ACOTAR Oneshots

Under the Mountain**

The bolded first paragraph is an excerpt from ACOTAR by Sarah J Maas.

"I had finished being painted and dressed—my gossamer gown a shade of blood orange that night—when Rhysand entered the room. The shadow maids, as usual, walked through the walls and vanished. But rather than beckon me to come with him, Rhysand closed the door."

"Aren't we going to the party?" I asked emotionless.

Rhysand eyed me up and down, taking in tonight's ensemble. His gaze bore holes into my skin but I kept my chin up high and pretended not to care. "Not yet." He muttered and leaned against the door, crossing his arms. "I want you to know that I don't enjoy doing this to you."

I raised a brow. "I find that hard to believe."

Rhys holds my stare. "I take no pleasure parading you around while people call you a whore. I know what that feels like."

Okay, now I was very confused. "Then why are you doing it?"

Rhys paused. "I needed to give her a reason why I healed you. Pretending you are my plaything was the easiest excuse."

"I'm sure there are people getting tortured down here all the time, why would you choose to help me?"

He hesitated before answering. "So I could use you to make Tamlin mad."

I swallowed hard. His words hurt but something told me there was another reason too. "Well he is definitely that. You know he will snap sooner or later and do something stupid?"

"I'm counting on it. That's all part of the plan."

"What plan?" I ask, narrowing my eyes.

"The one where Tamlin gets so mad he attacks Amarantha. And while she is distracted, I drive a knife through her stone cold heart." He said it so nonchalantly, I thought he was joking.

I stared at him in disbelief. "Is this another of your games, Rhysand? Are you trying to give me false hope?"

"It's not a game." His voice was deeper than before and laced with anger. "I hate her with every bone in my body." He gritted out.

"Why are you telling me this?" He had no reason to give me this information. He has to know how risky it is to even speak these words.

Rhysand re-situated his position against the wall and looked down at the floor. "I'm tired of pretending to be someone that I'm not. Something that I'm not. And right now, you are the only person in this shithole I can talk to."

A moment of silence passes between us as I flip his words over in my head. Was he really putting on an act this whole time? He's done a lot of awful things but I've seen his mercy. He didn't give Amarantha my real name when I knew he knew I lied. When he killed the man at the party last night under her orders, he didn't let him suffer. He healed my arm when I was about to die, too.

He cleared his throat, bringing me back to our conversation. "Anyway," he continued, eyes returning back to mine, "Amarantha's skeptical of my sudden interest in you. I can tell she believes there is another reason to my actions, other than my entertainment. Especially since I haven't bedded you yet."

My cheeks heated but I didn't have enough energy to truly be embarrassed. "How does she know we haven't...?"

"Faeries have heightened senses, smell being one of them." He didn't directly answer the question but I caught his meaning. Wait. Was that why he was here? I took a step back, conflicted by Rhysand's intentions.