A Court of Secrets and Moonlight

59: Ego

Leur

Cold, harsh winds. The scent of metal and pine in the air, smoke from the cabin chimneys. Brisk, damp air that was so familiar to me I could barely remember all the time that had passed.

This was my grave.

And yet, I felt nothing but nostalgia. I would have expected these woods to feel like utter misery and hell, I had braved myself for it. But it never came. Perhaps all of the good that had occurred here, all the years spent growing up with my brothers and Azriel, the refuge it felt like from my father, outweighed that one horrid night. As if too much love had grown here that I could not see the devastation that had occurred miles away.

Maybe it was just my mother's memory, flowing positivity into me from beyond.

Rhys had no issue with revealing me to the Illyrian troops. They always kept to themselves, barely even tolerated us as half-breeds speaking to them. Still, he gave an order that it would be considered treason to reveal my existence to anyone beyond.

I didn't think any of them cared enough about me to even notice, at least not the ones that remembered that I had even existed.

A male was waiting for us by the pavilion at the center of the camp, surrounded by other camp lords. his face different from the last time I had seen it. It took me a moment to place him, to recognize him after all these years and within his new position of power.

"Devlon?" I let my hand drop from Azriel's, stepping out from behind Cassian.

He went wholly still, his face going utterly pale, the sneer that had been there dissipating, "Leuruna?"

"You're a camp lord?" I asked, turning to my brothers for confirmation. Rhys nodded.

"You're alive?" His voice was deeper than I remembered it from my time in the war.

Devlon had been the sergeant of the troops my father gave me to command in Rhys's stead the final battle of the first war. My brother had still been healing from his affairs with Amarantha, his wings taking months to reform from the bloodbane chains. The Illyrians hadn't been too keen on taking direction from a female, but went mostly silent when they saw how much power I could wield.

In those final brutal moments of the battle, Devlon had been the one to save me from the killing blow from the King.

"Long story." I shrugged, stepping forward to shake his hand.

"You always did have a habit of getting yourself into trouble, princess." He laughed, shaking my hand and looking towards my brother.

Rhys looked mildly betrayed that the male had never shown him the same kindness. I didn't entirely know why Devlon never hated me, never saw me the way he did other females. I didn't know why he was willing to make an exception for me as a half-breed female and not Rhysand. It didn't make sense, but perhaps my return would make things easier for my brother.

The two green siphons on his hands flickered as Rhys spoke to him, ensuring that he understood that nobody was to say a word about my existence. Behind him, Feyre and Nesta were shielding Elain practically from sight.

"It's true then, the wall is down." Devlon frowned.

Rhys was dressed in finery as he spoke, at complete odds with our leathers. His voice was all the cool and swiftness of a night wind, "A temporary failure."

I could have sworn I saw my father standing there in his place for a moment. All cold confidence and a tight leash kept on his troops.

I didn't have any interest in seeing more, so I stood back beside Feyre and Nesta. Behind us, Elain was practically shivering from the harsh winds.