starfall. [ Rhysand ]

XIV

the second task.

Kiara felt a wave of horror wash over her when Feyre revealed what her first task had entailed. It involved facing a Middlegarden Wyrm, a massive worm with razor-sharp teeth, lurking in a trench of mud and bones from its previous prey.

It was hard for Kiara to fanthom the terror Feyre must have endured, but she knew her friend was clever and in fact she had outwitted the creature, albeit with grave injuries.

Initially, Feyre hesitated to share how she had healed so quickly after her near-death experience, her pained cries ringing in Kiara's ears when she was brought back to her cage. Kiara had been deep in slumber after a grueling day of torture, she did not wake up even when Feyre confronted the High Lord of the Night Court as he had decided to grant the human a visit. Still, Feye couldn't deny that Rhysand had saved her life although she had no idea why.
She could still feel his unwarranted presence in her head from that day he barged into the Spring Court and ruined their lunch, which gave her plenty of reasons not to trust him.

"What kind of bargain did you strike with him?" Kiara finally asked after Feyre had decided to reveal to her that it had been him to heal her deathly wounds.

"I traded a week at his Court for the rest of my life" Feyre sighed, waiting for Kiara's reaction. Surprisingly, the Star remained silent, lost in her thoughts about Rhysand's motivations for helping Feyre. Yes, she had been the one to beg him to protect her friend but she would have never imagined him really listening to her. She felt that he did it for his own reasons but they were unknown to her. Perhaps he fancied Feyre and that made sense to Kiara. Her friend was as much stunning as smart and brave, who wouldn't have wanted her...

Rhysand had indeed made the deal for his own reasons. As well as not wanting to worry Kiara for Feyre's life, he also struck the bargain with the human to ensure he could keep an eye on Kiara, especially if Feyre succeeded in the three tasks and they returned to the Spring Court, which he saw as a possibility after witnessing Feyre defeat the Wyrm. If they were going to go back to the Spring Court, he hoped Kiara would have joined Feyre when it was the time for her to meet the ends to the bargain.

***

The next full moon arrived swiftly, but before Feyre was whisked away from her cell by the Attor. He took his sweet time to scare Kiara. She shivered in fear each time she saw him, knowing he enjoyed taunting her. This time it was no different.

He unlocked her cell door and approached her as Kiara hugged her knees, avoiding his gaze. The Attor backhanded her, splitting her lower lip, Kiara refused to show she was hurting but the tears in her eyes betrayed her.

"Such great power wasted in a worthless being" he shook his head looking at her with disgust before he left to bring Feyre to the throne room. When her friend passed by her cell, she sent her a smile to try to assure her that it was going to be alright but truth to be told Feyre was terrified.

"I am glad you were brought here" Feyre told her as she had heard what the Attor had said to Kiara. And she meant it. She was glad the Star was brought to her because she wasn't sure she would have survived without her constant cheery present. Kiara was like a cup of sunshine.

"Shut up!" The monstrous being had pushed beckoning Feyre to not say another word or she would have been killed before her second task.
It made the human shiver; if only the first task had included a deathly worm, what would her second task be?
In fact, once she discovered that it involved reading or Lucien would have died, she swore she would have preferred defeating the Wyrm all over again.

Meanwhile, Kiara embraced the darkness to think of what the Attor had said.

Worthless.

Worthless.

Worthless.

That word had kept ringing in her ear for  months now, since when she had been taken as prisoner. However, that word was starting to lose its grip on her.
Kiara thought about the reason why she was brought to earth, which was to help those in need. She thought that maybe there was a reason she was awaken by the Cauldron, there was a reason she had been chosen in comparison to the rest of the Stars.
She thought about how she loved waking up early to help the cookers bake, she remembered how she enjoyed helping Feyre read even though with poor success. Her life was not worthless, the Attor was wrong as well as Tamlin and Lucien. She wasn't awaken to die by their hands or be used as Amarantha's pawn, but she was born to help, feel, breathe... fight.

She was interrupted by a Daemati that entered her cell. He grinned evilly, savoring her vulnerability.
She was confused. That was the first time one of them visited by himself, usually they always worked in groups.

Her introspection was interrupted when the Daemati entered her mind, attempting to discover her name by destroying the labyrinth within her.

"While the others are wasting their time with your pathetic human friend, I am going to be the one to break you. Amarantha promised to the one who will uncover your name, fame and glory and a lot of gold" he whispered to her with a triumphant smile as if he had already succeeded in his task.

But Kiara decided to take a different approach that day. She refused to accept that her purpose was to die at Amarantha's hands or become a pawn. So she did what she could do best after reading so many books; she used the power of imagination. She envisioned roots extending from her labyrinth entangling and imprisoning the Daemati which yelled in surprise.

"You think you can defeat me?" he scoffed, but Kiara gritted her teeth, intensifying her focus and imagined those same roots entering his nose, mouth and ears. He struggled at first, but then the Daemati just stopped abruptly.
When she opened her eyes, she was met with the sight of the Daemati dead on the floor, blood oozing from his eyes, nose, and mouth. Kiara was horrified by her own actions, but she did not feel bad. That Daemati had been torturing her for months savoring her cries of pain and horror.

When the sentinels returned to retrieve Feyre, confirming her success in the second task, they found the dead Daemati, which enraged Amarantha. In a cruel spectacle, Kiara was presented to the usurper's subjects and the High Lords as the Daematis attempted to breach her mental defenses. Amarantha's cunning was evident; after discovering the Star had killed one of her trusted right-hand men, she had to prevent any High Lords' thoughts of uprising. Her only option was to make her appear weak and defenseless, making them believe it had been mere luck.

Despite Kiara's valiant resistance, she was overwhelmed by the numerous Daematis. Amarantha's smile widened as she showcased Kiara's suffering, aiming to assert her dominance over the Star. While Rhysand maintained a stoic expression, his concern for Kiara was destroying him inside, even though she was showing resilience in the face of such torment.

"Such a frail girl," she muttered, savoring her screams while her subjects looked on. "Her powers will soon be mine," she declared loudly, hoping to make her intentions clear.

"I would rather die fighting than surrender what is rightfully mine," Kiara winced but managed to speak slowly, hoping to make Amarantha understand.

"You will wish you had died," Amarantha grinned maliciously.

"Keep infiltrating her mind until I instruct otherwise," she ordered, but that was the last thing Kiara heard before she fainted from the pain.