𝐀 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐑𝐞𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐚𝐥𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

𝟏𝟏

Arya

     Feyre brushed my hair softly after my hour-long bath. I turn around stopping her hands, "I need to speak to you."

"I have questions of my own," she comments.

I take her hands and lead us both to the bed. I wait till we're both comfortable before speaking again, "I need you to promise me to at least have an open mind. Try to understand where I'm coming from before you spew any prejudice."

"I grew up with you Arya. Nothing you say will make me love you any less than I do."

"Still," I push. "Promise me, Feyre."

She squeezes my hand, "I promise."

I blew a few breaths out before facing her, "I'm fae."

I feel Feyre's hold on my hand loosen so I let hers go. Not wanting her to feel obligated to continue holding my hand if she wanted nothing to do with me.

"I was captured a long time ago. I was brought to Hybern, which from what the Suriel told you, you kind of have an idea of how evil that place can be." I let out a sigh before continuing, "After five hundred years I escaped and travelled to the mortal lands. I worked and stayed at the medical centre in our village for a few years until your mother found me. She offered me to be her live-in midwife who turned into a nanny and governess. And the rest you know."

I watched as she processed everything and what came out of her mouth wasn't at all what I was expecting, "But you're different from what we learned about faeries."

"I don't blame humans for seeing us that way," I shrug. "My kind was cruel to your kind during and before the Great War. But we weren't all bad. I think humans seem to forget that some of us fought alongside your kind. But the damage that my kind left on yours was too great to forgive."

"You fought for us during the war?" she asked with a mixture of shock and awe.

"I did," I nodded smiling softly. "My family and I fought alongside the mortals. Fought for them. Advocated for your kind. Then I got punished for it. An old High Lord was angry that my father and his people freed all the human slaves he had. So he targeted us as revenge. Someone tipped off my mother and I's location and they cornered us. They tortured us and left us there to die. Hybern had spies and heard what the High Lord was planning so they followed them and they snatched me when the High Lord and his family left. They saw what I was capable of when I fought against them during the Great War and thought they could turn me into their weapon. Then you know the rest."

Feyre reaches for my hands, squeezing them, "I'm sorry for what they did and what they took from you. I'm sorry for all the insults you've heard toward your kind. I hope you know that's not how I see you. You're still my Arya, my mother, my big sister, my best friend. Being a fae won't change that, I promise you."

I couldn't help but pull her into a hug and finally let my tears fall. And she let me. She held me as I cried for the life that I was forced out of. I cried for my brothers, my Amren, my cousin, my mother, my mate. I cried for all the lost time and Feyre just held me.

I didn't bother telling Feyre that it was Tamlin and his family that attacked us that night, that it was him who tipped our location to his father. With everything going on in Prythian, it just wasn't the right time. She'll find out the full truth one day, or maybe she won't. Either way, she won't be hearing about it anytime soon and I'm okay with that.

•❅───✧❅✦❅✧───❅•

Lucien and Tamlin were already waiting for us as we entered the dining room. We sat on our usual seat while Lucien slouched in his. "I heard you two had a rather exciting afternoon. I wish I could've been there to help."