A Court of Unspoken Terrors

Chapter Two

Rhys is instantly at my side, his hand on my back as I yield my dinner over and over. It's only when my nausea has subsided and my breathing has calmed that he speaks into the dimness.

"Feyre," He murmurs.

Unable to form words, I merely turn away from the toilet, wrapping my arms around his waist as I bury my face in his chest. He begins rocking me gently as a sob escapes my lips. A great, wracking sob that snaps some leash I've kept tethered inside myself, releasing a cascade of pent-up emotions.

I lose track of how long we spend, wrapped up in each other on the cool, tiled floor of the bathing room. But as my sobs quiet and my weeping begins to cease, Rhys scoops me up into his arms, padding over to his bed - now our bed - before tucking me in tightly and curling up beside me. His breath warms my neck, and I feel his arms tighten around me before a sweeter, softer shade of night caresses my mind, lulling me into a dreamless sleep.

                                                                                             ***

I awaken to find Velaris's bright midmorning sun trickling in through the curtains and the sound of water gurgling in the adjacent bathing room. Rhys stalks through the door seconds later, hair still damp from his bath, pulling on a shirt as he goes. 

I feel more than see his attention snap to where I sit up in bed, yawning as I rub the sleep from my eyes. 

His eyes soften a fraction. "How are you feeling?"

I glance up to where he stands at the foot of the bed. "Better."

He watches me knowingly, brows raised.

I blow out a breath, fiddling with the corner of my shirt as he awaits my response. 

"I think-- I think that, even after all that we've been through together... this war--" I stumble a bit, grappling for the right words. Rhys merely listens, his patience unfaltering, allowing me to sort through the jumble of thoughts clouding my mind. 

"This war ripped open a wound that was finally beginning to heal, thanks to the both of us. And now, for some reason... the nightmares are back." The words are a breathless whisper. "And every night I see Claire and the Attor and-- and I see her." 

Rhys comes to sit beside me, listening attentively and granting me the time and space to share with him the terrors I've kept bottled up for weeks now. 

"I don't know what to do," I admit after a beat of silence, my head now resting against his shoulder. "I thought that once we got back and were given a chance to be with our family and to help our people rebuild... once we were given a chance at life, things might've gotten better, but..." I trail off once again, not knowing how to put it into words.

"They will." He murmurs, kissing my temple. "Cauldron willing, they will."