A Court of Stags and Night

Feyre

Evangeline was asleep when I woke early the following morning. But I did not so much as twitch a finger. The girl had shifted so she was curled up against my side with one of her arms stretched across my chest. I vaguely remembered doing that to Elain when I was little.

I had no idea how we were going to get her mother out of Tarquin's hands, but she was our priority. Her aunt, Celaena, would come next. Something told me that wasn't the blonde's true name, but it wasn't necessarily a lie either.

There were so many questions I had, but making sure the girl stayed safe and cared for was most important. Besides, I doubted Tarquin would hurt the shifter, despite what had happened. His decision was likely made from anger.

Nonetheless, we would get her today if we could.

I nudged the girl gently, whispering her name so as to not startle her anymore than necessary. She whined softly, something I was known to do in the mornings. The loose fabric around my chest grew tighter as her hand clenched tightly.

"Evangeline," I tried again, a little louder.

Her eyes fluttered open sleepily as she stretched against my side. Her eyes shot open as sleep faded away and she frantically slid from the bed, stumbling across the room. Her body trembled as she took everything in and the events of the past couple days resurfaced.

"Hey, you're alright," I soothed, brushing over to her side. "Just breathe, everything is alright. No one is going to hurt you here."

Her citrine eyes were rimmed with red as she fought back tears. I rubbed her back gently and waited until her breathing was under control.

"Go take a bath, You'll feel better," I urged her, giving her a gentle push in the direction of the adjoining bathing room. "I'll be here when you're finished with some new clothes."

She slipped inside and I patiently waited. I couldn't help but feel sorry for the girl. And I couldn't believe how resilient she was. She was so strong.

Once she was dressed, I took her down for breakfast, where the others were already seated and waiting. Evangeline slid into the seat next to Mor, who gave her a shit-eating grin. I didn't want to know what kind of mischief they could get into, especially since the girl smiled back, just as playful. Perhaps Mor would be able to get her to open up.

"I hope you slept well," Rhys started, leaning back in his chair. "But we need a few answers."

She looked at him nervously, and I almost chided him for starting off with this so early, but she nodded anyway.

"I want to know how you could feel my presence yesterday. I've never known a human to sense it before."

To be honest, I wanted to know that answer too, but I didn't think it was necessary at this point in time. I was about to tell her she didn't have to answer that yet when she spoke.

"My aunt, Celaena, she's had some bad experiences with fae like you." It sounded more like an insult than actual information. Not a good experience then. "She started teaching us to shield against it. Or at least detect their presence."

"Then she would have to know fae," Amren commented.

"In our world, human and fae coexist with each other," Evangeline explained. "Generally. For years, fae and even humans with magic were hunted and killed."

Interesting. "Do you have magic?" I asked.

She turned to me with a light chuckle. "No. Fully and normally human. My mom, Lysandra, is the only human I really know that has magic. One of my aunt's friends, Dorian, is human and has magic, but I've only met him twice."