DISCONTINUED A Court of Blood and Night Rewritten

27

The strangers spent the night, and in the morning, I woke up to them arguing. Mor was already up, combing her hair with her fingers and wrinkling her nose at the stench that hung thick in the air around us. We had only bathed once since we arrived in Terrasen, and that was a while ago. Our titles meant nothing when we were prisoners, and luxury meant little in war, so bathing wasn't much of an option these days.

"What are they arguing about?" I asked Mor sleepily, yawning, and she rolled her eyes.

"That brown-haired female wants to help Rowan find his mate." She shook her head. "I thought we were searching for an Aelin, not Elenia, or whatever her name was." She was irritated. We all were; being left in the dark was difficult for all of us.

"The Cauldron knows what's going on anymore," I murmured, leaning toward the voices so I could hear.

"Elentiya is a demi-Fae! Are you really going to search for her? After what she did?" The blonde female was saying, her voice edged. It had a strange lilt-- the lilt many people from my village had when they had a grasp on multiple languages. The accents tended to merge.

"Yes, I am. Because Rowan has treated her like his equal all this time, and maybe he knew immediately, or maybe he didn't. Either way, she's his mate, and he doesn't know if she's okay." Essar had a slight temper this morning, apparently. Her voice softened. "You remember what he was like when he lost Lyria. Do you want to see that again?"

They were all quiet for a moment, and I felt even more confused. Who was Lyria? A friend? A family member? And then interest settled inside me. What had Rowan been like when he "lost her?" I had no doubt that she had died. He was always so quiet, and he seemed calm. But they talked about him as if Rowan was unhinged, as if he could explode at any moment. A strange contrast to this lethally serene male I'd become acquainted with.

"What about our assignment?"

"Maeve isn't in Wendlyn, Remelle. She's not around to relieve us of our assignment, so I say let's rid ourselves of it for her."

"That's a dangerous idea, Essar," the male warned. "Maeve would not be happy to hear you say such things."

"Then I guess it's a good thing Maeve isn't here-- isn't anywhere, as far as I can tell." Maeve. A female in a position of power, by the way they were talking. Two females missing, and the Queen of Terrasen gone, too? At least two females in positions of power, unable to be located by their courts-- Maeve and the Queen of Terrasen. And another female, who was mentioned to have powerful magic, imprisoned and ever-moving. I had a bad feeling.

There was a period of silence that spanned several heartbeats. "I see we can't stop you," the male said finally. "But I'm not leaving you alone with them."

"What, do you not trust Lorcan and Rowan?" Essar sounded like she might laugh.

"Not as far as I can throw them. And Rowan could be unstable with..." A beat of silence, and it was hollow. There was no argument defending the male's honor. "If you want to keep going, Remelle, then I won't stop you. But you'll be alone."

The female was silent for a very long time. I almost wondered if she had walked away without my hearing it, but she finally sighed. "Alright, I'll go with you. I've nothing else to do."

"Thank you," Essar said quietly.

"It seems that they finally came to a consensus, then," Mor muttered, and stretched before picking her way across the alcove where we'd been sleeping and pushing through the bushes. She looked back at me. "You coming? Unless you want to stick around a bunch of sleeping Fae." She had a point. I stood up and followed silently, leaving my husband and the rest of our Court to rest.

The watery dawn light turned the world gray, and I was violently shivering without the warmth of other bodies. Even Mor looked like she might freeze as we walked together silently. We didn't leave the space, as Lysandra in that form-- a Ghost Leopard, she called it-- was watching us very carefully, ears pricked in alertness. We didn't need her thinking we were trying to escape.

We stood at the edge of the clearing, surveying the area. The mountains that I guessed we were headed for were a few days away, still, but I could barely see the castle in the distance. We only traveled for one day, but we'd made good time. At least, I hoped we had. It seemed that way.

Essar, Remelle, and their male companion were sitting by a small fire, quietly talking, but keeping an eye on us. They were wary of us because we were strangers. I wondered if Rowan has revealed that we were prisoners yet. The thought was bitter.

We watched the sunrise, and I felt Mor shift, as if contemplating whether or not to speak. I left her alone to make her decision, looking around the camp, then back at the sky. We were out of earshot of everyone in camp.

Mor finally broke the silence as we watched the sky turn brilliant colors. "You know, when we returned without you, I'd wanted to go after you and kill Tamlin for ripping you away from us. And then Hybern for severing the bond-- which you had encouraged, Cauldron boil me. We really believed that Hybern had that power..." She shook her head, shuddering. "And if he had the power to kill a mate bond, we'd never beat him. Wouldn't be able to do anything to oppose him." 'What a queen you are. What a prize.' I wondered if Hybern's words had haunted her dreams as frequently as they haunted mine. If it was those words on her mind as she said, "I was relieved when Rhys explained that it wasn't possible-- that he didn't have that power at his disposal."

She glanced at me, her stunning face solemn and slightly angry. "And then Rhys goes and tells us that you're our High Lady, stuck in the Spring Court with Tamlin. I might have punched Rhys had I not been trying to heal Az." I chuckled halfheartedly, eyes burning with unshed tears. I stared at the sky without really seeing, but finally turned my gaze to hers.

Mor studied me, brown eyes bright. "You're my High Lady, now, Feyre. And the moment I saw you when we found ourselves in that jungle... I wanted to pledge my loyalty to you then and there. But you and Rhysand were still playing your game, and I wanted to throttle you both."

"I'm sorry," I murmured. "For leaving."

She snorted, but continued as if I hadn't spoken. "Cassian wanted to go after you the moment he was better. I would have gone with him if he had, even if Rhys ordered us not to." She let out a breath. "My point is we all act like there's nothing going on, but we were all terrified for you the entire time you were gone."

"I really am sorry."

Mor smiled gently. "No you aren't. Not completely. But I understand." She looked up at the sky a moment longer, then turned to me and kneeled.

I backed up a step. "What are you doing?"

"I'm pledging my loyalty properly, as I should have done a while ago." She looked up at me. "You're my friend, but you're my High Lady first, and I promise that, whatever we meet out here or back home, I will protect you. So will the others. The only reason they haven't done this is because they want to be back home when they do. I'm not as picky." She smirked, then grew serious again. "You're the High Lady, and because of that, you're not just Feyre Archeron anymore. You're more than that. You may be Rhys' mate, and you may belong to one another, but you also belong to the entire Night Court now." She stood, finally, and gently grabbed my shoulder with a hand. "You're important to all of us, even Amren. So please, whatever happens... Don't do anything too reckless. I don't want to kill Rhys for letting you do something stupid again."

As unsettled as I was to see my friend kneel for me, my throat tightened with emotion. I embraced her tightly. "I can't promise not to be reckless sometimes, but I promise to survive those reckless actions at whatever cost."

She drew back with a soft sigh. "I guess that'll have to do."

"In fact," I added after a monent's thought, "I'll make a bargain with you."

"What?" Her eyebrows furrowed.

It was my turn to smirk. "If you swear to protect me as your High Lady and your friend, then I promise to survive." I watched her eyes light up in understanding. "So, do we have a deal?"

She smiled slowly. "You cunning female. We have a deal."

Heh. I forgot I did that until I went to edit this chapter and was like "Whoa, girl power!" God, I love Mor.