A Court of Stone and Sorrow - ACOTAR

Chapter One: The Birth

Chapter One : The Birth

Beneath the mountain, one would only find stone and sorrow. The once ancient mountain defiled and tarnished, carved out piece by piece, until a mockery of a court was housed beneath the surface. Rooms carved out, just as skin would later be.

Beneath the mountain.

It was a phrase whispered in grief. A phrase whispered in agony and fear. A phrase that defined the life of those trapped in sorrow, deep beneath the magic of The Middle that should have protected their kind.

Beneath the mountain.

It was a place that defiled the rules of their kin. A place that stripped even the highborn lords of their power and might. A place where lesser fae and lords were equally worthless.

Beneath the mountain.

It was also a place where, despite all the odds, new life begins.

"It will be okay, Luciana. Just a few more pushes."

The soothing voice of her lover was interrupted by her sudden scream. The sound echoing off the stone walls that had become her cell for the past two years. Luciana's wide blue eyes turned to her lover, his deep brown reflecting the fear that she was certain was in her own gaze. She could feel his magic, the feather light tendrils that he kept trying to push into her. The strength of his healing magic doing nothing for the pain that she was in. Luciana let out another agonizing scream as she threw her head back against the pillow.

"Luci, please. Stay with me."

She openly wept at the sound of his voice. The soothing words that he had been trying to use giving way to the desperation that they both felt.

Desperation for her to live. Desperation for this birth not to happen, not now. They both knew that as soon as the babe took a breath, it would be the last for one of them. Whether it was mother, father, or the babe, one of them was not making it out of the room. The stones that surrounded them for the past two years, would be their grave.

"Thesan, I can't... She'll kill us."

A low growl rippled through Thesan's throat. His dark eyes seemingly going black in the shadows of the mountain.

"She can't. I am a high lord. There are rules."

Luciana let out a strangled laugh, quickly accompanied by a pained grimace as another contraction took over her body.

"We both know that our rules meaning nothing, down here. We mean nothing, down here." She let out a weak laugh, less malicious and more despaired, as her wide blue eyes opened to look at her lover. "We wouldn't even be here, if it was not for her rules."

Thesan released a sigh, as the hand not trapped in her vice grip reached up to smooth her damp hair away from her forehead. His fingers traced back down the side of her face in a slow and tender motion, until it rested against her cheek. He could feel the flush of her skin, and tried to push a bit more healing magic into her to cool her down. The golden tendrils did not make it past his fingertips. The normally endless well inside of him feeling like the single tear drop that rolled off his lash.

"She has nothing to do with this... with us. She could force her hand all she wanted, but this," he held her tighter as his eyes screamed with intensity. "This is ours, my sweet little bird."

The tidal wave of tears that Luciana was already releasing seemed to increase ten fold. "And yet she takes it from us, just like everything else." Her breathy exclamation was met with another scream.