It's past mid-day when our little family gathers together before the fight. Azriel had removed the bandages from my wing before breakfast, then we'd nearly fought with Rhysand as he declared that we weren't to fight, then I watched with a warm heart as Az gave Elain his blade for the battle. I know that he would have treated my sister with the same warmth, the same reverence. Then we gather in the open grass with the sun beating down on us. The Court of Dreams.
"Do you want the inspiring talk or the bleak one?" Rhys asks as he looks at all of us and the attempt at humor nearly makes me smile.
"We want the real one," Amren says and Rhys pulls his shoulders back as his wings fold behind him. Readying himself.
"I believe everything happens for a reason. Whether it is decided by the Mother, or the Cauldron, or some sort of tapestry of Fate, I don't know. I don't really care. But I am grateful for it, whatever it is. Grateful that it brought you all into my life. If it hadn't...I might have become as awful as that prick we're going to face today. If I had not met an Illyrian warrior-in-training," he says to Cassian, "I would not have known the true depths of strength, resilience, of honor and loyalty." Cassian's eyes gleam and my hand tightens on Azriel's when he turns to him. "If I had not met a shadowsinger, I would not have known that it is the family you make, not the one you are born into, that matters. I would not have known what it is to truly hope, even when the world tells you to despair." Azriel's head bows in thanks and I can feel how much the words mean to him across the bond.
Mor is already crying when Rhysand turns to her and I gird myself against my own tears. "If I had not met my cousin, I would never have learned that light can be found even in the darkest of hells. That kindness can thrive even amongst cruelty." Mor wipes away her tears as she nods. "If I had not met a tiny monster who hoards jewels more fiercely than a firedrake..." We all laugh quietly at that and the sound brings a soft smile to Rhys's face. "My own power would have consumed me long ago." Then he turns to me and the apprehension about what he has to say fills me so strongly I can taste it.
"If I had not met a distant relation that has become as close to me as a sister, I would never have known true courage. I would not have known what it is to have an unbreakable will in the face of horror and the integrity in using power to protect others first." I can't say a thing in return, so I just press my lips together while staring into his eyes while mine water. "And if I had not met my mate..." His words trail off as he looks to Feyre and I look to Azriel as he looks to me. "I believe that everything happened, exactly the way it had to...so I could find you." He kisses Feyre's tears away while Azriel gently wipes away mine with a rough thumb. His jaw is locked and I can feel the emotions swimming in his chest as we look back to Rhys when he talks to the Archeron sisters.
"We have not known each other for long. But I have to believe that you were brought here, into our family, for a reason, too. And maybe today we'll find out why." His eyes rove over all of us again before he holds out his hand to Cassian. He takes it, then offers his other to Mor. She holds her hand out for mine, Azriel to Amren, Amren to Nesta. Nesta to Elain, and Elain to Feyre. A perfect circle. "We will walk onto that field and only accept Death when it comes to haul us away to the Otherworld. We will fight for life, for survival, for our futures. But if it is decided by that tapestry of Fate or the Cauldron or the Mother that we do not walk off that field today...the great joy and honor of my life has been to know you. To call you my family. And I am grateful—more than I could possibly say—that I was given this time with you all."
"We are grateful, Rhysand," Amren says quietly. "More than you know." We all make sounds of agreement and Rhys looses a small smile.
"Then let's go make Hybern very ungrateful to have known us too."
YOU ARE READING
Shadowsinger
Fanfic"Perhaps this is death and it's playing a game with me. Maybe that's all death is, reliving the moment it took those that you most loved." Kaira's life ends with her family in the cold snow on the edge of the wall dividing fae and human lands. She's...
