Rhysand's Sister Isn't Dead - discont'd

nine

Chapter 9: Fat blooms Lie

Eralyn's POV

When I walked down the stairs, I swear Cassian's and Azriel's eyes almost popped out of their heads. When Rhys looked at me, it was almost as if he could see what he'd lost. Not only that, but he could smell the Illyrian steel on me. I saw his nose flare and quickly covered the smell.

Mor soon followed after me, proud of her work, which was pretty good. All was well until Cassian opened his mouth.

"For someone who has never worn a dress, you surprisingly do look good in one."

I glared at him, "For someone who manages to piss everyone off, you surprisingly aren't dead." Cassian barked a laugh, and Az smiled. It was loud of enough that Amren came in to offer her own goodbye.

"Well Eralyn, time to prove you are useful." I just rolled my eyes as Az offered his own nod and smile. A soldier addressing his family member. I nodded but did not smile back. I would lay down my life if I had to, and he knew that because his expression turned grim.

Cass and Rhys would fly Mor and me out of the no winnowing zone, so as Cass scooped Mor up, I winced internally as Rhys swept me up into his arms.

We were silent when we first took off because both of us were engrossed in our own thoughts. I was literally sweating and tried not to let my fear show, but Rhys looked content, hopeful even.

He didn't look at me as he said, "Please don't let her get hurt." It was barely more than a whisper, but the amount of emotion struck me. This was his mate that I was to save. I didn't answer as he let me down, Mor's palm already splayed out.

Cassian said to me softly as I gripped Mor's palm, "Thank you, Eralyn." I nodded once and locked eyes with the High Lord who was desperately looking me down for an answer.

So I gave him what he wanted, "I swear it, High Lord." He blew out a breath as Mor pulled me away from the wondrous City of Starlight, and towards the land where the fat blooms lie.

...

The smell was what hit me first. The disgusting stench of flowers and liars. As I looked to Mor, I saw her scrunched up nose and knew she smelt it too. I noticed we were in a thicket barely a horse rides away from the manor, although all of it immediately vanished as she embraced me.

I squeezed back when she said, "Don't die." We stayed there for a moment before I broke away and she vanished. I then looked to and furrowed my brows at the manor before straightening non-existent wrinkles on my dress, and walking towards it.

Time to pay, Tamlin.

...

There were quite a few sentries at the door collecting invitations, as well as a beaming Feyre. I locked eyes with her as I neared the top of the stairs. She gave me a sickeningly sweet smile and barely nodded.

The annoyed sentry held out his hand, "May I have your invitation?"

I schooled my face into bland surprise, "We were supposed to bring them?" He furrowed his brows further and the sentries tensed, reaching their hands to their swords.

He said rather angrily, "What's your name?"

I straightened as I said in a sickly afraid voice, "N- Nise. I am Lady Nise."

The sentry turned his head to Feyre who looked at him blankly and said in a gentler voice, "Do you remember sending an invitation to this Lady?"

Feyre looked at me, a childish questioning look on her face, and put a forefinger on his chin. Her sudden 'realization' was portrayed by a small gasp and a jump. The other sentries looked mildly amused.

"Yes, yes! Nise seems very familiar!" The sentry nodded and moved out of the way as I slightly bowed my chin at Feyre and went into that hell hole of a manor.

Decorated very fittingly, a blonde headed Priestess stood poised on a raised platform along with a red-haired male, two twin Hybern royals, Jurian, I presumed, and- I had to hold in my growl- Tamlin. My blood heated just by seeing his face. Oh, how it resembled his father's and brothers'. Darkness started to grow from behind me. I smashed it down.

At some point, the beginning festivities ended, and the main act started. Before this, I stood around with a stupid smile, drinking wine, and rejecting requests to dance.

The poised High Priestess named Ianthe, I'd learned, stepped forward with hands folded over her stomach, "My dear friends, we are here to celebrate the arrival of two Hybern commanders," the two twins stepped forward, their names whispered throughout the crowd as I peered into their minds of the gossiping bunch in the crowd. Brannagh and Dagdan... Hybern will kill us all... invasion... I pulled out of their minds. Whatever that blonde prick and those twins were planning wasn't good.

I was snapped from my thoughts as I noticed Feyre wasn't on the platform. Her scent was... here, but she wasn't in this room. So I sank into shadow and scuttled off after her scent.

Feyre's POV

As soon as guest stopped filing in, I vanished into the manor. My heart thumped wildly in my chest as I saw Eralyn again, peering out onto the crowd. Mother above, she looked so much like him, I thought I must be hallucinating. Rhysand's sister was dead, but... why did she look like him?

I cut my gaze to Tamlin's study. Lots of information lied there, so without a second thought, I slipped in. It was dark, but I let the faint glow of the Day Court sweep through me as I leafed through papers and shielded the room. My head pounded with every breathe I took.

Most of what I picked up had something about Hybern that I started picking up all of the papers. My heart jumped out of my chest as I heard her call my name.

"Lady Feyre?" I saw a silhouette of her made of shadow and opened my shield to let her in, closing it behind her. She turned into flesh and bone and helped in picking up papers. We barely said anything to each other, too busy not trying to get caught. I saw her sneak glances to the armoire in the room, but quickly take them off it.

When we finished, I collected the rest from her and watched as she swept a hand over the now empty desk. Replicas of what we had just picked up appeared, in the exact same place, with the exact same scent.

"So he won't know we were here." I nodded as she grabbed my arm and turned us both into shadow. I gasped at the sudden composition change of my body but quickly silenced my self. Was this how it was like for Az? On another note, was he healed? I made a mental note to ask this Eralyn female or Nise. I didn't know.

As shadows, we slide under the rug that lined the marble floors and glided to my bedroom. We slipped past the door without even opening it, and faelights sprang to life on the wall. Eralyn scrambled to find a pen and paper, scribbling something on the paper when she found both. When I leaned closer, I saw it was a note about how I was kidnapped and how foolish Tamlin was to have a ball when his lady was in danger. I smirked and the papers slipped out of my hands. Not turning from when she was facing, she snapped her fingers, the papers disappearing.

"We need to move," she said, as she inspected the window, and I yelped as the door to my room slammed open. Lucien looked at me beneath lowered brows. I looked to the window, finding Eralyn had now vanished, and perhaps hiding in a shadow.

"Where were you during the ceremony?" His words were greatly inquisitive that I looked casually to the side, showing a portrait of a shy female, but also checking to see if the paper Eralyn wrote on had vanished. It had.

I looked up to Lucien as I said, "My head was hurting, and I figured I wouldn't be needed there." My statements weren't lies. I had gone through the entire ceremony with Ianthe beforehand, adding different prayers in just to by Eralyn and I time.

Lucien sighed, brows stilled lowered, "You could have said something. Tamlin sent me, worried something had happened." Oh, something was indeed about to happen, and as I flicked my wrist in the folds of my dress, the door slammed closed, a shield tightened itself around the room, and Eralyn appeared behind Lucien, dagger to his throat. The blade made of Illyrian steel.

His face showed a flicker of genuine fear as he started, "Wha-"

Eralyn cut him off with a voice as sharp as the blade she held at his throat, "I'd be very quiet if I were you." He gulped slowly, trying to avoid getting snicked in the neck.

I cleared my throat as I said, "As I already said, my head hurts, and I wasn't needed, but what I didn't get to say is that I'm going back."

Lucien's eyes went wide as saucers, "To the Night Court." I wasn't sure if it was a question, but I nodded nonetheless.

"As I have also already said, Elain is safe and sound, but I am giving you a chance to see that with your own eyes. If you refuse, I will wipe your mind of this memory completely." It wasn't part of the plan to bring Lucien along, and I looked to Eralyn for some reason, searching for the surprise on her face, but it yielded nothing as it watched the blade on Lucien's neck. She brought it down so he could speak, but he only nodded.

"Then," Eralyn said in a deadly voice, "get us out of the no winnowing zone." Lucien narrowed his eyes when she stepped back to look at him in full.

"It isn't that easy. You both will have to stay hidden." Eralyn's nose flared a bit as she walked over to me and grabbed my arm with surprising gentleness, despite the harsh look on her face, and turned us into Lucien's shadow.

His brows flicked up in wonder and surprise as he said, "Well that's one way to do it."

...

We ran into Tamlin on the way there, and I swear I could hear Eralyn growling. He questioned Lucien of his path towards the door, and about me, but the clever fox said I was fast asleep, and he needed some fresh air. Tamlin was about to prod further until a male came up to him and engaged him in a conversation. Lucien took this as an invitation to dart for the door. We barely made it past the no winnowing shield without getting stopped by someone, people awfully chatty with matters considering Hybern.

Lucien quickly jogged to a nearby tree, and Eralyn released herself and me from Lucien's shadow.

She also looked very serious as she asked me to let her into my mind, "I haven't memorized the townhouse. Can you show me?" I nodded as I took in those features so like Rhys'.

I'm coming, mate.