A Court Of Thorns And Roses -Lucien Vanserra

3

That is until I woke up to a deafening roar. My instincts kicked in, I grabbed my sword and ran out the room. Elaine and Nesta screaminged as snow burst into the room and an enormous, growling shape appeared in the door way.  I wound up beside Feyre protecting her family, even though the creature reared onto its hind legs and bellowed through a maw full of fangs: "MURDERERS!!!"

Faerie!!

Not wanting to make it feel threatened I sheathed my sword. It wasn't a good sword. It's all rusted and cracked in some places. Instead I hold my hands out in front of me.

"MURDERERS!" The Faerie roared again, hackles raised.

"P-Please," Fayres father babbled from behind me, "Whatever we had done, we did so unknowingly, and-"

"W-w-we didn't kill anyone," Nesta added.

Feyre grabbed a kitchen knife and lunged forward as it roared, leaving it's neck wide open. He slashed out with a paw sending her knife skittering away as he snapped for her face with his teeth. I grabbed her wrist and pulled her back. The Faerie could have killed her, yet the lunge has only been a warning.

"WHO KILLED HIM!?" The creature stalked towards us, I put Feyre behind me.

He set a paw on the table, and it groaned beneath him. His claws thudded as they embedded in the wood, one by one. I dared a few steps forward as the Faerie stretched his snout over the table to sniff at us. His eyes were green and flecked with amber. Not animal eyes, not with their shape and coloring.

"Killed who?" I dared ask having a gut feeling he's talking about that white wolf I killed, still feeling very sad about it.

He growled, low and viscous, "The wolf!" He said, and my heart shattered a bit.

The wolf had family, friends, if it were my friend I'd seek revenge as well. My heart filled with sorrow as a deep shadow fell over my face with regret. Feyre stepped forward.

"A wolf?" She asked knowing full well what he was talking about. I blink my sorrow back making my face hard and stoic.

"A large wolf with a gray coat," he snarled in response.

"If it was mistakenly killed?" Feyre asked as calmly as she could," What payment could we offer in exchange?"

I glared at Feyre for a second. Payment!? That was a life we took! No payment can ever repay a life taken from someone!!

The wolf let out a bark that could have been a bitter laugh. He pushed the table to pace in a small circle before the shattered door. The cold intense almost making me shiver.

"The payment you must offer is the one demanded by the Treaty between our realms."

"Treaty!?" I asked the same time Feyre asked, "For a wolf?"

The Faerie ignored our question and whirled in our direction asking his own question, "Who killed the wolf?"

Feyre and I bothe said, "I did" at the same time.

He blinked and glanced at the people in the room, "Surely your both lying. Who did it?"

I stepped forward, "I did. I ending his life."

Feyre came next to me, " No I took the killing shot!"

I glared at her, "And I killed him, ending his misery and suffering from your shot!"

"ENOUGH!" The Faerie bellowed.

"What is the payment the Treaty requires?" I asked.

His eyes didn't leave my face, " A life for a life. Any unprovoked attacks on faerie kind by any humans are to be paid only by a human life in exchange."

The room went silent.

My sigh breaks it, "Alright. But. Let's do this outside."

The Faerie huffed a viscous laugh, "Willing to take the fall so easily? For having the nerve to request where I slaughter you, I'll let you in on a secret, human: Prythian must claim your life in some way, for the life you took from it. So as a representative of the immortal realm, I can either gut you like swine or . . . you can cross the wall and live out the remainder of your days in Prythian. AND since you both admitted to murdering the wolf both of you are accounted for it's death."

Feyre blinked, "what?"

He said slowly as if she were stupid, " you can either die tonight or offer your life to Prythian by living in it forever, forsaking the human realm."

I'm not opposed to that idea. It's better than dying. Plus the human world has turned its back on me. Maybe I should!

"Live where? Every inch of Prythian is lethal to us." I blurted out.

"I have lands." The Faerie said quietly--- almost reluctantly, " I will grant you two permission to live there."

TIMESKIP TO GETTING THERE

I awoke with a jolt atop the horse, secured by invisible bonds. Magic! I then look around, Feyre is still asleep. The wolf still in its form.

"Faerie?" I asked.

"What!?" He barked back seemingly surprised I was awake so soon.

"For what it's worth, I truly am sorry for that gray wolf. The truth is. . ." I began, holding back the sorrow I felt for that faerie.

"The truth is!?" He asked impatiently.

"Feyre hates Faerie's. She shot the ash arrow because she was afraid. So please don't hold it against her for that. She grew up with legends that terrified her," I said.

"Why are you telling me this, to spare your sister from her crime?" He asked with a hint of rage.

"No. No. Feyre isn't my sister. She just offered a place for me to stay instead of living on the streets," I chuckle dryly, "plus we look nothing alike. I've got long pitch black hair and purple eyes. She's got brownish, goldenish hair and brown eyes, plus her family looks nothing like me too."

The Faerie huffed as an answer.

"I heard his plea," I then said.

"His plea?" The Faerie asked confused.

"Andres, he begged me to end his misery. His exact words were 'my name is Andres. Please. I'm in so much pain. Please. End my pain', so I did. I tried to stop Feyre from shooting the arrow," I said, my voice cracking.

"Liar!" He growled.

"Honestly that was the first time I cried since my brother's death," I said ignoring his rageful comment.

Feyre started to move a bit ending mine and his conversation, then she woke up.