A court of ashes and ruins | A TOG x ACOTAR crossover

Chapter 14

Rhysand

We stood outside the large doors to the dining room. The sounds of loud talking echoed sounded through the wall.

Everything had gone by so fast. Everything had gone crazy since the moment Aelin stepped into Velaris. It was Amren's work apparently. We had gone from living our best lives to suddenly losing our own house. It was all a really weird situation.

I straightened invisible creases on my deep black pants and offered the group a smile.

"When we go in there, remember to be polite. They have the house under control after all and we need to talk ourselves out of this situation," I said quiet enough so that no uninvited listener could hear us. Everyone nodded in quiet agreement.

What are we expecting from them? Feyre asked, looking towards the wall and the people beyond it.

I don't know ...Those were always tough words to say. They will probably try to bargain. I mean, they don't really have any business in these lands, but they are probably craving something else.

"Everyone ready?" Feyre asked us all. I took her hand and squeezed it before we entered through the doors. I had a hard time keeping my neutral face on as I took in everyone. They were slouched down in their seats, some of them sipping on expensive wine. All of them were wearing clothes straight out of our personal closets. What was most enraging was Aelin. She was wearing one of Feyre's dresses, one only worn on a very special occasion.

A memory flooded my mind. It was Feyre wearing that dress. I could see the stars sparkle in her eyes. Her whole face was lit up in a smile as she watched the stars fall in awe. My whole body had been filled with joy when I saw her so happy.

But now Aelin was wearing it like it was no big deal, without knowing its history. Thief  I said through the bond, a bit more sharply than I had intended. I steadied my breathing and drew out a chair at the end of the table, gesturing for Feyre to sit. The two main chairs at the other end were already occupied my Rowan and Aelin. 

When we were all seated, Aelin raised her wine glass. 

"For a friendly dinner." We all raised our glasses too and mumbled the word after her. Aelin was watching me over her glass, a hint of mischief in her eyes. A smirk formed on her lips as we stared each other down. Since it probably wasn't the best idea to try to assert dominance in my current position, I broke eye contact first. I played it off by starting the much needed talk.

"Why don't we quit playing games and get to the point," I said, an icy tone hinting in my words.

"I guess we can't have a single nice dinner," she dramatically sighed. 

How should we approach the subject? I asked Feyre through the bond. Just be direct about it, she answered. 

"You have taken our house, our clothes, and have beaten our pride. You are the one in charge, what more do you want?" Feyre spit out. Well that was VERY direct.

 A sound came from my left, and I saw Dorian trying his hardest to suppress a laugh. His head tilted back and his whole body heaved with laughter. He tried to regain his posture, and was finally able to breathe properly after a moment.

"Look. We don't want anything from you." He pointed at us with his fork. "We don't want your house, or any power over any place in these boring lands. Though I must admit that these clothes are pretty nice," he laughed. Aelin gave him a look and joined in on the subject.

"It would be nice with a town named after me. Or maybe a mountain... or a statue!" she seemed lost in thought. I could still not keep my thoughts from wandering to that. My blood was still boiling with anger. The audacity they had-

"And we can return the clothes if you want," Aelin snickered, clearly noticing my looks.

"If you don't want anything from us, then why even bother to eat dinner with us?" Mor asked. She had a point. Why were they still here. They should have already left for their own world.

"For the same reason you sat down with us and didn't just break our minds," she replied. I hadn't even thought about that. I reached out with my powers into their heads. They had no mental barriers up. In theory I could just kill the whole group in seconds. But as I thought about it more, they could probably do the same. We had been overpowered by them after all.

"But we are leaving in just a moment. This cranky old guy here doesn't like being separated from his wife." She looked at Lorcan, who gave her a death stare. Cranky and old weren't really the first words that came to my mind when I thought of Lorcan. 

Cassian downed his glass of wine and rose from his chair. "Well I don't want us to say goodbye on bad terms," Cassian grinned. I had almost forgotten how close he had gotten to Aelin these past days. It was kind of weird honestly, but I wasn't about to in other people's businesses. 

Aelin smiled at Cassian and embraced him in a quick hug. She gave Mor, Azriel, Amren and Feyre side hugs and came to me. We stared at each other for an awkward moment, not really knowing what to do. I finally managed to come up with the right words.

"I wish you the best of luck in your world," I told her. She gave me a slight smile and then looked down at her dress.

"You think you can like change my clothes with your powers?" she asked me, raising an eyebrow. I had been worrying about the dress for a while, so it was a relief that she wasn't going to keep it.

"Yeah, yeah. Of course," I said and snapped my fingers. The glittering silver gown got replaced by a deep green one. I looked at the others, silently asking them if I should change their outfits too. All of them nodded except Dorian.

"I am getting kind of fond of this suit, so if it's okay with you..." He was wearing a white suit with blue embroidery. It was from one of the guest rooms so it didn't really matter if we lost it. I switched the others' clothes with something more casual.

Lorcan ripped out a page from a book he had been holding. 

"It is the instructions on how to get home," he explained. He ripped the page in half and gave the two pieces to Aelin, who caught them on fire. I watched it all become a pile of dust. A question formed at my mouth. Why? But before I could say it out loud Lorcan explained once again.

"I don't want this to get in the wrong hands. Travelling between worlds shouldn't be a normal vacation plan. I have already remembered everything on it so I know how we can get home."

"So I guess this is a farewell then?" Feyre asked. The mood had changed so much in such a short amount of time. Everyone were friendly towards each other when they spoke, and it felt like the room had warmed up.

We said goodbye to each other once again and followed the group to the front doors. Feyre put her head on my shoulder as we watched them leave through the snow. When they were a bit away blue fire surrounded them and in a flash of light they were gone.

And strangely enough, I kind of missed them...