A Court of Chaos and Confusion - An ACOTAR Rewrite

Chapter 7

The following morning, as Alis and the other servant woman prepared my bath, I contemplated my plan. Tamlin had mentioned that he and Lucien had various duties, and aside from running into him in the house yesterday, I'd seen neither of them around. So, locating Lucien – alone – would be the first order of business.

A casual question tossed in Alis's direction had her revealing that she believed Lucien was on border patrol today – and would be at the stables, preparing to leave.

I was halfway through the gardens, hurrying toward the outcropping of buildings I'd spied the day before, when Tamlin said from behind me, "No trip wires today?"

I froze midstep and looked over my shoulder. He was standing a few feet away. Fuck.

How had he crept up so silently on the gravel? Faerie stealth, no doubt, or maybe it was age that had taught him to move so silently. I willed calm into my veins, my head. I said as politely as I could, "You said I was safe here, so I listened."

His eyes narrowed slightly, but he put on what I supposed was his attempt at a pleasant smile. He was better off scowling. "My morning work was postponed," he said. Indeed, his usual tunic was off, the baldric gone, and the sleeves of his white shirt had been rolled up to the elbows to reveal tanned forearms corded with muscle. "If you want a ride across the grounds – if you're interested in your new... residence, I can take you."

Again, that effort to be accommodating, even when every word seemed to pain him. I was certainly not going to be inconveniencing him. Besides, I'd planned all day to catch Lucien and talk with him, I wasn't about to let that chance slide because Anger Issues decided to be weirdly welcoming today. Maybe if the offer were genuine, but I could tell it was merely out of courtesy.

"No, thank you, I'd prefer to spend some time alone, but thank you for the offer." Marveling at my own audacity I watched as Tamlin clenched his hands into fists, as if fighting against the claws itching to burst out. But he didn't reprimand me, didn't do anything other than prowl back into the house without another word.

I rolled my eyes but hurried toward the stables, tucking away the information. I'm not quite sure why he bothered when he so clearly wanted nothing to do with me and thought I was insignificant.

I tried not to look too eager, too out of breath when I finally reached the pretty, painted stables. It didn't surprise me that the stableboys all wore horse masks. For them I felt pity at what the blight had done, the ridiculous masks they now had to wear until someone could figure out how to undo the magic binding them to their faces. But none of the stable hands even looked at me – either because I wasn't worth it or because they, too, resented me for the death of Andras. I didn't blame them.

Any attempt at casualness took a stumble when I finally found Lucien astride a black gelding, grinning down at me with too-white teeth.

"Morning, Feyre." I tried to hide the stiffening in my shoulders and gave him a dazzling smile in return. "Going for a ride, or merely reconsidering Tam's offer to live with us?" I tried to recall the words I'd come up with earlier, to see if there was any way I could mend things between us, given I killed his friend, but he laughed – not pleasantly. "Come now. I'm to patrol the southern woods today, and I'm curious about the... Abilities you used to bring down my friend, whether accidental or not. It's been a while since I encountered a human, let alone a Fae-killer. Indulge me in a hunt."

Perfect – at least that part of this had gone well, even if it sounded as lovely as facing a bear in its den. I stepped aside to let a stableboy pass. He moved with a fluid smoothness, like all of them here. And didn't look at me, either – no indication at all of what he thought of having a Fae-killer in his stable. I cringed.