A Court of Secrets and Moonlight

81: War

Leur

It didn't take me long to spot him.

I could feel Mor running back towards the camp with Elain, could feel Nesta and Cassian circling overhead somewhere. I saw Tamlin down on the bloodstained battlefields below, and in the rocky foothills on the other side- Rhys, Feyre, and Amren were hidden behind a rock.

No more than thirty feet from them sat the Cauldron, with the King of Hybern standing right next to it. His face had been burned it seemed, a mangled mess of scars and charred skin, but I'd recognize those eyes anywhere.

It just seemed that now, the rot inside his soul was showing on the outside.

I watched it as he marked me, marked the Solarean armies at my back, marked my mate standing at my side like shadows incarnate- and something like fear echoed on his disgusting face.

And I knew he wasn't expecting it as I spoke into his mind, wasn't expecting for his shields to falter quite so quickly under my power, wasn't expecting me to find him so quickly. I knew he hadn't expected any of it, had no clue that the blade now in my hand was even real, had no idea that the nation across the Great Sea was now my own.

You better fucking run.

My armies charged, battle cries screaming as they joined the fray. Cannons fired out at sea, Xian sinking ship after ship. Minka, who I had promoted to Acantha's position as General of Astra after the latter's imprisonment- flew her arial calvary side by side with the Illyrians and the Seraphim. And Lucien, who I had offered my old position as General of Adhira, let the infantry at my back.

The full force of Solarea, every soldier we could spare, had been rounded up by Azriel and I and winnowed across the Great Sea overnight. My mate had taken so quickly to his new role, commanding the armies as if he had been born to do it. And perhaps it was just his aura, perhaps he just commanded respect- or maybe it had been my popularity with the Solarean people, but they had accepted him as King without a second thought. They followed his every command as we charged.

And then we struck.

The battle turned from a losing war to a slaughter in seconds as we attacked Hybern. Everything I had done was for this moment, every soldier I'd trained, every sacrifice I had made, every book I'd read, every moment spent training, every year I spent in exile- it was all so I could be here. All so I could have this army to save my family with.

"Leur!" A voice screamed in my direction.

Rhys was flying towards us, shocked and drained all at once. I took to the sky, shooting towards him. Below us, gold met silver and the blood began spilling.

"What the fuck?" He called.

I didn't care what was happening. I did not care about the war raging below us, did not care about any of it. Seeing the hope bloom again on his face, I could not help myself. I crashed into him, pulling him into my arms, hugging my brother as my true self for the first time.

"You could have told me." He breathed, "You could have-"

"It's complicated." I answered, "I wanted to, believe me. There just couldn't be any shot that they knew we even existed."

He pulled back from me, wings flapping as he looked down at what was occurring below, "Mother above, Leur. This is-"

"You thought I'd spend 500 years somewhere and not take it for myself?" I smirked at him.

He laughed, eyes glancing over me, "I'm pissed. You stole my best spy."

I couldn't help the smile crossing my face, "We'll always be Night Court, Rhys. Always."