To The Ones Who Can't Dream

chapter 18 - The Court of Nightmares

     After much deliberation, Seren had decided to go with a beautiful black tulle dress. It definitely wasn't as scandalous as some of the other dresses she brought but she wanted to make the right impression on this Court. She figured that playing it safe on the first day would probably be appreciated. But Seren wasn't going to pass off the opportunity to wear a stunning dress.
   
     The dress had a slit up one side and flowed out around her. She figured the flowiness of the dress would be nice for standing out and it would look nice dancing. She had paired the dress with some black heels and sparkly diamond earrings. She carefully arranged her hair into a low bun and made sure her makeup was flawless.
   
     But Seren was no idiot. Even though she didn't expect there to be any combat, she made sure to strap a dagger to her thigh that was hidden by the dress. A female could never be too cautious, especially walking into a den of beasts.
   
     When she made it into the living room, the first thing she noticed was that Mor was wearing her signature red color and Amren had decided to wear pants. Both of them looked hot as fuck. "Ah! There's Seren. Rhys, can you take our picture?" Mor exclaimed when Seren walked into the room.
   
     She handed Rhys the camera before grabbing Amren's hand and dragging her over to Seren. Seren almost laughed at the look Rhys shot Mor. All three females posed for the camera. As soon as the picture had been taken, Mor rushed over to Rhys and snatched the camera out of his hand. Rhys sent Mor a look, "A thank you would be nice."
   
     "Thanks," Mor said half-heartedly as she looked at the picture printed out.
   
     Cassian groaned, "Are you ladies ready yet? My feet already hurt from these fancy fae shoes."
   

   
     The Hewn City was in fact, a city in a mountain. There were roads and small rivers that intersected pathways and looming over everything, was a huge palace carved out of obsidian rock. Rhys halted everyone outside, "I'll send Az and Cass in first. Then Mor and Amren will follow. Since Seren is second in command, I'll escort her in."
   
     Once Az, Cass, Mor, and Amren were on their way inside Seren laughed and said, "Is this a wedding or something?"
   
     Rhys smirked down at her, "Would you like it to be?"

     "In your dreams."
  
    "So I forgot to tell Amren but when we walk in, everyone will be bowing. It's tradition and they aren't allowed to move until I permit them to. But I don't want you to bow." Rhys informed her.
  
     "Won't that send the wrong type of message?"
   
     "It'll send exactly the message I want to send. Nobody is allowed to touch you in there, understand?"
   
     Seren gave him the side-eye, "I'm not a shiny toy to be fought over. What if I need to dance with someone. I'm trying to get to know the fae after all."
   
     "I never said you were a toy. But everyone in there is scum. You can touch them as much as you'd like to. But nobody, and I mean nobody, puts their hands on you without your express permission. I want them to respect you."
   
     Rhys extended his arm to her and she grabbed a hold of it. Seren leant over, "I have to admit. I'm kind of excited to play big, bad second in command."
   
     Rhys chuckled, "Well, don't hold back then."
   
     With his powers, he slammed the large doors to the throne room open. Seren almost rolled her eyes at his dramatics but managed to reign it in. He strolled in with Seren on his arm as she took in the room. There were beasts carved into the black rock pillars in such intricate detail that it looked like they were almost alive. Food and drink were on table after table on one side of the room, while the other side held a dance floor with a group playing music.

     But, a straight shot down the middle of the room was a raised dais with one large throne upon it. The throne was carved out of the same rock the rest of the palace was carved out of, with just as detailed designs on it.
   
     Everyone in the room was kneeling with their heads bowed and Seren smirked, knowing they all must hate having to be beneath Rhys. Right before the dias, was where the rest of the Inner Circle was located. Someone must have told Amren about the whole bowing thing, because she was on the ground right next to them. Seren had never seen Amren bow to anyone so this must mean that Amren really did care about the inner circle and Rhys.
   
     Rhysand's steps were slow and methodical so Seren matched them. Her heels clicking on the ground and his footsteps were the only audible sounds. As Rhys sat down on his throne, she realized he hadn't told her what she was supposed to do now. So, she decided to just sit on one of the arms of the throne. Rhys glanced up at her from where he sat but his eyes were impassive. Seren turned and surveyed the rest of the Court. Every single person besides Mor was wearing black so at least she had gotten the color right.
   
     After several moments Rhys sighed, "Rise."
   
     At once, the whole room stood. Everyone kept their head down except for the Inner Circle who were grinning up at Seren and Rhys. Finally Rhys said, "Continue on."
   
     Everyone moved at once, going back to whatever they had been doing before Rhys had showed up. "Keir," Rhys called.
   
     Seren recognized the name. Mor had told her earlier that he was the one who mainly ran the city and was also her father. She didn't think that Mor and Kier had the best of relationships. A large, blonde haired man stepped up the throne and kneeled before it, "A pleasure to see you again."
   
     Rhys simply said, "Tell me what has been happening lately."
   
     As Keir droned on and on about the various boring things that had happened in the Hewn City, Seren drowned him out. She had no interest in what these fae did. She could see many fae staring at her. Some with looks of contempt, others with envy, some of them were even eyeing her like they might be able to convince her to go to bed with them. Seren stared back, daring anyone to look at her. "And who might this female be?" she heard Keir ask.
   
      Rhys was the one to answer that question, "This is the second-in-command of the Night Court, Seren. Now why don't you go get us drinks."
   
     Seren turned her eyes upon Keir. She looked him up and down before dismissing him and looking somewhere else. She could practically feel the fumes radiating off of Keir for being used for something as mundane as fetching drinks and then being dismissed by her. After much longer than Keir probably needed to acquire drinks, he returned with two glasses of champagne. As he handed it to Seren he spoke to her as if they were having a pleasant conversation, "How many males did you have to sleep with to become the Night Court's whore?"
   
     The whole room fell silent. Even the musicians stopped playing. Seren turned murderous eyes on him as she felt Rhys tense. Before she knew it, Rhys had bound him in his shadows. Rhysand was shaking with anger but before Rhys could say anything, Seren placed a hand on his chest. She slowly stood up from where she had been sitting before. With slow and even steps, Seren approached Keir. She hissed, "You want to go toe to toe with me, pretty boy? I've been alive for more than double your lifespan."

     She chucked her champagne glass at him so fast that he didn't even register her movement until liquid was dripping down her face. She had thrown it with such force that the glass shattered into millions of tiny pieces over his face. Several lodged into his eye as blood poured down his face. Keir screamed. Seren whipped her dagger out and held it against his neck, effectively cutting his scream off, "Ever insult me again and I promise, I will do much worse."

     Keir whimpered. Seren then smiled sweetly down at him before wiping her bloody hands on his white shirt. She straightened his suit jacket before turning her back on him and walking back up to the throne. She sat back down on the arm of the throne. She looked around at the crowd before yelling, "Someone get me a new glass of champagne."

AN: Hi everyone! Just wanted to let you know that my updates may start coming a little slower for the next couple of weeks because I'll be on vacation. I hope everyone has a great day!

Here is Seren's dress: