A Court of Lies and Terror

Chapter Fifteen

I knew Rhys was up on the roof the moment I woke up. I pulled on a night robe and walked up into the night, shivering at the cold.

He was standing there, hands in his pockets, head tilted back and no wings. He barely moved as I came to stand beside except to put his hand around my waist. One hand resting on my belly. We stayed there, standing in silence for a few moments before he suddenly spoke, "I used to look out at the stars and imagine what you were doing, you and everyone else. Sometimes I stayed out the entire night, wondering if I would ever get home." I nodded against his shoulder,
"I did the same although I think Maja might just have killed me if I stayed out in the cold all night." He laughed at that and let his head rest on top of mine. I sometimes forgot how much taller he was than me, how much longer he had lived.

"Is everything ready for tomorrow?" Tomorrow, or today really, the meeting. Rhys nodded,
"We have the grandest rooms in the palace ready and Amren went and chose the most extravagant room for the meeting," He winked at me, "We wouldn't want to look boring would we? We have Thesan's palace to rival." I elbowed his ribs and was about to say something when his head suddenly snapped up and I turned to look at what he saw, a shooting star was hurtling through the sky, faster than I thought possible. Rhys' hand raised, almost in greeting and I physically felt his power pouring out of him as he sent it crashing into the star, no, not a star. A Fae, a female Fae. She slowed and then just as suddenly as she had appeared, she was gone.

Rhys was smiling and said quietly, "My debt is payed." I looked at him, the question dancing in my eyes,
"Aelin Ashryver Whitethorn Galathynius. Soon to be Queen of Terrasen alongside her consort Prince Rowan Whitethorn Galathynius."
"She's the person who helped you come back?" Rhys nodded and lifted me up off my feet and winnowed us back to our room. He set me down on the bed, "Please, tell me about their world." He raised and eyebrow in question, "If we are going to find a way there one day then I want to know everything I can." He grinned at that and sat down beside me,
"On their continent, Erilia, human and Fae live side by side. The Fae there all have the ability to shift between a Fae and human form. Her court is made up of a few Fae who all used to serve a Valg Queen called Maeve,"
"Valg?"
"They were... demons of a sort, from another world, to be honest it sounds similar to what little we know of Amren's world. Anyway, human and Fae were separated ten years ago when a Valg infested king took away magic from Erilia but Aelin, her court and some friends found a way to get it back, there was a war with many losses and in the end. Well happily ever after, they hope."
"They hope?" Rhys sighed,
"They banished their gods, locked them out of their world, the gods were all to happy to go. Well most of them, they are all powerful beings and there is still some worry that the gods will find a way to break back into their world and wreak havoc." I looked at Rhys and released a big sigh,
"You promised that if they ever came back we would go back and help them if you ever found a way to open some kind of semi permanent portal to their world." Rhys nodded, looking slightly embarrassed, but I just patted him on the back and told him that we would see what we could do, he kissed me then, fierce and passionate and I smiled against his mouth but just then Cassian came bursting into our room, "Come on, where the fuck do you think you've been? The High Lords are going to be here soon, you need to stop looking like dishevelled pigs and get ready." He slammed the door closed again, most likely about to go and slap Mor until she woke up. She sleeps like the dead.

Oop well we've got the High Lords meeting next and it looks like we'll be getting some world crossovers too, I may even find a way to incorporate Bryce and Hunt 😏 If they are endgame that is, which I really really hope they are.

Thanks for all the love and I am going to get back on schedule, I promise. Xx