him it might be reinforced as well. The stag symbol of Terrasen gleamed in gold on her shoulder, shining as if it had just been forged. She'd braided her hair back, and though no crown graced her brow, around her neck gleamed a ring on a chain that looked like a smaller version of the Amulet of Orynth he'd seen in his mother's drawings.