The Best Present (An ACOTAR fanfiction)

Chapter 14

The next day...
Rhys and I decided we needed to find this orphan boy that Keir had used. We left Tria and Cay with Azriel and Elain. Amren stayed behind, saying she had some work to do, and Varian of course stayed with her. That left Nesta, Cassian, Mor, Karshia, Lucien, Raelia, Rhys, and I to search for the boy. We headed out into Velaris. Everyone had heard what evil things Keir had done, and lots of people were willing to help us search. Lots of people told us where they had seen him in the past few days, and we spread out in pairs to look at those spots. Rhys and I were looking in an alley behind a sweets shop, and surprisingly, we found him there. He saw us and his eyes went wide in terror. He had brown eyes and brown hair.

"No please!" He begged. "Don't hurt me! He made me! That evil male made me!"

"Hey hey hey, we're not here to hurt you. We know the evil male made you do it. We won't hurt you," I said softly.

"You-you won't?" He asked, the poor boy scared out of his mind. I knelt down in front of him.

"No, we won't," Rhys said, kneeling behind me. I opened my arms, and boy dashed into them, and began sobbing into my chest. I hugged him, and rubbed circles on his small back, trying to comfort him.

"How old are you? And what's your name?" I asked, when he stopped crying.

"I'm five. My name is Lukas."

"That's a very nice name. Now can you come with us? We will give you a meal, and you're clearly very cold," I asked, feeling how skinny he was through his shirt. He didn't even have a coat. I looked at Rhys, asking down the bond to bring Lukas a coat and boots. Rhys winnowed away, and came back two minutes later with a black coat and black boots. Rhys helped him with the coat, and I slid on his shoes. He ran to Rhys, wrapping his small arms around him.

"Thank you," Lukas whispered. Rhys smiled and hugged the boy, lifting him up.

"You're welcome," he whispered. Rhys held Lukas in his arms and we all winnowed back to the townhouse. Azriel and Elain saw us, but stayed away as to not scare the poor child. Rhys left Lukas with me, and he winnowed around to tell everyone that we had found the boy. Meanwhile, he ate and we talked.

I served him what Nuala and Cerridwen had made for lunch. He spooned every bite into his mouth. I gave him three servings, which he ate heartily, along with some water.

"If you don't mind me asking, what happened to your parents?" I asked once he was finished.

"They're gone. My mother liked to experiment with magic, and my dad couldn't use magic, but he helped her, and one day one of her experiments went wrong, and they both died," he said sadly. He was young, so he said experiment as "expriment". I felt so sad for the boy.

"I'm so sorry. How long ago?" I asked. I was curious to know how long he had to live on the streets by himself.

"A year," Lukas said, nonchalantly.

"A year!" I exclaimed. "Do you know other kids who live on the streets?" My gods. We were such a horrible High Lord and Lady! This poor child had been on the street for a year, and we didn't even know.

"I've seen a few. Talked to a few," Lukas yawned. I gently picked him up and brought him to our old room. I laid him down on the bed, and he nestled down into the blankets, falling asleep fast. I walked back into the sitting room, where everyone else awaited.

"His name is Lukas. He's five years old. His parents died in a magic experiment that his mother performed. He's been living on the streets by himself for a year," I said, very unhappily. "He said he's seen other kids like him, and talked to a few of them."

"That's horrible," Mor breathed. Amren and Varian frowned. We all wore troubled expressions. Rhys looked positively devastated.

"I should have known. I should have done something. I should have been a better High Lord," he said, tears coming into his eyes.

"No, Rhysand. It's not your fault. You didn't know. You were away from this place for 50 years, how could you have known?" I tried to comfort him. It wasn't his fault.

"But I should have known!" He slammed his fist on the table, and left the room, tears running down his face. I glanced at everyone, who looked shocked, then ran after Rhys. I found him in Azriel and Elain's room, where Tria and Cay were sleeping. Tears were still running down his face. I came up behind him and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Rhysand. Look at me. Listen to me. Don't beat yourself up. Now that we know, we can do something. I had an idea. We can put up signs all around town that tell any orphans or run-away children to come to a certain place in town by a certain time. And everyday, we go at that time, and we can bring them to a certain building, maybe that house for sale, next to the High House? We will have a fresh meal and water, and they can eat, take showers, and dress in warm clothes, and spend the nights in a comfortable bed. Then every week, we can have interviews, for parents who would like a child, and each child can sit there, and pick the family they want to live with. We could even make a school, for after the kids get adopted, so they can go to school and be educated, since most schools here are expensive. This can be a free school, and adopted children, or children whose parents don't have enough money can go there to be well educated for free. For children with magical gifts, like Lukas, we can find a teacher, or maybe I could teach them at that school," I finished stating my idea to Rhys, which had been forming in my head ever since we found Lukas. Rhys blinked at me.

"Tha-that's an amazing idea, Feyre. You are absolutely brilliant, you know that?" He hugged me.

"Thanks, Rhys," I replied, happy he liked my idea. We decided our plan would go into action tomorrow.

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