'Light thinks it travels faster than anything but it is wrong. No matter how fast light travels, it finds the darkness has always got there first, and is waiting for it."
- Terry Pratchett
What if there was another other-worldly being that had...
Days bled into weeks and before Seren knew it, a month had passed. That meant it was time for Feyre's second challenge. And surprise, surprise, Amarantha had selected another fucking red dress for Seren to wear tonight. It was a floor length, intricately beaded dress with a cutout just underneath Seren's breasts.
"So," Rhys spoke up from the other side of the room, "what do you think this challenge will be?"
Shrugging, Seren said, "No clue. We can probably rule out another monster though. Amarantha won't repeat herself. She wouldn't want her creativity to be questioned. Maybe something targeting intellect? She now knows that Feyre has the skills for hunting. But she was brought up in a mortal town. I don't know how much emphasis they put on reading and writing."
"Or it could have something to do with Feyre's compassion. She did put her life on the line for the male she loves. That could be another potential weakness," Rhys countered.
"Yeah, or Amarantha could just pull out something completely random. We have no way of knowing," Seren sighed.
Amarantha had instructed everyone to meet in a different room Seren had never been in before. The first thing that Seren saw was Lucien, chained to the floor. She let out a small gasp, and whipped her head around to the thrones. She immediately looked to Tamlin. Beside his claws digging into his chair, he still showed no expression. Huh, she thought, maybe aliens came down and took Tamlin's soul. That has to be why he is acting like a heartless bastard.
She wanted to go help Lucien but he was stuck inside an enclosure. If she had to guess, he would be used to force Feyre's hand in some way. Seren had to give Amarantha some credit, she was one cunning fae. Using Feyre's weaknesses against her would be the quickest way to take her down.
The enclosure had two parts in it, separated by an iron fence in the middle. Lucien was chained to one side and there was writing on the other side with three levers. But other than that, it looked pretty normal. When the doors burst open and Feyre was thrown into the cage, she immediately ran up to Lucien. With tears in her eyes she said, "I'm sorry Lucien. I'm so sorry about everything."
She reached out her hand and he grabbed onto it on his side of the cage, "It's alright. Just focus on the task. I know you're going to kick the challenge in the ass Feyre, you'll be fine."
"Aw," Amarantha cooed from her throne,
"How cute. Tamlin, Lucien might steal your girl if you're not careful."
She laughed at her own joke and awkwardness descended when nobody laughed beside her. It didn't really matter who was in the cage with Feyre. As long as it was one of their own, the fae wouldn't appreciate the sentiment that they were below Amarantha and worth the same as a human. Clearing her throat, Amarantha started again, "Anyways. This challenge is very simple, Feyre. There is a question engraved on the wall with three answers below. Choose the correct answer and you win. Easy!"
Mutters filled the room, the task was too easy. "Okay!" Amarantha cheerily said, "Let the game begin!"
There was a loud bang and 10 inch spikes appeared from the ceiling above Feyre and Lucien. As they slowly started descending towards the two people inside the enclosure, Seren felt a shoot of panic come from her bond with Feyre. She ran over to the question and her eyes roamed over it. But she made no move to pull any lever.
Feyre stood there, frozen as the spikes got closer to Lucien and herself. Her eyes kept glancing between the question and the answers but it was clear she didn't know which one was the right answer. Although Seren couldn't read the questions from here, she reached into the stone where she knew the levers were attached to. The first one felt different from the other two and Seren realized that that must be because lever 1 was the only one that would stop the ceiling.
"Just pick one!" Lucien screamed at her.
Feyre hesitantly raised her hand to the lever 3. Right as she was about to pull it Seren did the only thing she could think of, she sent a zap to Feyre's hand through the tattoo. With a hiss, Feyre pulled her hand back. Discreetly, she glanced at Seren but Seren's face gave nothing away as she was scrutinized. Feyre seemed to draw some conclusion because she held her hand up to lever 2 and again, Seren sent a zap through the tattoo. As she held it up to lever 1, Seren did nothing. Feyre sent one more glance at Seren before reaching out and pulling lever 1.
The ceiling screeched to a halt as the room lapsed into silence. Lucien was muttering something like a prayer under his breath and Feyre just looked stunned. Amarantha groaned audibly as the Attor forcefully grabbed Feyre and began walking her back to her cell.
Only once everyone was dismissed and heading back to their rooms, did Seren let out the breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. Two trials down, one to go.
AN: Seren's dress
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