The Spymaster's Assassin (An ACoTaR Fanfic)

Chapter 46

It was only a few days later that we discovered that not only did Feyre's sisters have new looks and immortality, but now had powers of their own. I had spent more and more time in the library, and thus with Nesta, who sat on a sofa and ignored me for the most part, but I didn't mind. Azriel was busy with Cassian fixing Velaris and doing various other jobs. And so, I was sitting with my book, and a bitter Nesta.

"Feyre once told me she thought the two of us would get along." I said finally and looked up from my book, the silence becoming uncomfortable.

Her silver-blue eyes flicked up from her book and studied me with a look of disdain. "Did she?"

I nodded. "Yes. And you haven't run away from me yet, so I almost think you do like at least some part of me. You don't give anyone else attention. Can I tell you a story?"

She sighed heavily. "I was reading one of my own, but I suppose you can." She said and slipped a paper into her spot and dropped the book on the sofa by her feet.

I set my book down and said, "Feyre, when she was taken and came to Prythian, stayed at first in the Spring Court. She made a deal with Tamlin to save you and your sister. She then was captured by Amarantha and arrived Under the Mountain. I had been there about twenty years by then. She was given a cell across from mine, and she told me that what she was doing was worth it, because she loved Tamlin and this new world she resided in. Then, when Amarantha killed her, it was Rhysand who begged the other High Lords to band together and heal her. To bring her back. It was Rhysand who hurt as Tamlin held her limp body. And then she woke up, a Fae, and with a kernel of power from each of the seven High Lords of Prythian. You see, she was an exceptionality."

I straightened a bit more, flexing my wings. "However, Tamlin never truly understood or appreciated who she was turned into, so, ultimately, he locked her up, and Mor and I saved her from Spring Court and brought her here, where she discovered Rhys to be her mate. There was a lot of hesitation on her part, funnily enough. They're inseparable now. And then, when Velaris was attacked, she defended it. Our home. Feyre is the most selfless person I know, and one of my closest friends. I'd do anything for her. And she loves you and Elain dearly, so that means you are family here."

"If this story is you trying to convince me to like you, it's not working." Nesta said dryly, looking at me coldly. "You seem to forget that you were the one with the opportunity to keep my sister and I from going into that Cauldron. But you didn't."

I clenched my jaw. "No. I didn't." I say.

"Why not?"

"Because it's better this way." I said.

"How is this better? I'm a-"

"Nesta." I snapped. "When I was in Spring Court with Feyre, before we returned, where I was cursed to have an expedited pregnancy, and we both were almost killed, I learned several things. Not only just when and how Hybern planned to attack the Wall, but where he'd end up first. Your home town. Your house. It would be destroyed. Hybern doesn't intend to take prisoners. You, Elaine, and your father would be dead."

She stood up. "I'm a prisoner here! I'm no allowed to go anywhere outside the House, and I am not allowed to do much more that sit around all day! You've never been a prisoner before, so don't try to relate with me!"

I clenched my jaw, then met her eyes with a hard glare. "No. I've never been prisoner in a castle, where I have food, warmth, books to read, and fresh clothes every day and family that cares for me. No, I have never been in a prison where I was safe, free of torture or rape, and I have never been in a prison where my life was not constantly in danger." I stood up slowly from the sofa and met her cold stare harshly, coming to stand a few inches taller than her. "I was, however, in a prison for a hundred years where I was passed around and raped, beaten, and sold to the highest bidder. Then, I was in another prison for twenty years in the darkness, where I lay in my own vomit and refuse and only came out of that dank cell to be forced to work, or be tortured, or forced to fight to the death and kill in an arena for sport. So no, Nesta Archeron. I have never been in a prison like the one you are in now. Believe me, you know nothing of suffering."