𝐄𝐋𝐘𝐒𝐈𝐀𝐍 ━━━ ✧ ⋆ （ acotar ）

✧ ˚ 𝐱𝐱𝐢𝐱. 𝐠𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐫

✧ ˚ 𝐖𝐇𝐈𝐋𝐄 𝐒𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐈𝐃𝐍'𝐓 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐔𝐋𝐀𝐑𝐋𝐘 𝐄𝐍𝐉𝐎𝐘 𝐑𝐇𝐘𝐒' 𝐈𝐍𝐂𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐀𝐍𝐓 𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄 in their lives, 𝙁𝙀𝙔𝙍𝙀 could at least admit that he was decently pleasant on the eyes.

Okay, perhaps that was a vast understatement. He was more than pleasant to look at, but it was safe to say that her view of him had been sufficiently soured by his sheer audacity, among many other things, and she had no intention of warming to him no matter how much her sister no doubt hoped for it. For now, however, she would force herself to tolerate him.

If Rhys was indeed the most beautiful male she had come across in their time in Prythian, then the newcomer was his female equivalent.

Her bright, golden hair was tied back in a casual braid, and the turquoise of her clothes off-set the sun-kissed nature of her unblemished skin. She was practically glowing in the light of morning, reminding Feyre very much of the marigold that bloomed near their old cottage in the summer. She looked the perfect replica of the subject of every famous painting Feyre had ever come to know.

Had the female been a girl from their old village back when they were still impoverished, Feyre would have deeply envied her practically effortless beauty. Cauldron, that was so long ago...

"Hello, hello," she chirped, and even her voice was like bells in Feyre's mind. She stared, half dazed, as her full lips parted in a dazzling smile.

"Meet my cousin, Morrigan," Rhys said smoothly. He raised his brows at Feyre, bemusement glimmering unabashedly in his eyes. "Mor, meet the... charming Feyre, and her lovely sisterㅡ"

"Asteria," Mor finished, her smile drawing into something more mischievous as her brown eyes fixed to the youngest of them. "Yes, I've heard much about you."

She strode closer, each step measured and assured, graceful and... grounded. Surely someone living in the cruelest of the seven courts would have trained herself to remain undetectable and light as a feather? And yet, Mor walked with a confidence that seemed so foreign to Feyre, one that indicated otherwise.

Perhaps she knew the creatures that lurked in the darkness of the Night Court were unlikely to harm someone related to its High Lord.

"Oh!" Asteria blinked in surprise, glancing towards Rhys, who was leveling his unaffected cousin with a hard stare. A delicate blush dusted her pale cheeks as she joined Feyre in standing. "Well, it's lovely to meet you, Mor."

She offered a hand towards the female, but Mor brushed right past it (and Feyre herself beforehand, whose senses were quickly captured by the scent of cinnamon and strawberries), and enveloped her in a tight hug. Asteria met Feyre's surprised gaze with wide eyes over her shoulder, and she bit her inner cheek to keep her amusement at bay.

"And you as well," Mor said. She blatantly ignored the warning in Rhys' taught expression and grinned fiendishly, pulling away. "This one would not shut up about you. I miss Asteria, he would whine, and should I goㅡ"