Yvaine: The Evening Star

Found

I sat up in my bed, trying to shake the sounds of my mother's screams from my ears. I shoved my hands through my hair and fell back against my bed, looking up at the stone ceiling. Two hundred years, I'd been a prisoner of the spring court for nearly two centuries and the anniversary of my mother's death was swiftly approaching. My heart ached at her absence and that of my father and brothers, even though the years had been long I felt the loss as though it had happened yesterday. I'd spent the first fifty years sure that my brother and father would find me but after my first century, I realized they truly thought me dead. Tamlin had been kind enough to give me some comfort before leaving me to rot. I hadn't seen the bastard's face for nigh on eighty years but I thanked the Mother for it.

My cell had contained little besides a bucket and straw when I'd first been thrown in but after he was convinced I was well and truly forgotten he deigned to provide a few more comforts to better my measly existence. I'd been given a bed, books, and even a few sketchbooks and drawing tools to pass the time. The maid that had been assigned to me had warmed up to me fairly quickly, at that time I'd been a child, barely into my majority when I'd been taken. I shook my head and sighed, dragging myself from the bed to dress and wash before Alis came.

I lit the candles I had scattered around the room and stripped, pulling a rag out of my water bucket and washing up before dressing in a warm tunic and leggings. I sat against the wall behind my bed and ran a comb through my hair, careful not to pull through any snarls too roughly. I twisted it into two plaits and pulled my newest journal into my lap and wrote for a while, sending my prayers to the Mother and returning it to my bookshelf when I heard Alis's familiar steps echoing down the hall. I greeted her with a soft smile as she entered my 'room' and she returned it, setting the food she brought with her on my little table before drawing me into a hug.

"How are you this morning, Yvaine?" She asked and settled into the chair by my bed. I settled onto my bed, pulling the tray into my lap before answering.

"I'm alright, you know how the nightmares get this time of year," I said softly. Alis's eyes looked back towards the stairs and I simply waited for her to start talking as I started eating.

"She's begun to feel your power, to feel you. She's curious and will find you soon enough, even if I don't send her down myself." Alis picked up a piece of fruit from my plate and I rolled my eyes at her, a teasing smile on my face.

"I might not be able to use it at all but my magic has grown more than I thought if she's really sensing it." I hummed to myself and slipped a grape in my mouth.

"With Ianthe watching her all the time and Tamlin hunting the grounds all day long I think sending her my way might be the only way she ends up here without someone following." I popped another grape in my mouth and Alis nodded.

"Remind me again why I cannot just free you and send you home. I feel as though I've been a poor adult figure by leaving you here for all these years." She hummed to herself and I smiled softly, Alis had become a dear friend and confidante over the years and had made many attempts to help me escape, each I had refused. Knowing the state of Prythian, my return would worsen things if I left sooner than I should.

"I would have taken you up on that offer but with Feyre here, I need her to trust me and the only way to do that is for her to free me herself. Some parts of her will recognize me whether she acknowledges it consciously or not," I hugged my legs to my chest and rested my chin on my knees.

"If what you're telling me is true then Feyre won't last long here in Spring without more allies and I can be that for her. I'll help her navigate the court and she'll help me get home. After all this time in these chains... I worry about the state of my magic when I get out of them," I sighed and closed my eyes, resting my head against the wall.