A Court of Starfall & Deception - An ACOMAF Rewrite

Chapter 17

"Tomorrow?" I gaped at him. "Where? And doing what?" I sputtered.

Rhys interlaced his fingers and rested them on the table, and I realized there was another point to this dinner beyond my decision as he announced to all of us, "Because the King of Hybern is indeed about to launch a war, and he wants to resurrect Jurian to do it."

Jurian – the ancient warrior whose soul Amarantha had imprisoned within that hideous ring as punishment for killing her sister. The ring that contained his eye...

"Bullshit," Cassian spat. "There's no way to do that."

Amren had gone still, and it was she whom Azriel was observing, marking.

Amarantha was just the beginning, Rhys had once told me. Had he known this even then? Had those months Under the Mountain merely been a prelude to whatever hell was about to be unleashed? Resurrecting the dead. What sort of sick unnatural power –

Mor groaned, "Why would the king want to resurrect Jurian? He was so odious. All he liked to do was talk about himself."

The age of these people hit me like a brick, despite all they'd told me minutes earlier. The War – they had all... they had all fought in the War five hundred years ago.

"That's what I want to find out," Rhysand said. "And how the king plans to do it."

Amren at last said, "Word will have reached him about Feyre's Making. He knows it's possible for the dead to be remade."

I shifted in my seat. I'd expected brute armies, pure bloodshed. But this –

"All seven High Lords would have to agree to that," Mor countered. "There's not a chance it happens. He'll take another route." Her eyes narrowed to slits as she faced Rhys. "All the slaughtering – the massacres at temples. You think it's tied to this?"

"I know it's tied to this. I didn't want to tell you until I knew for certain. But Azriel confirmed that they'd raided the memorial in Sangravah three days ago. They're looking for something – or found it." Azriel nodded in confirmation, even as Mor cast a surprised look in his direction. Azriel gave her an apologetic shrug back.

I breathed, "That – that's why the ring and the finger bone vanished after Amarantha died. For this. But who..." My mouth went dry. "They never caught the Attor, did they?"

Rhys said too quietly, "No. No, they didn't." The food in my stomach turned leaden. He said to Amren, "How does one take an eye and a finger bone and make it into a man again? And how do we stop it?"

Amren frowned at her untouched wine. "You already know how to find the answer. Go to the Prison. Talk to the Bone Carver."

"Shit," Mor and Cassian both said.

Rhys said calmly, "Perhaps you would be more effective, Amren."

I was grateful for the table separating us as Amren hissed, "I will not set foot in the Prison, Rhysand, and you know it. So go yourself, or send one of these dogs to do it for you."

Cassian grinned, showing his white, straight teeth – perfect for biting. Amren snapped hers once in return.

Azriel just shook his head. "I'll go. The Prison sentries know me – what I am."

I wondered if the shadowsinger was usually the first to throw himself into danger. Mor's fingers stilled on the stem of her wine glass, her eyes narrowing on Amren. The jewels, the red gown – all perhaps a way to downplay whatever dark power roiled in her veins –

"If anyone's going to the Prison," Rhys said before Mor opened her mouth, "it's me. And Feyre."

"What?" Mor demanded, palms now flat on the table.