Wings and Heartbeats (Manorian Fanfiction and crossover between ACOTAR and TOG)

A Call from another realm

Manon didn't trust the newcomers, that much was true. Dorian could feel the aggression pouring from her tense and ready-to-battle posture. Though, to everyone else, she would have seemed calm-bored even; but Dorian knew her better than anyone here. He spied her iron claws and teeth during the glances so occasionally looked over.

He fought the urge to brush his hand against hers and instead focus on the threat that was now in front of them.  Sure, he didn't trust them either. Who would trust a pair of royal Fae who tore through their sky to ask for help? On any normal circumstances, he would have except as Manon claimed, this was ancient witch magic. So the question was:

How did they know about that magic?

Dorian squared his shoulders, fabric whispering, as his muscles stretched and go taut. He glanced at them then. Rhysand and his mate, Feyre were in the middle of their company, pushed from the sides by Aedion and Lysandra with Lorcan behind them and Rowan in front. They'd be stupid to try and attack. 

They arrived at the castle's main dining room, its interior similar to the council chamber. The only difference was that while the council chamber was round, this one was rectangular to go with the long rosewood table that was set in the middle of it, surrounded by matching sets of chairs that could seat up to more than 20 people. 

Aelin took a seat at the head of the table, and as expected Rowan was on her right, Dorian took her other side, spying at the corner of his eyes as Manon sat next to him. It gave him a thrill, for her to follow him instead of him to her all the time. Elide took the seat next to Manon, Lorcan on her heels. Therefore Aedion and Lysandra 'subtly' sat next to the Fae royals. With Rowan on one side and Aedion on the other, they'd be really stupid to try and fight.

"Before we were rudely interrupted," Aelin said wryly ", we were about having dinner."

"But now that you're here," Aelin continued ", Why don't you join us?"

Rhysand leaned back on his chair, all arrogance and nonchalance, and simply said ", It would be rude not to."

"Indeed," Aelin said, nodding. 

At once, servants appeared from hidden doorways bearing trays and platters of food. Terrasen was supposed to be broke, but somehow they managed to refill their coffers during the time he'd been gone. The maids and butlers quickly set down the platters of smoked and primed chicken, grilled fish glazed with an orange sauce, sweetened and tossed vegetables. Goblets of wine, water, and juices were set down as the servants quickly dispersed.No one moved, staying in their original position as if nothing ever happened. Aelin raised a brow and said exasperatedly "You may eat." 

Dorian nearly choked when he saw how fast Aedion went to snatched the varieties of foods, Lysandra chided him, but helped herself to some as well, Aedion only grinned.  All around the table, people started helping themselves. Except one, Manon. She took servings but only moved them around her plate, nothing more than playing with food. 

Rhysand and Feyre were cautious, but they were careful to hide it, eating calmly but always sniffing before taking a bite. Dorian turned to face Manon,  her golden eyes met him and she only gave him a smirk and said ", I like mine fresh."

Dorian returned her smirk with a lazy smile and helped himself. It wasn't until there were the sounds of scraping and silverware filled the room did Manon spoke. Barely over the volume of someone have a conversation.

"How did you do it?"

Rhysand glanced up and his mate stiffened as Manon's golden eyes landed on them. Cold and unyielding. Gods, she was beautiful.  Rhysand said ", Do what?"

"Create a rift in the world," she said ", take a thread in the world and unravel it."

"We wouldn't know," Feyre said smoothly ", we took a guess."

Manon's eyes narrowed and said harshly ", Such a thing like witch magic cannot be guessed. You would've to kill one of us to do that."

At that Dorian spied their spines lock up-just slightly as if it never happened, but it was enough. To prove that they did something. He almost said something then but left it to his-Manon. He took a sip of wine to clear his head, the rich and tangy flavor washing away any of the thoughts we were about to make.

"How would you know?" Rhysand said casually as if they were talking over tea. Everyone was looking at them now. Elide's keen eyes looking over them with a thorough and simple examination in which she has perfected over the years. 

Manon didn't answer instead she said in a low and smooth voice ", Which one of our sisters did you kill?"

At that, they went silent for a heartbeat before Rhysand raised a brow and said ", Our?"

"So you did kill one of us," Manon said.

"I said nothing of the sort," Rhysand cut in smoothly.

Manon's eyes narrowed ", I am a witch. I know the magic when I see it.  Don't you dare undermine me with your courtly manners."

Rhysand simply crossed his arms and leaned further back, and said without shame ", So what? If we did kill one of your kind, they are nothing but religious killers."

Dorian knew what they were doing. They were trying to rile her, therefore making her spill something just to indicate if they should tell the truth or not. He saw Manon's teeth snapped down and pulled into a snarl, but no sound came out. Not bark nor bite.

Dorian nearly lost it then, nearly reach for her hand, coiled loosely, iron nails clicking as she tapped them against each other. Manon squared her shoulders, then lean back in her chair. Learning, the witch queen was learning. Months ago she would have the male's throat out by her iron teeth moments before.

"If I find out that you killed any witches, this world or another," Manon's eyes burned, the gold turning molten as the anticipation of the threat coursed through her ", I will make sure that you get more harm than the help that you seek from coming here."

There was a beat of silence. Then Manon smiled sweetly-wickedly; showing all her iron teeth as she leaned forward, her elbows propped on the wooden table, right next to her very full and unappetizing plate.

He saw the couple wince slightly, whether they were too tired from whatever magic they performed to get here, or were too grateful to live to get mauled by a fang-bearing witch queen, but they said ", You know, you could have just asked for the story."

Dorian swore everyone at the table breathed a sigh of relief, because of how close they'd gone to nearly fighting with the newcomers. He knew Manon would fight until they were nothing but shredded pieces of flesh and bone and sinew; he would stand aside but if they lay a single hand on her, he'll join her without hesitation.

At least he knew that the otherwordly Fae would offer a good fight.