Court of Shadows (Indefinite Hiatus)

PART 7: FEYRE

Seven hours-- over seven hours Feyre had spent in the library, scouring through every section, every range, every shelf, every book, and nearly every page. Seven hours, and she had come away with nothing. If the scope of Tamlin's library was as she expected, no one in the realm knew anything about the black stone. She'd found shelves and shelves of books about magical objects: amulets, jewels, swords, staffs, books, beauty accessories, cooking utensils; even one questionable account of a cursed lamp, but all those were ordinary objects bestowed upon with magic; whereas, the stone seemed to emanate it.

About four hours into her search, Feyre began wondering if the Book of Breathings had information on the stone, and afterwards, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't keep her thoughts from returning there. She had spent the last hour of her time in the library trying to prevent her mind from wandering and stifling the small twinge in her chest everytime she thought of where the book was now... and where she was not.

Feyre found herself looking out one of the large glass windows once more, and with an irritated sigh, slammed her book shut and set in on the table while falling into the nearest chair. She hung her head forward and rubbed her eyes, trying to make the letters disappear.

A low grumble from her stomach interrupted the quiet room, reminding Feyre that she had skipped lunch. Tamlin had left almost immediately following breakfast-- to where, she didn't know-- and the entire atmosphere, Feyre noticed, felt lighter. With the High Lord gone, the servants were more keen on socializing and making conversation in the halls, as if they no longer feared the repercussions of being caught slacking off. They were also more likely to make eye-contact with her; whereas, normally, they avoided it--something that bothered Feyre much more than she thought it should.

With the entire manor in a lighter mood, the regular protocols of daily life became relaxed, and Feyre didn't bother to dress up or attend the midday meal-- something that she slightly regretted as she made her way out of the library and towards to kitchens.

Walking through the halls, even Feyre felt as if a small burden had been lifted off her shoulders.

With Tamlin gone, she didn't have to focus so much on acting her part, as no one watched her as closely as he did. The only other person who had any idea what had happened at the confrontation with Hybern was Lucien, but Feyre believed that he was in enough of a precarious situation with Elain to leave her alone for the time being. She didn't think that Lucien had hinted at anything to Tamlin yet, and part of her feared that it wouldn't last, but the other part thought that it might be fun to see how far she could push him until he did.

Feyre continued down the hall lost in thought; running her fingers over the stone that she kept in the pocket she had sewn into her gown the night before.

Despite the amount of time she had spent and the number of fighting techniques she had learned in her new body, she still wasn't entirely used to walking in shoes with heels, and she took extra time and care walking down the grande staircase.

Walking across the huge tiled entrance and towards the dining room which had a direct connection to the kitchens, Feyre was jolted to a stop mid-stride by a sudden wave of energy-- energy that a second later, she deemed magical. She turned to examine the room, the back of her neck prickling. She removed her hand from the door to the dining room, of which she was about to enter, and made her way to the nearest window.

The window looked out upon one of the gardens, and Feyre spent a moment examining the path, but couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. She turned back towards the center of the room and made for the giant doors of the main entrance--what she would have called the front door in any normal-sized home, when she heard Lucien call her name. She looked over her shoulder to see him approaching her from across the room. The wave of magic had clearly interrupted his daily activities as well.