The Prince of Darkness is a gentleman

Chapter 6

~ Feyre ~

Having left behind the road bordered with trees of starlight, Rhys and I walked hand-in-hand up the small set of steps to the massive impenetrable iron door. Obviously, putting some distance between Rhys and myself would've been a good idea, but his warmth by my side was protective and reassuring in this foreign environment.

With an unnecessary click of his fingers and a small smirk on his mouth, the doors swung inwards revealing a room who's ceiling touched the sky and had dozens of identical doorways on it's left and right hand sides. At the end of the long room a huge black marble staircase split into two, bordering the room. Between the two staircases was another large door which Rhysand informed me was the ballroom.

He led me up the staircase on the left hand side we continued onto the landing where the two staircases joined  above the ballroom doorway . The landing was bordered by railings allowing a balcony view of the entrance hall. The high arches of the ceiling were a spectacle I could've admired all day.

Still holding my hand, Rhys continued straightforward past the balconies which curved around near the ceiling and stretched on to who knew where. The tunnel I was led through was dark and ornate and I could not see the end of it. Every few feet there were more doors and my mind could not fathom where they could all possibly lead. How large was this Court? I was stunned by the maze I was presented with. Thankfully Rhys' warm palm in mine guided us through the endless tunnels until he reached a door, identical to all the others, and pulled me under the archway and through it.

We continued down this new corridor and I began to lose my orientation. Rhys pulled me through a fast succession of doorways, some of which led immediately up or down staircases. I was confused trying to imagine how the building was laid out, how it could possibly contain all these corridors which surely collided, I didn't understand, I was going to get lost and this was not going to end well.

Rhys' arm around me pulling me into his side saying Calm calm calm Feyre you'll be fine, I'm here, calm Feyre, breath Feyre. But no, my mind was telling me I was very much overwhelmed by the vastness of this Court.

I was unable to fathom was I had got myself into and it was so big and, yes, I was definitely overwhelmed. I was going to be slaughtered by a rogue Night Fae and Breath, Feyre.

This Court was not like Spring. That was all I understood. Thousands of corridors leading to someplace I didn't know and may never understand no matter how many weeks I spent here.

It took me until my breathing began to slow when I realised I was sitting. Rhysand was knelt in front of me, on his knees and holding my hands, tethering me when I felt so lightheaded that I could float away from how minuscule and meaningless I was in the vastness of this Court.

I was in a room and it was beatiful. I drowsily looked around and admired the room from a detached view before returning my gaze to the true beauty which was sitting in front of me. In his eyes swirled the darkness and mixture of colours the sky showed and I was hit with the realisation that this Court, this incomprehensible Court, depended on this one man who was sitting in front of me. The burdens he must carry and all he must've experienced...

I think back to Under The Mountain, Rhys in my cell, injured and spilling his soul to the one person he said he could talk to without putting himself at risk. The things Amarantha must've put him through, him carrying his Court through those years. He risked everything on me, I thought to myself, all his hope and trust was put into me being able to solve those trials. And I had. Not without him but I was here, he was here, this beautiful breathtaking Court I don't understand is here and I know I had made the right decision. I wasn't ready to think about the deeds I had done, but I was content that Prythian could live in peace again.

I refocused on Rhys' eyes and saw worry there. Slowly, I  lifted a delicate hand and with the backs of my fingertips softly, and oh so slowly, I ran my hand from the top of Rhys' high cheekbone to the bottom of his jaw. All that he had done looked bad but in the end, they had achieved so much together. I watched him swallow deeply and then I  moved my palm onto his neck. Beneath my hand I felt his pulse beating fast and strong. I had been tethered to him when I had paid the price of my own life. He had helped transform my human body into something more. The beating spread from his neck, through my hand, ran itself along my bones in time to his heart and I felt myself leaning closer. Closer. Because that was all I wanted right now and slowly. And oh so softly. Lay my cheek against his.

I felt my eyelashes against his skin when I closed my eyes and my mind was heavy and the day had been long and more than anything, I just wanted to move my head onto his shoulder and inhale. So thats what I did. He smelled like the night.

He was shoulders were set stiffly beneath me but for some reason he allowed me this small reprieve. His strong arms came around my body and then he spoke to me in quick soft breaths. "I'm going to tuck you into bed Fey." My mind was drifting off into the peace of acceptance, half dreaming of flying through the trees but I felt his arms come around me, lifting me onto the bed, tucking me under the silky covers. I nestled into the blankets and drifted into the dream of soaring over trees which shined with the tears of stars.

Hiii! This update took a little longer than usual for me because I'm supposed to be revising for all the tests I'm doing in school. Yay. I'll keep up with the updates though, we are finally getting to the good stuff! ;) If you have any ideas for fun stuff leave a comment (I love comments they're really motivating!) And I was thinking about doing a little Christmassy scene?...

And... you know how ACOTAR has been optioned for film... I have the perfect person to play Rhys... Sean O'Pry! Google him, his flawless just like Rhys.

Please tell me what you think of him and if you have any dream casting ideas. I've not got any people that especially wow me on my Feyre list. I have a couple for Tam though...
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