𝙲𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚛𝚢 𝙱𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚜𝚘𝚖(𝙰𝙲𝙾𝚃𝙰𝚁)

𝔠𝔥𝔞𝔭𝔱𝔢𝔯 𝔰𝔦𝔵

I eventually found sleep, though it took a while. In the morning, I woke to someone tapping my arm.

I grumbled, groggily opening my eyes. Through blurred vision, I saw Feyre starring down at me.

I sat up and using my comforter to cover my chest, which my nightgown did little to cover. I felt a small sense of embarrassment over the fact that I'd been sleeping with a stuffed bunny in my arms. One my mother had given me as a babe.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"I need to talk to you," she insisted.

"How did you even get in--"

"Please, Mary."

Mary. Only one other person called me that, and I hadn't seen him in centuries.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"I went to Calanmai last night, after Tamlin told me not to," she explained. I raised a brow, surprised by her disobedience. "Tamlin found me in the halls after."

"I can imagine he was upset," I said quietly.

"Well, I'm not really sure how to read his reaction," she admitted, her face going pink. She brushed her hair back to reveal a bruise on her neck. "He bit me."

"He bit you?" I demanded, furrowing my brows. "Why would he do that?"

"That's what I came to ask you about," she explained.

"I have no idea," I admitted. "When he's upset with me, he just shouts."

Shouting was an understatement. He would yell until the manor was shaking, his claws would come out, he would break things, throw things.

"I didn't hate it," she confessed, staring at her lap with red cheeks.

"What do you mean?" I wondered.

"Nevermind," she shook her head, clearly embarrassed.

"Let me help you dress," I decided, getting out of bed. "Then, you can walk right into the dining room and pretend he had no affect on you at all."

I drew her a bath, which she spent a while in while in while I dressed myself in something Tamlin had laid out for me, just as he did every morning.

She dressed herself, then I braided her hair for her. She searched for something to cover the bruise, but I placed a hand on her arm.

"Let is show," I advised. "Make him feel ashamed for his temper."

Sniffing, she opened the collar of her tunic farther and tucked stray strands of her golden-brown hair behind her ears so there would be no concealing it.

I took her arm in mine and led her down the hallways. When we flung open the doors, we found them both sprawled in their chairs.

"Good afternoon," Feyre said cheerfully, with an especially saccharine smile for the High Lord.

He blinked at her, and both of the faerie men murmured their greetings as Feyre took a place facing Lucien. I dipped in a curtsy for my brother, then sat next to her, facing Tamlin.

Feyre seemed to thrive in the tense silence as she ate her food. I was still upset about the night before. I wanted to glare at my brother, but I didn't dare.

"You look refreshed," Lucien observed with a glance at Tamlin. Feyre shrugged. "Sleep well?"

"Like a babe." She smiled at him.

"What is that bruise?" Lucien demanded.

"Ask him. He did it," she said, pointing her fork at Tamlin.

"Why does Feyre have a bruise on her neck from you?" he asked with no small amount of amusement.

"I bit her," Tamlin said, not pausing as he cut his steak. "We ran into each other in the hall after the Rite."

I noticed his claws pushing against the skin above his knuckles. I decided not to say a word. I wasn't going to make him any more mad than he already was.

"She seems to have a death wish," he went on, cutting his meat. "So, if Feyre cant be bothered to listen to orders, then I cant be held accountable for the consequences."

"Accountable?" she sputtered, placing her hands flat on the table. "You cornered me in the hall like a wolf with a rabbit!"

Lucien propped an arm on the table and covered his mouth with his hand, his russet eye bright.

"While I might not have been myself, Lucien and I both told you to stay in your room," Tamlin said.

"Faerie pig!" she yelled, and Lucien howled, almost tipping back in his chair. At the sight of Tamlins growing smile, Feyre left.

✯¸.'*¨'*✿ ✿*'¨*'.¸✯

I laid in my bed that evening, staring at the ceiling. There wasn't much to do when you weren't allowed to go outside.

I was 495 years old, and I had never left the grounds of the manor.

Over the last five centuries, I'd read all the books in the manor. I'd tried out so many hobbies to keep myself busy.

Nothing tamed the longing I felt to leave. I felt imprisoned. I knew it was for my own safety, but I'd grown to resent my brother for keeping me locked away.

A soft knock at the door made me sit up. Alis made her way into my room, shaking her head at the many dirty glasses that had accumulated on my nightstand.

"What are you moping around about?" she asked me as she began cleaning my space.

"I want to go outside," I mumbled.

"You have a balcony," she pointed out, raising an eyebrow at me.

"That's not what I mean, and you know it," I glared. "I hate him."

"No, you don't," she sighed, rolling her eyes. "He loves you very much."