𝐄𝐋𝐘𝐒𝐈𝐀𝐍 ━━━ ✧ ⋆ （ acotar ）

✧ ˚ 𝐯𝐢. 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫

✧ ˚ 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐒 𝐐𝐔𝐈𝐂𝐊𝐋𝐘 𝐁𝐋𝐄𝐃 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐎 𝐃𝐀𝐘𝐒.

Asteria barely registered the passing time at all, spending her days wandering aimlessly through the manor and refusing to take a single step into the outdoors. After the incident with the Bogge, what little progress she had made over her fears since she came to Prythian had become null. She just couldn't forget that cruel, unforgiving cold.

She still tried her best to completely avoid Tamlinㅡwhich, to be fair, wasn't all that hard considering he spent most hours of the day hunting down the Bogge. Not that he ever managed to catch anything. During dinners, the one time she had no choice but to stay in his presence, he scarcely spokeㅡjust as little as he ate before he was returning to the woods.

She could feel herself withdrawing into a shell. There was nothing for her hereㅡnothing but Feyre, who tried her best to be her comfort, but was far too restless to stay cooped up in the manor. Asteria didn't mind, though. Or at least, she didn't voice it at all. She wanted Feyre to be happy, to be as comfortable in this new life of theirs as possible, even if it meant that she was left behind to drown in her anxiety.

The nightmares were getting worse.

Something about being in Prythian reacted negatively with her subconsciousness. They were an endless cycle of death, of suffering, of her greatest fears come to life. A warning for alternate timelines, or perhaps of the coming future.

A gasp tore through her lips as her back leaped from the mattress. A single glance to the side told her Feyre was still asleep this timeㅡa blessing, to be sure. She was beginning to think sharing a room was only proving to be a burden.

Asteria quietly tore the sheets from her legs and crept out of the room. The halls of the manor were dark as she tried her best to shake the horror of her dream that night, not a soul in sight. Lucien and the servants had long since retired for the night, and Tamlinㅡwell, Tamlin was once again lost in that spine shuddering forest outside of his walls.

Roaming the halls made for a mediocre substitute of the forest back home. But with her refusal to leave the safety of the manor walls, it was the only option Asteria had.

Her steps were light among the wooden steps of the main staircase. She reached the bottom and just satㅡsat and watched the night sky from the window above the front door. She didn't know how long she stayed like that, her bare toes wiggling restlessly against the carpet resting at the base of the stairs, but a sudden breeze forced her gaze from the sky to the door, where a lone figure stood illuminated by moonlight.

She rose to her feet with a sudden urgency.

Asteria had nearly forgotten how terrifyingly large Tamlin was in this form. She forced herself to stay in her place as that fear once again reared its headㅡor maybe she was just frozen in terror. She didn't exactly know, but he was looking at her with those glowing jade eyes.