A Court of Lies and Terror

Chapter Eighteen

Rhys and I lounged in the seats, waiting for the High Lords to deign to arrive, I tried not to look like I was in pain but from the way my mate kept looking at me I was quite obviously failing. I felt his presence outside my shields and I opened them slightly to let him talk, Keep your shields open. I glared at him and said Don't go all noble on me, I'm fine. He laughed out loud and Cassian looked over at us and sighed to which Rhys responded by flipping him off and turning back to me, I'm trying to give you some dignity, I'm not sure about you but I wouldn't want to sit through a meeting with the most powerful people in the world and spend the entire time wincing, any form of weakness won't be appreciated by them. I actually whacked him then and hissed Giving birth is not a weakness, it is a natural life process for females.
Well I'm afraid they won't see it that way and I know you wouldn't want your precious pride to be ruined in such a manner. I seriously thought about dumping a bucket of water over his head and then throwing him off the balcony but I just sighed and left my shields slightly open, allowing him to take some pain into himself. I pretended not to notice that he shifted uncomfortably or that he was taking a lot more than needed but I did inch my shields slightly closer together, stopping him from drawing much away.

We sat there for another few minutes until Helion, Tarquin, Thesan, Kallias and Viviane walked in, followed by their excessive escorts. They said nothing as they sat down, undoubtedly having realised the 'family emergency' as soon as I had stood up. We sat in an awkward silence, waiting for Beron and Tamlin to arrive.

They did so together, two hours later. I'd very almost up and left the room, I'd been away from Kai for to long and the cauldron damned meeting hadn't even started yet. Rhys could feel my impatience and he patted my knee gently which earned a sneer from Tamlin as he and Lucien sat down heavily on the opposite side of the room.
"Nice of you to join us. Now let's make this quick, we all have more interesting places to be." Rhys' voice had reverted to the cold mask he used to wear and a sent a soothing wave down the bond which made him relax, slightly. Beron began,
"These rebels need to be put down and made an example of, if they are allowed to continue then soon all of Prythian will have joined them."
"The fact that you believe people will join them says enough about their motives." I said quietly.
"And what is that? Feyre." I snarled at him and said sharply,
"You have only proved to point out that there is something wrong with the way things are run here. If you are so worried about your people murdering you then maybe you should be changing the way you are ruling, not adding to your... reputation." Tarquin, Helion and Thesan were nodding along and the High Lord of Summer said, "She's right, the fact that they are even rebelling says something about the way we do things. The system has been in place for millennia, never changing, never wavering. Perhaps it is time to change. In the last year we have already made changes, the first ever recorded High Ladies are here, things are already moving forwards. We need to do so to or we will fall.
"It is true that we are the only ones who can protect them but that does not mean we should rule over them as we do now." Beron was almost spitting with rage as Helion and Thesan nodded their agreement and Rhys and I offered a small smile to Tarquin. Tamlin and Kallias still said nothing and Viviane stared incredulously at her mate, "Kallias. What the fuck is wrong with you? You would side with the males who lock their equals up as treasured prizes because they want to feel that they have control?" The High Lord of Winter turned to look at his High Lady, "There is a way things are done Viv, it's too late to change now." A harsh laugh worked its way out of my throat.
"The second High Lord in history to make his mate his High Lady does not like change. I thought better of you Kallias." Viviane sneered at her mate and turned to me,
"Thankfully as High Lady I have control of half of his troops and the same authority as him. I'll join you. The Winter Court does not deserve a coward as its High Lord." In a matter of minutes we had just witnessed a court divide in two, watched a mate turn on her soul bonded. I smiled at Viviane then and I didn't hide the sorrow in my eyes. She smiled back and then stood up, coming to take a seat beside Mor. Never looking at her mate once.

And then Lucien stood up and for the first time since I'd known him I saw him turn around to Tamlin, standing tall and proud. Not subdued, not bowing to his High Lord, "You are a coward Tamlin. You always have been and if you think you can use fear as a form of control then you are an idiot. There is a reason the Night Court has seen little rebellion because they rule with genuine love and concern for their subjects. I am going to my mate and I am going to fix the wrongs you have made." Tamlin looked forlorn and I did not miss the desperate sorrow in his eyes that he quickly covered as he spat at his old friends feet. Beron stood up then, "You will not join the Night Court. Not while I or any of your brothers live. You will fight along side us or the same will happen to you as happened to your petty lover." The entire room stilled then and if it hadn't been for the enforced wards I swear Lucien would have ripped out the males throat. Eris laughed and I wasn't entirely sure who he was laughing at until he turned to his father, "You can't order him around though. Can you? You aren't his father. In fact he has no blood connection to you at all. It took me a while to figure it out, in fact I only realised because I heard Rhys and his beloved mate talking about it but it seems that the Day Court will not live without an heir." Beron froze and I swore the Lady of Autumn had actually shrunk, curling into herself to get out of sight of her mate. Across the room Helion looked like he'd just been hit by an avalanche and Lucien's expression was not all that different.

I coughed and stood up, "Well it seems that our thoughts have been said and our sides decided. I think we'll leave you to... sort this out although if the Lady of Autumn wouldn't mind joining us, I would rather you didn't kill her Beron." I walked forwards and took her from the High Lord of Autumn's side before he could stop me and gestured for everyone to leave the room. Apart from those involved in the. Discovery.

We all went our separate ways then. Kallias, Thesan, Tarquin and Tamlin back to their respective courts and Viviane followed closely behind her mate, saying as she went, "I better make sure he doesn't remove all my rights before I have a chance to gather at least a few thousand troops." I consolingly touched her shoulder and Mor hugged her before she winnowed away.

Whew that was a long one. Sorry it took so long, inspiration was running low but I think I have a vague idea of what I want to happen next, there are going to be some pretty large time jumps in the future but I will try and keep them to a minimum for the moment.

Also thank you so much for 2k reads, this is all happening so fast but you all have my thanks and gratitude for taking the time to read this story Xx