A Court of Secrets and Moonlight

67: Stones

Cassian

The morning light was streaming through the camp, through the fluttering fabric of the tent doors. Rhys had all but ordered us to go get cleaned up this morning, taking up residence at Leur's bedside himself while Nesta, Azriel, and I washed the blood and dirt from ourselves. We had sat there all night, barely sleeping, in pure silence while we waited for her. She still hadn't woken up, the sedatives the healers had given her still keeping her out. Her wound was healing, the redness on the surface beginning to fade away into a scar.

Now we were sitting here, and I was watching Amren explain to Nesta what she needed to do with the bones and stones. We were looking for the Cauldron, for Hybern's main camp, for the opportunity to get ahead. Azriel had replaced Rhys's spot at Leur's bedside, and it was only my loyalty to my family that kept me away from that tent. I would return as soon as this was over.

"So, I scatter these like some backstreet charlatan and it will find the Cauldron?" Nesta spoke up.

Amren stroked the coat of the small cat on her lap, a devilish smile on her face, "Something like that."

I shook my head, interrupting, "I'm sorry, but I need to ask why the hell you brought that cat into a war zone?"

The small female turned to me with a glare, "Because I've grown quite fond of her. Do you have a problem with that?"

The look on her face promised death if I so much as dared to nod, so I just gulped, "No. No I don't"

"Great." She hissed at me, before turning to Nesta once more, "Three stones for the faces of the Mother, four bones for... whatever reason the charlatans came up with that I can't be bothered to remember."

Rhys let out a low laugh, "Okay, but how do we make sense of it once she throws them?"

"We'll deal with that when we get there, boy." Amren answered, "For now, just pick them up and cast your mind towards the Cauldron. Find the bond that links you to it."

Nest picked up the stones, her eyes shutting as she focused. I could have sworn a slight hum echoed through the camp. "Am I to touch it?" she asked no one in particular, something like fear in her voice.

"No. Just come close." Amren answered, "Find it, but do not interact."

"Nothing can harm you here." I promised, scooting my chair in her direction, daring to place a hand on her back, "You are safe, Nesta."

Concentration settled over her features, like that cold determination I had witnessed yesterday. Her eyes shifted beneath their lids as she whispered, "I do not see anything."

"Keep going." Amren answered, "It reaches for you as you do it."

Nesta breathed, deep and slow. Over and over, time passed like the ticking of a clock. A muscle twitched beneath her brow, but then Nesta began speaking, chanting, over and over again.

"I am in control. I am in control. This power is mine. It belongs to me. I am in control." She whispered, "I am in control."

Her hand started to shake, knuckles going white as she held the stones within them. Her breath came faster and faster, as she willed those words into existence. As if- if she spoke them enough times, they would become truth.

"I am in control. I am in control."

"Where is it, girl." Amren coaxed, "Open your hand, let us see."

Feyre took a deep breath, closing her eyes. That humming grew louder, as if the very earth beneath our feet was making the noise.

"Get out, Feyre." Nesta hissed, "I am in control. I am in control."