DISCONTINUED A Court of Blood and Night Rewritten

30

I woke in the middle of the night to find Rhys missing, but it was far too dark and cold to attempt looking for him. I debated calling out to Rowan, but when I looked at the spot where he had been, I saw no sign of him. Within minutes, they both returned, and when I whispered my demands to Rhys as to what he'd been doing, his answers were short and distracted. I didn't know what had transpired in his conversation with Rowan, but it seemed to have unsettled him to a great degree. He held me tightly for the rest of the night.

When the morning came and we were getting ready to take off, Rhys seemed to have some sort of unspoken conversation with Rowan from across the dead fire pit, and it was at that moment that I realized he wasn't working with the male because he had to, anymore. He had earned his respect. And if Rowan had earned Rhys' respect, I could help but wonder how he'd done it.

When I talked to Mor about it, she snorted. "Who knows? Whatever happened got us free, though, so I'm not going to complain." Indeed, Rowan had told us himself that we were all free to roam without someone guarding us-- but not upholding our end of the deal would result in punishment.

"Whatever it is, I'm glad," I said, and added optimistically, "maybe things will be better now."

Mor shook her head once. "Maybe." She didn't sound convinced, and I didn't press her on the matter.

"So," I murmured to Rhys as we ate stale bread Rowan had bought from a passerby, "How'd you manage to win him over? And how did he manage to win you over?"

Rhys smirked at me. "I charmed him with my stunning personality and he stayed quiet."

"Funny."

He sighed. "We talked. I got him to open up a little about what os truly going on. And in return, I gave him some information about myself. By the end of the conversation, we both had enough of an understanding of one another that it seemed insipid to keep us as prisoners."

I felt myself perk up. "Did you find out anything? About who we're looking for?"

Rhys nodded. "Her name is Aelin, but she has an alias: Elentiya. Remelle and Benson think they're two different people; Elentiya a Demi-Fae-- half Fae, half human-- while Aelin is the Queen of Terrasen. As you guessed, she is his mate. She was taken by a Fae woman named Maeve, who plans to use her for... Something. I don't know what." I blinked at the revelation, but didn't speak as Remelle glanced at us suspiciously. I didn't need her eavesdropping. "Rowan has given us permission to call a meeting so we can inform our Court, as well as Tamlin and Lucien. Though," he added with a wry smile, "I doubt Tamlin will listen to us." The rivalry had come back the moment we were no longer prisoners, and Tamlin had been more brooding than was typical of him.

"We'll figure it out," I murmured, and went back to eating. When the bread was gone, I sighed quietly and looked at him. "And when this nightmare is over, and when we figure out how to get home, they are going to help us." I nodded at our companions. "We'll be in the know, not them. We'll have the high ground." Distantly, there was the call of a bird. Neither of us paid it any mind.

Rhys smirked and took my hand in his. "The day we return to Velaris is the day I will be a very happy male." His eyes abruptly darkened, and he looked to the distance, brows furrowing. "If it's still there."

I reached up and laid a palm against his cheek. He looked back at me, fingers tightening around my hand. "Everything will be fine," I told him quietly. "Velaris will be the same as it was when we... Left. Better, even." Despite my words, my own worry clouded my thoughts. Who knew what the Court of Nightmares might do once they caught wind of Velaris? What hells might they unleash on our city? Even worse, who knew what hells Hybern would unleash now that he knew a place such as Velaris existed, and now that we were gone? I hid my misgivings. "It'll all be fine," I repeated, and Rhys sighed.

He reached up with his free hand and placed it over mine. "I hope you're right," he murmured, and turned his face to kiss my palm.

There was another cry, closer this time. Everyone looked up to see a bird swoop in for a landing. We went back to eating, not finding it important. Essar was about to shoo it away, but paused. "What do you have here?" She murmured, and I watched as she reached for the bird. It stayed obediently still as she teased a piece of rolled up paper from where it was banded to its leg.

Essar held out the paper to Rowan, who had stood up from where he'd been sitting with Lorcan and Lysandra. "I'd guess this is for you," she told him, and his face blanched. Did he expect bad news?

He crossed the clearing and took it with a quiet thank you, and unrolled the paper, muscles tense. He read it quickly, then frowned. "It seems we have more visitors from the Courts. Aedion's group ran into them last night." He looked to myself and Rhys. "Do you recognize any of these names?"

We crossed the clearing to read the note for ourselves, which was short and to-the-point. Two names, I recognized: Jurian and Ianthe. The third name, Cressen, I didn't recognize, but I was so heated over the first two names to care who they were. My blood boiled in my veins, and smoke curled in my mouth. One sold out my sisters to Hybern. And the other watched as they were thrown into the Cauldron.

"We know two of the names," Rhys answered with a dark frown. He looked up at Rowan. "And you say they're with Aedion and the Thirteen?" At Rowan's confirming nod, Rhys glanced at me, looking worried. "This isn't good," he murmured. "Hybern's pets, here-- not just a human driven insane, but--"

"A High Priestess Cauldron-bent on getting whatever she wants," I finished. "No, this isn't good at all..."

I could see him thinking hard. Finally, my mate said, "They need to come to us-- or us to them. Jurian is not much to worry about, but Ianthe is dangerous and more powerful than she seems. When she wants something, she gets it, and it doesn't matter who she has to hurt to do it."

"And we have some debts to pay, anyway," I added. I was certain that my attempts to conceal how murderous I felt were futile. Rowan looked between my mate and I, and finally nodded.

"I will get a letter out soon," he promised. "I can't guarantee that they'll arrive quickly, however."

"As long as they're on their way," Rhys said with a nod. "I'll feel better when we can keep an eye on them ourselves."

Rowan nodded, and we walked away, the note still clutched tightly in my hand.