A Court of Ashes and Daybreak

Nesta

"I found a lovely set of gardens down by the water that you would love," I said to Elaine, smiling as my sister's face lit up at the thought. "We could go if you wanted, there's a nice cafe for afternoon cakes and tea."

"Oh, that would be lovely Nesta!" said Elaine, lighting the warm glow in my chest that only she could coax out, that I needed every now and then to remind me that at least part of me was still human.

No sooner had we strolled into the gardens than Elaine was pointing out all the different flowers to me, telling me their names, and whether they liked warmth or cold, shade or full sunshine, how susceptible they were to frost and disease, and what soils they liked to grow in. We gazed at the different arrangements, me saying which ones I liked and Elaine discussing what she would copy into her garden at home and what she would change if this were hers to keep.

It was early spring, so the summer flowers weren't blooming yet, but the last snowdrops were just dying away beneath the oak trees and crocuses and daffodils were everywhere in profusion. Tulips were just coming up, adding a splash of bright red to the scene, and the fruit trees in the small orchard were festooned with pastel pink and white blossoms.

The cafe where we ate was next to a small fountain, spouting fish and birds in a pond full of lily pads, and was a trim little building with a slate roof and pretty walls the very palest shade of pink. We had sponge cake with jam and cream (Elaine paid, I don't know whether Feyre gives her money for times like this, but I didn't ask) which was definitely more of a treat for me, as I was currently living off Feyre's pity money that barely covered my rent.

I left Elaine to walk home alone, as she assured me she would be fine, and decided to wander back to my own house through the woodland. It was peaceful at this time of day, when the sun was sinking steadily lower to the horizon, flushing pink across the sky. The early spring trees were just starting to bud, the stark branches of winter still standing strong against the sunset dusk.

The calmness and the woodland air let my mind drift to a more peaceful place than the usual desperation and anger that clawed at my soul. And fear. The biting hopelessness of fear that had churned in me all my life, driving the cold angry facade that was all most people had seen of me. That was all even I saw, most of the time, never letting myself admit the vulnerability of the emotion that somehow seemed to rule my life. That seemed, like all my other senses after my transformation to High Fae, to have only heightened.

The first rustle in the bushes behind me had me snapping round, eyes scanning the gloom beneath the trees, as the peacefulness and tranquillity of the woods melted away, leaving only fear in its wake. I shook my head, giving the shadow-slung bushes one last sweeping gaze before forcing myself to look ahead and set off walking once more. There is no danger, I scolded myself, this is the night court, in woods not half a mile from the edge of Velaris, not the forest of your home, half a mile from the borders of Prythian. But no amount of careful logic could stop my legs from breaking into a run as another rustle sounded from the trees now to my left.

The faeries were on me in an instant. I had no idea what type they were - Feyre would now doubt know, I thought bitterly, - but they had dark, humanoid bodies, covered with what appeared to be scales. I surged forwards, hauling my dress up to my knees to free my legs for sprinting. My lungs ached, and even though I was moving far faster than a human ever could've, it was still not nearly fast enough to escape.

Claws dug into my shoulder. I screamed, tripping over a root and knocking the breath from my lungs as I slammed into the forest floor. The faerie's knee crashed into the small of my back, it's claws scratched along my shoulder, and no matter how I twisted and writhed, it's arms pinned me like bands of steel. The rest of the faeries gathered in a loose circle around me, six of them including my captor. The tallest knelt before me, and my hair was yanked backwards so I had to look up into its twisted scaled face, forced to watch as it opened its horned mouth and said, in a hissing half-garbled voice "So, high fae, ....