𝐄𝐋𝐘𝐒𝐈𝐀𝐍 ━━━ ✧ ⋆ （ acotar ）

✧ ˚ 𝐱𝐢𝐢. 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧

✧ ˚ 𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐀 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐅𝐄𝐘𝐑𝐄 𝐉𝐎𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐖𝐎 𝐇𝐈𝐆𝐇 𝐅𝐀𝐄 𝐌𝐀𝐋𝐄𝐒 for lunch the very next day. Lucien had made sure she got to her room safely, continuing to babble away after their grim conversation. The younger woman was still nursing a headache from the night before, but luckily the Fae had some sort of magic tonic that reduced her symptoms, and Alis had made sure she drank plenty of water. She hadn't registered the fact that Feyreㅡand Tamlinㅡwas nowhere to be seen the rest of the night, but Lucien most definitely did. He'd been eyeing Feyre with that mischievous grin of his since they'd sat down at the table.

"Rumor has it that you and Tam didn't come back until dawn," he drawled. Feyre choked on her drink, to which Asteria patted her back helpfully.

Tamlin was watching her sister carefully, searching for something that she couldn't read. Feyre met his eyes. "You bit my neck on Fire Night. If I can face you after that, a few kisses are nothing."

Asteria gasped loudlyㅡit was about damn timeㅡcausing two of their heads to swivel towards her. Her cheeks burned. "Sorry, carry on." She leaned forward earnestly, resting her elbows on the table as she glanced between her sister and the High Lord with a wide smile. Lucien snorted softly.

Tamlin hadn't removed his heavy gaze from Feyre. "Nothing?" His eyes flickered down slightly.

"Nothing," Feyre replied, but her voice was distant, as if she was thinking about something else entirely. Lucien met Asteria's eyes and mimed a gagging gesture, causing her hand to fly up to her mouth to stop the giggle that threatened to escape.

"Are you sure?" Tamlin murmured. Asteria thought they may have forgotten she and the emissary were still in the room.

"We're trying to eat," Lucien interrupted. Feyre blinked, a long breath whooshing from her lungs as if she'd forgotten to breath altogether. Asteria pressed her lips together tightly to keep her amusement at bayㅡshe'd never seen her act this way with Isaac Hale.

"But now that I have your attention, Tamlin," Lucien continued. "Not to be the bearer of truly bad tidings, but my contact at the Winter Court managed to get a letter to me." The slight smile on Tamlin's face was wiped away in an instant, and Lucien swallowed. "The blight... it took out two dozen of their younglings. Two dozen, all gone." Asteria's eyes widened and turned glassy, her lips parting in horror. "It... burned through their magic, then broke apart their minds. No one in the Winter Court could do anythingㅡno one could stop it once it turned its attention toward them. Their grief is... unfathomable. My contact says other courts are being hit hardㅡthough the Night Court, of course, manages to remain unscathed." The anxiousness that had been building in her chest eased ever so slightly. "But the blight seems to be sending its wickedness this wayㅡfarther south with every attack."

Feyre gripped her hand, her face suddenly pale. "The blight... can truly kill people?"

Tamlin's eyes were shadowed, and he slowly shook his headㅡas if trying to clear the grief and shock of those deaths from him. "The blight is capable of hurting us in ways youㅡ" He shot to his feet so quickly that his chair flipped over. He unsheathed his claws and snarled at the open doorway, canines long and gleaming.