A Court of Ashes and Daybreak

Nesta

"She's going to have to stay here for two days and one night." The vet's eyes were steady, his voice level.

I gripped Becca's lead tighter. "Can I stay with her?"

"It's normally best if you don't. The process is quite delicate, and it's preferable if we don't have the added distraction of the owner here. Not to mention it can be stressful for you seeing her during the operation."

I swallowed. I hated the thought of Becca being all alone, but the vet assured me they would send her to sleep during the operation, and it wouldn't wear off until the next morning. Even then, she would be in isolation for the rest of the day, until she was well enough to go home with me. It was unfortunate, she had caught an infection during her time as a stray that meant she had to have her appendix removed. Uh. I shuddered at the thought of them cutting through poor Becca's flesh and tinkering with her body parts. But I hated the idea of her dying from her infection even more.

I headed over to the house of wind, blinking tears from my eyes. It's only for a couple of days, I told myself. She's not going to die.

"Becca's at the vet's for tonight, I'm not allowed to see her," I grouched to Cassian as we sparred. (I had moved on from practice posts to actual sparring)

"Oh," he said, spinning his blade round, gliding easily through my shoddy defensive work. "Did you want to do something to take your mind off it?"

"To be honest, yeah, that sounds good," I shifted my feet and raised my blade again, "Do you have anywhere else cool to show me?"

"There's a place, but it's quite a long flight..." he broke off, dark eyes searching mine.

"It's ok, I'm all cool with flying now I have the power to make you go 'Nesta! Nesta! Are you crazy!? What are you doing?!'"

He snorted ruefully. "Well I can guarantee this place is so cool you won't be able to think of anything else."

We stopped off at his to gather some things, blankets and such because we would be sleeping in the open. I could of got some more clothes, but I couldn't bring myself to step into my lonely apartment and not find my little doggy friend waiting for me. So we just set off, Cassian flying effortlessly and me slumped like a sack of potatoes.

We flew far into the Illyrian mountains, until Velaris was a speck in the distance, and wilderness stretched in every direction. We rounded a massive hulk of a mountain, and I gasped at what I saw. A single, massive oak tree clung near the top of a vertical cliff face. The view stretched away across hills in shades of charcoal and dun, with lakes shining like silver where the light caught them. Cassian flapped heavily, slowing until he landed on the trunk of the tree, stretching out nearly horizontal from where the roots were twisted into a crack in the rock. The tree was every bit as large as any in a woodland near Velaris, and the roots were like writhing snakes where they clung to the cliff. "It's secure. I've weathered a few gales up here." I turned to see Cassian hooking a length of cloth along one of the tree branches, spreading it out to reveal that it was a hammock.

"You only brought one hammock?" I said, glaring at him.

"I only have one hammock," he retorted, raising his eyebrows at me. "Problems?"

"Nah," I tried to keep it cool, failing utterly. He grinned, returning to his unpacking.

We ate a simple supper of dried fruit, sandwiches and a cake that Cassian had wrapped up in cloth to keep it fresh. It was a bit squashed from its journey but it tasted amazing. We sat in the hammock and watched the sun go down, watched colour streak across the sky. The hammock was awkwardly shaped so we both slid towards the middle, eventually I gave up and clambered into his lap. I was warm, and comfortable, and the view truly was stunning. I was sure Feyre could've done it justice with her paints, but I would just have to remember it. Cassian wrapped his arms around me, and for once I was relaxed enough to enjoy it. His chin managed to find its way onto my shoulder, and I smirked. "What?" he said, craning his neck to see my face.