Court of Shadows (Indefinite Hiatus)

PART 15: FEYRE

(I acknowledge that some of the descriptions and dialogue in this chapter are pulled directly from the text of A Court of Wings and Ruin)

Just as Tamlin had announced, the first Hybern delegation arrived the next day, not a minute past noon. As Jurian and two Hybern commanders winnowed into the gravel of the front drive and strutted through the manor doors, Feyre couldn't help but think that maybe Tamlin was onto something with wanting to get the Queen out of the Spring Court as soon as possible.

The introductions were filled with tense words and underhanded cuts, but Feyre's attention was solely on the two commanders. They were high fae in appearance, with the same ruddy skin and inky black hair as their king; however, their eyes-- vacant and unfeeling-- were what caught her notice. It was a darkness honed by a millennia of cruelty.

Jurian presented them "--Their Highnesses, Prince Dagdan and Princess Brannagh, nephew and niece to the King of Hybern."

The twins had come to inspect the wall and evaluate the position from which they would use the cauldron-- from which they would destroy the barrier between Prythian and the mortal realms. Feyre snarled in her head-- that Tamlin actually believed Feyre would stomach Hybern's decimation of the human realm for the sake of the Spring Court-- for him.

If Feyre had to appreciate one thing about the Hybern delegates, it was that they didn't flit around with formal dialogue and pleasantries. The princess immediately requested sentries to show them the locations of the holes.

"Lucien and I can take you," Feyre offered.

Tamlin whipped his head to her, and she waited for the refusal-- the shutdown. But it never came. He merely gestured to Lucien "My emissary knows the wall as well as any sentry."

Feyre didn't leave any room for debate. "We'll leave tomorrow after breakfast," she told the princess.  "--With a few sentries as well." Tamlin loosened his shoulders, and began leading the new delegation to their rooms.

...

Jurian and the Commanders stayed out of sight for the rest of the afternoon. Feyre smiled to herself as she imagined Ianthe cornering them with her many ceremonial plans for the upcoming Summer Solstice.

Feyre was on her way to the gallery, when a series of loud noises drew her attention down one of the corridors. What she saw when she turned the corner gave her pause.

All down the hallway, doors were flung upon, and furniture displaced. None of the decor was broken or thrown about; the rooms hadn't been seized and ransacked. In fact, to an outside set of eyes, perhaps nothing would have looked amiss.

However, for someone intimately familiar with every nook and cranny of the house, the movement of the decor was blatantly obvious. Every couple of minutes, a fae male-- one of the Queen's guards-- would exit a room, and fling open the door of the next nearest to him, where he then proceeded to continue the search. The guards all worked with lethal efficiency and determination, none of them acknowledging Feyre's presence.

Eventually, Feyre turned and left, now walking with no destination in mind. She assumed that the males' uncharacteristic respect of the Spring Court's property was one of the few conditions Tamlin had made in negotiations.

Otherwise, the animalistic intent on the fae males' faces spoke enough of the potential for mass destruction.

The hallway Feyre had witnessed the search in was on the opposite side of the manor as her rooms. If the males continued with their current system, she reasoned that she had at least a few weeks before they came barging into her chambers, where they would presumably discover the hidden stone.