A Court of Secrets and Moonlight

64: The Cloak

Feyre

I was only a few miles south of the Weavers cottage when a rasping voice sounded behind me, the pitch was one I knew all too well.

"Hello again, Feyre Archeron." The Suriel's ancient voice crooned.

I spun, leaving my sword drawn as I stared into it's deathly face. "Thrice now, you have hunted me. Have you come to finally kill me, or to beg for my help once more?"

It was clad not in the cloak I had given it a few months ago, but in a newer one. Heavy swaths of dirty green velvet hung in shreds around its frame, as if it had been ripped to shreds by the wind's invisible talons. It had only been a few months since I had last seen it, when I learned Rhys was my mate. Though, it may as well have been a lifetime ago.

"I am sorry but this is an urgent matter." I panted.

"Yes, the battle. I can hear the suffering even from here." The Suriel crooned, "An ancient power has just been unleashed."

I blinked at him, "What?"

"Do not fret, Cursebreaker. The lost princess will ensure the battle ends before too much blood is lost." The Suriel answered, "Though, that is not why you have truly come."

"The lost princess..." I whispered, "You have known Leur was alive this whole time?"

A hideous smile crossed its face, "You never asked."

I took a moment to think, wondering just how many beings were aware of her secret, just how many missed chances there were for Rhys and the others to find her.

"You wish to know where the King's army is hiding." The Suriel changed the subject.

I nodded, going back to the task at hand, "Among other things, but let's start with that."

"Even I cannot see it." The Suriel tilted his head, "The King uses magic to shield it from the eyes of things such as I, magic far older than I."

"The Cauldron."

"Yes." Another awful smile, "That mighty wicked thing, the bowl of life and death. He has bound himself to it, offered his life in its service in repayment of wielding it."

I shook my head, "What does that mean?"

"It is an ancient ritual, one that can only be done with objects created by the Mother's own hands. It has been centuries since someone has dared to complete it, millennia." The Suriel explained, "It binds one very life to the object so it can be wielded. Merges their soul with that cosmic power, their very being."

The Suriel tilted its head at me in a way that reminded me that it was a predator, "The King has bound himself to the Cauldron, and the princess has bound herself to its opposite. The final battle will need to occur between them, where it left off all those years ago."

The hair on the back of my neck rose, "Leur bound herself to the Apenati?"

I could have sworn the Suriel looked confused, "She was Made to wield it, born from the last dredges of the original golden waters of the Cauldron, from all of the good that the Mother instilled upon this world."

"The Ingysi."

It nodded at me, "And luckily, you already have a way to find the Cauldron. If the princess can get close to it, she can nullify it for a time."

"Leur can find it?" I asked.

"No, your sister can." The Suriel clarified. Rain pelted down through the canopy of the trees.

I shook my head, "Elain cannot see the Cauldron. She has already tried to find it."

"Nesta." It hissed, "Like calls to like. The King of Hybern keeps it close, where the Cauldron is- his army shall be."