A Court of Flame & Shadow - Eris x OC

Under the Mountain III

An hour later they were atop horses heading towards the cave that leads Under the Mountain. She was riding at the front of the procession on Tamlin's left side. Lucien seemed content to keep his High Lord between them and ignore her for the entirety of the journey. The rest of the Spring Court was behind them, lords and ladies, maids and servants.

Vel was looking at herself in a hand mirror, trying to put the finishing touches on her disguise. She went over all the details again from the tips of her neatly pinned golden hair, to the slightly up-tilted blue eyes, the small nose and the round face, the rosy porcelain skin, no freckles or scars in sight. There was nothing left that resembled her old self. She was a nobleman's daughter, filling in for her father who had been injured during border patrol a few days earlier. The captain in question didn't have a daughter but she hoped she'd planted the memory with enough courtiers that the story held. Satisfied with her appearance, she tucked the mirror in a saddlebag and pulled out a silver mask encrusted with sapphires.

"Lucien, can we talk for a moment?" Her new voice was lilting and light, belonging to a person whose world was all roses and sunshine. It would take some getting used to.

Lucien pretended not to hear her, but Tamlin cleared his throat and rode ahead of the two of them, leaving his emissary to frown at his back.

"When we're there you need to keep your distance. If Amarantha gets even a whiff ... "

"I think you're forgetting where I come from. I can play my part just fine."

They rode for a few more minutes before she broke the silence again.

"I'm sorry, Lucien."

"What for?"

"You almost died because of me."

"No, I almost died because I couldn't keep my mouth shut."

"Then why are you punishing me?" Lucien sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"I'm not. I'm just ... angry, I guess. At myself, at Amarantha, at this stupid eye, at how everything turned out. I'm trying not to take it out on you but you make it difficult when you're being so unreasonable."

Vel gave him a small smile. "I'm always that way. You only notice it now because we're at the opposite ends of a disagreement."

"Seems about right," Lucien muttered sullenly.

"If it's any comfort, I wish I had gotten the chance to tell Amarantha to fuck off. But you already put it so eloquently that I don't think I can match that." Lucien barked out a laugh. "And I think the eye looks pretty neat. It gives you a certain ... mysterious allure."

Lucien considered her words, his gold and russet eyes studied her face. She felt exposed under his stare. There was something in his expression that made Vel wonder if he could see through her glamour.

"Is it so wrong of me to want to keep you safe?" He asked quietly.

"I am grateful, Lucien, but I'm thousands of years old. I don't need to be coddled. And I don't appreciate it when friends don't trust me." He didn't respond. "I should go to my spot before we get any closer. Don't want to raise any suspicions." Vel pulled on the reins of her palfrey and fell back in line with the nobility as they approached the cave entrance.

The throne room was unchanged, except for the fact that there were now human corpses pinned to the walls in all manners of grotesque positions. There was also a foul smell hanging in the air. When she saw the Attor stand by the throne, hands clasped behind his back and wings shredded to ribbons, she realized the source. It seemed like Amarantha had found an outlet for her rage.