A Court of Chaos and Coral (Amren x Varian)

Chapter 12: Amren

The song of the chapter is:
Labyrinth - Taylor Swift

Mor was the first to look up as she entered the room, leaping to her feet.

Amren might have bathed, and slept inside two nights in a row, but she still hadn't quite slept off her stint on the forest floor, and the nausea hovering in her throat was shockingly exhausting. All in all, she looked terrible. 

"What the hell happened?" Mor exclaimed, hurrying over. "You look awful, are you okay?" 

Amren sighed heavily, and chose not to even try and act fine. "I'm horrendous, and I'm tired. Can I have some water?"

Momentarily taken aback by her frankness, Mor hesitated for a minute, but then gestured for someone to pour a glass of water, leading her over to sit with a hand on her back.

Amren looked around for a moment, eventually catching Azriels eye, who was sitting alone.

"How is Eris?" She mustered up a smile that hopefully looked kind rather than sarcastic. 

The Shadowsinger smiled at her. "Good. He's asleep, but alive. Thank you, Amren. For all the work you did to save him. I am forever in your debt, and Varian's too."

"Where is Varian, anyway?" Cassian butted in from where he sat half under Nesta. 

A headache began to pound in her temples. "It's a long, life altering story that I really must tell you before I go back to Summer."

"You have to go back to Summer already?" Rhys looked so disappointed that Amren almost felt bad.

"I'm afraid I do, boy. I'll be there for a long time, too." She let her head rest on the back of the couch, eyes drifting shut. "I think I will have to resign."

A collective sound of outrage came from around the room. Eris's mother Cassandra turned to her first. "Why would you leave Night, Amren? I'm sure it is none of my business, but..." She glanced around the room. "I don't think they know quite how to ask."

Amren smiled tightly at the lovely lady. "Calm down, please!" She called to the room.

Feyre did not calm down. "You can't leave, you just can't! We need you, Amren, please don't go!" She was sobbing. Actually crying real tears. Rhys wasn't in much better shape, or anyone for that matter. 

A strange sadness washed over Amren. Regret, guilt, misery, and a tidal wave of other emotions. "Adriata was hit by a tsunami."

The room finally silenced as her family grappled for their words. Lucien found them first.

"What?"

"Adriata was hit by a tsunami." She repeated. "There were no survivors." 

"No survivors..?" Helion asked. He didn't need to say their names. 

"Tarquin and Cresseida are both dead. Only about three hundred citizens remain." 

~

The room had been silent so long that a ringing had begun in Amrens ear, incessant and annoying. Eventually, Elain spoke with a throat-dry voice.

"Tarquin... and Cresseida are dead?"

Amren nodded.

"But they were so young, too young!" Elain buried her face in Lucien's chest to stem her tears

She nodded again, waiting until someone said the words she waited for.

Azriel spoke for her. "But, doesn't that make Varian..."

A gasp of realization broke out, all eyes back on her. 

"Yes. Yes, it does. My mate is the High Lord of Summer." Still something she didn't quite know how to feel about. It was a happy thing, that she now had a rock-solid excuse to live with him, terrible that so many lives had to be lost. She wouldn't usually care about such a loss, but perhaps she found this one so abhorrent only after making Summer a second home for herself. 

"Well... what does that mean for you?" Nesta asked.

"I am nowhere near done." Amren sat back up straight. "Varian has asked me to move to the palace with him."

Mor patted her lightly on the back. "That's great, isn't it?"

"Not done!" She said sharply, and Mor quickly withdrew her hand. "Sorry, I- sorry. There is a couple of other things."

"Like...?" Feyre lead, leaning in.

"Varian has also asked If I will be High Lady."

Feyre froze. "What did you say...?" She asked, a little numbly.

"I said yes." 

Cassian barked a laugh, leaning back. Amren frowned. The general caught her gaze, and his eyes widened slightly. "You're serious?"

"What could possibly be so funny about that, Cassian? Don't think I can be a High Lady? Must I really remind you that I have been alive for fifteen thousand years and have lived and studied in two realms?"

"It's just that..." Rhys met her eyes. "You two aren't even married."

"So? I've been with Varian longer than you had Feyre when you made her High Lady, haven't I? We've been together longer than you two! My gods, Rhysand!"

"Really?"

Amren snorted. "We were trading letters long before the war started, Rhys. Don't be so damned gullible."

Lucien cut in, perhaps sensing a storm brewing. "What was the other thing, Amren? Can't possibly be more... shocking than that."

Amren smirked at him. "Oh, I guarantee it's worse. You will all call me crazy."

Nesta sighed deeply, resting her forearms on her legs. "You're pretty much running that risk anyway, Am, so you might as well tell us. I mean, you're always running that risk, lets be honest."

Amren met her friends eyes, dead on, and dropped her smile. "I'm pregnant."

Utter silence. The slight movement of air that was Mor recoiling away, Elain covering her mouth in shock across from her, Rhysand staring blankly at the wall. 

"Well, thank you, that's awfully encouraging. If you guys just want to do that, I'll go back to Summer now, and come back when you actually reacted." She heaved a sigh, standing up and stretching.

She walked briskly out of the room, pausing for only a moment in the hallway to snicker at the effect her words had eventually had.