A Court of Serpents and Saints

Chapter 4: Asryana

I was reborn in light.

During my second birth there was no expectant mother waiting to hold me.

When the sunlight, from the world of the living, caressed my skin my first thought was 'my mother is gone'. You would think that after 500 years I would have grieved thoroughly enough. But a soul can not cry. So when that light touched my skin and that first tear shed from my living eyes the reality of my mother's death struck me all over again.

My second thought was one of pure untamed rage. I knew the circumstances behind my mother's death. I knew HE had done it. The High Lord of the Spring Court was gone but his son and heir had grown and now perfectly resembled his father. It was as if my mother's murderer was here in front of me. The crimes of father and son intertwined in my mind until they were simply a melded list of cause for vengence.

My third thought was of utter violence. The need hit me so strongly I could not cast my gaze anywhere but my target. A wave of fury roiled around me, pushing me towards him. I took a trembling step, forcing my legs to stumble in the direction of the High Lord of the Spring Court. As I moved I was acutely aware that I would not be able to sustain my conciousness for long. After all, I had not slept in 500 years. But before I fell into the dark welcome of unconsciousness I would make sure to punish him.

I planted my feet, positioned my arm, and swung with all the strength that remained, with all of the fury that had burned within me for 500 years.

I relished in the sound of his jaw cracking as my fist connected, splitting the skin. But the satisfaction did not last. His face crumpled with pain and remorse but it did nothing to soothe my rage. How dare he? How dare he think my reaction to seeing him would be anything but this. I reached deep within me, grasping for the roiling raw magic which burned in my veins from lack of use.

I was going to kill him. I was going to rip his heart apart, as he had done to me. Tear it from his chest artery byartery... but I was too far gone. I felt myself fall as the light gave way to darkness.

Before I hit the unforgiving ground, before rest consumed me, strong, comforting arms and the smell of citrus and the sea, wrapped around my worldly body. My last vision was all violet: the brilliant color of the flowers that grew in the Illyrian mountains in the spring, the color of the sky at dusk right before night covers the world, the color of my eyes, my brothers eyes, our eyes.

Rhysand smiled down at me, tears running shamelessly down his face as he whispered, "Welcome back, little sister."