Tethered to the Starlight: A Court of War and Starlight

Chapter 17: Feyre

Tamlin lay on the ground, choking on his own blood. He clutched at the deep slash in his chest in desperation, his eyes wild. Allowing myself a glance in the opposite direction, I found Cassian laning precariously against the hilt of his sword.

"You rang?" he said, casually examining his fingernails.

Practically collapsing on the bed in both disbelief and relief, I remembered Damaris. As if reading my mind, Cassian strolled over to the loose floorboard and retrieved the startled infant. I held my arms out instantly, enveloping her in a warm embrace.

My voice became very strangled as I lifted my head to him. "Rhys?"

Cassian's eyes became wide orbs, watering slightly. "I-I don't know what happened Feyre. One minute he was there fighting off Tamlin, the next thing I knew he vanished." Damaris began to whimper slightly, missing her daddy already.

"But that's not-"

"Shaking his head, he hesitantly walked over to the bed, wincing as he sat down. "Before you say that isn't possible, I want you to think about everything you have ever encountered in this world before you say that is impossible. Nothing is impossible in the land of the Fae. Nothing," he said shaking his head in affirmation.

I raked a shaky hand through my hair, my fingertips singing the strands slightly.

"Shit," I muttered and placed my hand in my lap.

Tamlin was a distraction. The bastard was a pawn to lure my mate into an inescapable trap.

My palms began to heat, the tips of my fingers turning a fiery burgundy. "It was a trap," I muttered to no one in particular. "It was a trap," I said again with more conviction. "It was a trap!" I yelled, my voice reaching a high octave riddled with rage.

Mor had stridden in sometime during my fit of distress and had exchanged curious glances with Cassian. "What are we going to do? The downstairs reeks of magic, which obviously points to winnowing."

Mor and I locked eyes, hers eventually moving the baby with an eyebrow raised in question. Understanding, I placed Damaris in her outstretched arms. "He could have been taken anywhere, we have no way to know." Defeated silence ensued for the next several minutes, only our breaths intermingled. All of us were drowning in our own private thoughts when Azriel's large frame appared in the doorway.

Glancing downward at something, he began to read aloud,

Stars beheld the savior's gaze,

Her heart ablaze with wonder of a world outside the womb.

Her father in shackles, bloodied, hopeless, doomed.

Her mother; broken and confused in an undulating sea of questions.

It is on this day child, that you may assist the God's-

You may open your eyes to a world of purity and untainted blood,

Come to me child, and you mother and father will be free.

You could be the savior I am in search of.

Yet if your blue eyes do not strike my abode,

consider your father's shackles bloodstained forever,

your loved ones lost to the abysmal forests of the Fae.

Come my child-

I will await an answer only until sunset of tomorrow.

Damaris shifted and yawned within Mor's hands, her innocent blue irises still unaware of the situation unfolding around her.

Laying my head in my hands I mumbled, "He wants Damaris."

Cassian finished the sentence before I could, "And if he doesn't have her by sunset tomorrow, he will kill each and every one of us, Rhys included."

Clenching my fists in unrivaled anger, the temperature within my hands began to rise once again. Allowing the fire to break free of my restraints, I released a wave of brilliant blue fire at the bedpost; coping with the news. "No," I stated through gritted teeth. "There has to be another way- Rhys wouldn't want our daughter at risk just so he could live." Grunting as the wave of fire slowly began to diminish from my fingers, I collapsed on the bed in exhaustion.

"There is a reason Hybern wants her- Damaris," Azreil mused, shifting his weight from side to side. He glanced at us knowingly as if we could determine his thinking. "She is the daughter of the two most powerful Fae in the world. She could have powers that could very well disrupt the balance of the earth."

With her lips in a perfect 'O' Mor added, "There is a prophecy, that Amren discovered in the Book of Breathings just a few hours a go. It's quite an unfortunate coincidence actually-"

"Mor," Cassian pressed, urging her to divert to the prophecy itself.

Understanding the hint, she glanced down at the sleeping child. "When the time comes that trees shed their leaves, a defeat shall cause a country's doom. When the day comes that the world turns to summer, a refusal shall usher forth the deaths of a million and the downfall of two kingdoms. When the moment comes that the last one is reborn, a woman clad in blue shall bring an age of lawlessness and an age of tranquility. Once what is green turns red, the angelic one shall mark the downfall of an darkness and an aeon of light."

With everyone's brows furrowed both confusion and agitation, Cassian strode across the room, sarcasm riddling his words. "But with every prophecy, if the subject of the prophecy falls into the wrong hands, darkness will grow stronger and win."

Softening my gaze toward the child, I reached across the bed and swept away the jet black strands of hair littering her smooth skin. If I could put a block on her mind so that no one could control her, we could have an escape. Eyes alight in hope; I reached for her delicate mind. As expected, there were meager walls in place, her thoughts filled with images of both Rhys and I. Snaking my way into a recess of her mind that contained information on memories, I reached for an area of compartmentalized instincts for basic survival. I began to search for a way to weave in a wall of indestructible knowledge, until my searching abruptly stopped.

"What is it?" Mor questioned.

I shook my head, "I don't know- something is wrong."

Pushing against the hard area of her mind that I couldn't penetrate, I switched to a new method of trying to swerve around the wall. And yet nothing. Nothing but an obstruction, preventing me from protecting my daughter.

This was an intentional block put in place to disarm and prevent anyone from accessing her potential powers. Someone is either using my daughter for their own gain or someone is looking out for our family.