A Court of Blood and Glory

Servants' Gossip

Feyre  

Five days. I had five days to destroy a court that had stood for thousands of years. Easy. Once I finished up in the bathroom I snuck back into the bed, ensuring that Tamlin didn't wake, and stayed there until he woke up, pretending to have slept soundly, as I had done the past few mornings. Five more days. Four more nights. I could do it.
Tamlin picked out a dress, one that was a bit too revealing for my liking, and I got ready for him, ensuring that he saw as much skin as he wanted, before taking his arm and walking down to breakfast, ensuring that my hand brushed his leg. All he wanted. I gave him all he wanted. But that would soon change. Soon I would be with my mate, my equal, and I couldn't wait.
"Feyre, I have a few meetings today, and I need to go to these alone. Will you be alright on your own?"
"Of course, don't worry about me, my love." Perfect.
I watched Tamlin head to his study, and I made sure that he saw me head to the library before I used the shadows to hide myself and make my way down the servants' stairs to the kitchens. I saw a young male pass by with an armful of clothes and quickly called out to him, ensuring that I removed the shadows that surrounded me first.
"Hey, can you tell me where Alis is?" I startled him, and he dropped the clothes he was carrying. "Sorry." I said as I helped him pick them up. "I'm just having a hard time right now and I need a friendly face to talk to. Tam isn't the best to be with right now." The boy's eyes went wide at this, and he pointed me towards the stairs leading down under the manor. I went in that direction and ensured that the boy saw the bruises on my arms from Tamlin's hands the night before.

The servants' quarters were quite dark and damp, completely different to the grand manor only a few metres away. How could Tamlin allow his staff to live like this? And if these people were living in the same building as him, what were the villages like in Spring?

I soon found Alis, and she left a group of who I assumed were her friends to follow me into a closed off cupboard. "Is it true that you have some bruises on your arms from Tamlin?" She asked me, her eyes wide but understanding.
"Yes, and they were from some unwelcome hands." I said, and Alis knew exactly what I was doing, why I was talking with her about this. She was too happy to help me. "How are you here? I haven't spoken to you in quite some time."
"I'm probably doing much better than you are. But I'm sure that your love for your High Lord is seeing you through." She didn't mean Tamlin.
"It is, but it's harder to keep going each day. I feel like I'm suffocating here again."
"Is that why you need a friendly face? To discuss your love life, or more precisely, lack of one?"
"I need help to get some freedom. It's like Tamlin doesn't care for me."

We continued for some time, discussing Tamlin's treatment of me, ensuring that we mentioned how much he didn't care for me, let alone his staff.

It was common knowledge that the walls could hear in the Spring Court, and that the servants spread rumours faster than anyone could track. Soon enough the whole court would know all about Tamlin, about the horrors his lady faced when she was with him, and how the nightmarish High Lord of the Night Court was so much better to the future lady of Spring than her fiancé could ever be.

Revenge was so sweet. I didn't blame Rhys for focusing himself wholly on it.

Xxx

It was subtle at first. A few glances at Tamlin when he saw me at lunch, at how his hands grasped the bruises he appeared so oblivious to. But by the time came for dinner all of the staff were practically glaring at their High Lord. The gossip spread faster than I expected. Excellent. This court could be destroyed in three days, let alone five.
Whether Tamlin took notice of the stares or not I wasn't aware, but Ianthe certainly did. She would always hiss at the servants when Tamlin wasn't around, threaten them, although a lot of them took no notice of her threats, and used her words to spread more rumours about the corrupt court.
But even though my time to leave that place was drawing nearer I still had a role to play, still had to be the finally healed doll. And I spent another night with Tamlin, our scents now so closely entwined that the smell of Rhys was barely detectable. It was still torture on my mind to be with Tamlin, but once again Rhys held me in his memories, protecting me from the monster in the bedroom. But the nightmares still came once I slept, and I still vomited the next morning. Four days. Three nights.
The servants had heard enough to turn on their High Lord, and they showed it in little ways the next morning. From the stains found on Tamlin's fresh clothes to the slightly cold food, I could see their distrust and hatred of the male in front of me, but not enough to stop them from serving the beast.
The servants were taken care of, and the sentries were next.
I wandered up to Nesta's room, Tamlin overseeing the movement of troops on the western border, and found two sentries standing guard outside her door. They inclined their heads in recognition, but showed no signs of talking.
"Thank you. Even if Tamlin doesn't appreciate you, I really do. You keep my sister safe, and the rest of the court, for that matter." Another seed of gossip for the court. A piece of gossip to go around the guards. I walked into my sister's room without another word, allowing the sentries to mull over my words. I placed a wall of hardened air around the room to avoid any eavesdropping, but before I could say a word to my sister a pillow hit me in the head, and another landed at my feet. I looked to the source and found Nesta, a wooden pole in her hand, and found her by the window. She wore green trousers and a sky blue tunic, an outfit I'd never thought she'd wear, since she always wore dresses, but I could see that see that she was trying to make an escape; she'd tied the dresses and bed sheets together to make a long rope that could be thrown out of the window.
"You won't make it three feet before they catch you." I said, soft enough that the sentries couldn't hear me. "I know, I tried many a time." All I received was a silent glare. Nesta made her way over to her now sheet-less bed and sat down, her back to me and arms crossed. "I understand that you hate me, and that you blame me for all of this, but I can get you out of here, get you somewhere safe, before anything else happens." She finally turned to me, her eyes like fire.
"And I suppose you'll take me to the secret city in your real High Lord's court. And don't lie to me, I know that you truly loved him. No one can fake that kind of love." Nothing got past her. I nodded. "Well I can think of nothing worse, and I'd rather die than spend another minute amongst you beasts." I could tell she was serious.
"I am the High Lady of that court, you know." I said, and her eyes widened as I lowered the glamour on my arm, revealing the only tattoo I had left, but her features soon smoothed over and became emotionless.
"I don't care if you are empress of the world. You are a fae beast and I will never live amongst your kind. Ever." She spat at me, and, realising defeat, I stood and turned to leave.
"If you wish to get out of here you will need to come with me. I'm going in four days and I won't come back. And yes, I will be going to the secret city." I said quietly, and walked out of the room without another word, lowering the wall of air and placing the glamour back on my arm as I left.
There were new sentries at Nesta's door, and they had a sympathetic look in their eyes as I passed, telling me that the news of Tamlin's opinion of them had spread.

Xxx

Even though the rumours could do some damage it was nowhere near enough, so I ensured that Tamlin went further and confirmed that the stories were true. I walked down to the entrance hall as the sun set, averting my eyes as I passed by the Illyrian wings, and into the dining room to find Tamlin seated for diner, Ianthe on his left.
"Feyre, my love, come and sit down, we have to discuss your training, which you are to start tomorrow with me." Tamlin said, and dread built in my stomach. The whole day. With Tamlin. Nothing could be worse. "We also need to talk about when our wedding will take place
"I need to talk with you too." I said weakly, forcing tears to spill onto my cheeks. Tamlin came over to me, pulling me into his arms and kissing me.
"What is it, my love?" He asked me.
"It's just... When I was with, with Rhysand I-I felt his power every day, and I can feel it again. But it's not his power. It just feels like it. It feels like I am being attacked by someone, like my mind is being attacked by someone."
I saw rage ripple over his features, and his claws dug into my arms, drawing blood as he whispered. "Daemati." He pushed me away and stormed into the hall, his claws free of his skin, yelling for all his sentries to come to us immediately. I ran out behind him, and saw people intake a deep breath as they saw the ten cuts, five on each shoulder, from Tamlin's claws.
He stormed up to the sentries and began to yell. "Which of you are daemati?" Only three stepped forward, and I risked discovery by briefly brushing past the remaining sentries' minds, ensuring that no others lurked around us for Tamlin to hurt more than he had to.
Tamlin stormed up to them and threw the men to the floor, his claws scraping over their chests and arms. "Which one of you attacked my lady?" He snarled, and the sentries began to shake with fear. None of them admitted to attacking me. Why would they, when I made it all up? Tamlin remained there for some time, hurting the men to try and get a confession, but soon calmed himself and turned to another guard. "Take them to the dungeons." Was all he said before he turned to me, my arms already healing over from Dawn's power. We walked back to our diner, Ianthe still seated calmly, glaring at us as we entered, at me. I was fuming. Tamlin had attacked those men without any issues, and wasn't showing any signs of regret, even though I was. If I'd known how Tamlin would react I would have done something else, tried to get him to prove the rumours in a different way. But before I could take a seat, and calm the power boiling beneath my skin, Tamlin had pulled me close and began to murmur into my ear.
"You're safe, I will protect you, and I will kill anyone that tries to harm you." As if I couldn't protect myself, but he didn't know that yet. He would, though, and soon. "I will remove all the daemati from this court, erase all signs of that whore, so that nothing remains." Nothing but the wings which I couldn't help but look to.
The sincerity in Tamlin's voice scared me.