A Court of Distrust and Darkness

Gathering

Nyx's point of view:
I got a swift kick to the chest which sent me sprawling on my back. My suit was rumpled as I gave a cough of surprise. Two Illyrian warriors were staring down at me from where I rounded the counter. Their weapons were strapped over their backs between their wings. I didn't wear a weapon as I didn't need to for this event. Lorcán and Rainer were smiling smugly down at me from where they had surprised me around the corner. While the twin Illyrians are my cousins, they were more like my brothers in every sense.

They looked like my uncle Cassain with broad
shoulders and wild black hair, but the blue grey eyes so unlike Illyrians was their only trait from their mother. They both were identical but their hair showed their differences. Lorcán's hair is long and had unkempt black locks, while Rainer's was barely forehead length. Rainer swept it back out of his face but it was styled much neater than his brother. I smiled as I settled myself on the floor and said, "Look what the braxis dragged in."

Lorcán offered me a hand with a wide grin saying, "I hope to the cauldron that the braxis didn't drag us in. Father still gets shaky every time he sees the damn thing." He pulled me to my feet before I clapped Rainer on the shoulder and said, "How was the bastards up at the camps?"

Lorcán shrugged before Rainer said, "Same as always. Mocking our dirty blood, admiring and envying our strength, and distastefully ignoring poor Davina." Lorcán nodded as they accompanied me on my walk.

Their wings had to be tightened into their body's to fit with all three of us walking in the halls. Mine were fortunately glammered away with only a fragment of my power used. I looked them over before I asked, "How is Davina?" Davina was their little sister and the most stubborn hard headed Illyrian warrior since the dawn of time. So much like Cassian but looked so much like their mother. The tiny thing wouldn't be thought of as any threat until she takes her wings and ensnares her opponent with them and smashed her knee into their face.

Lorcán snorted and said, "Still stirring up trouble that we have to fix." Rainer nodded in agreement. I shook my head but still found it amusing. Her brothers loved her dearly and she trained hard to make herself as good as she is, but she made her brothers jobs to help run the camps a nightmare. Taking orders from family without question was never her style.

I nodded and said, "Remind me to put her with Asteria as punishment." The boys chuckled at that. Rainer, the ever silent yet sharp witted of the twins, said, "They'd probably destroy each other." Lorcán nodded with a chuckle. My younger sister was more high fae than I was, and while she didn't possess wings like my other siblings and I, that didn't mean she wasn't crafty enough for it to be a disadvantage.

While Davina was bold and aggressive, Asteria had always thought threw her actions and had a strong sense of self preservation. She reminded me of Amren, but quieter and a bit gentler. Speaking of siblings, I heard them above, no doubt getting ready for the event we were supposed to be at already. That's why everyone was all under one roof.

    The inner circle and their children were all gathered and despite the sheer number of our groups, it was relatively quiet. I was guessing it was because of Nesta who said if one child stepped a toe out of line she'd send them to train with the Valkyries for a month. She was the leader of the Valkyries so I didn't doubt she would do it.

   I entered the large hall my mother had construct for these events before I saw my mother and father. Both stood clinging to each other as they always do. My fathers wings protectively around her back which was out of her sightline, while my mother stood with her shoulder ever so slightly in front of his heart. Mutual protection and so loving in return. Though despite knowing my mother was fully capable of handling herself, I knew in every fiber of my being that I would jump in the way before either of them would be harmed.