A Court of Fire and Starlight (ACOTAR Fan Fiction)

Unexpected Visits

ASTRA

Astra hadn't left her room for the remainder of the day and night. Sitting in her marble bathtub and soaking until the water chilled to an unpleasant temperature had eased the tension in her muscles from using her magic.

Even upstairs, she had been able to hear the continued argument taking place on the main level. Her father, Azriel, Nyx, and Nesta wanted to indirectly kill Eris and all his remaining brothers, aside from Lucien. For some unknown reason, her father believed that Helion would be more than willing to do it.

Astra's mother, Cassian, and Lucien were much more concerned about the warning she'd relayed from the star-spirit. Though none of them trusted Eris, they argued that he was not as bad as he presented himself to be since they had seen glimpses of a good male on several occasions.

Murmured words of comfort made their way up the stairs from Gwyn, who was trying to reassure Mor that everything would work itself out.

Amren had been silent, and Astra imagined she was bundled up next to the fire contemplating The Prison and oaths.

While most of it further soured her mood, certain parts were entertaining.

At one point, Lucien had yelled about her father now knowing what Tam had felt when he'd discovered the bargain with Feyre Under the Mountain. Astra had to give her uncle credit because not many people had the balls to throw something so obviously hypocritical back in her father's face when he was already enraged.

She'd debated if she should go back down and check to make sure Lucien was still alive but hadn't wanted to face him yet. Her worries had subsided when Elain had brought a tray of steaming hot dinner.

Astra had been pleasantly surprised to discover the reason for Elain's absence in the Dawn Court and at the family meeting earlier.

The scent had overpowered the delicious soup she'd delivered.

Though Elain must have been very early on, there was no mistaking that she was with child. Being anywhere near a potential fight was risky. The fact that she'd ever wanted to enter the bedroom at all had been astonishing since Astra had only further proved her lack of control over her magic.

Astra hadn't been surprised to sense Lucien protectively lurking in the hallway, but Elain had been all smiles and was the only one who seemed to think spending time in Autumn wouldn't be so bad since the scenery was so lovely. She'd even asked if Astra could send back any unique flower seeds and harvest meal recipes.

After dinner, Mor had paid a visit thinking it best to share a more detailed version of the story of her betrothal to Eris. Astra had known the general picture of what had occurred, but she'd never brought the topic up since it seemed to make Mor uncomfortable.

The conversation had been highly unpleasant and made Astra wish she'd been there to see Keir killed after what he had done to his own daughter.

Eris's motives for leaving Mor naked in the woods when he found her after she'd been tortured in the Court of Nightmares were still a mystery, but Astra had every intention of getting the information out of him at some point.

A restless sleep eventually found her after the sun had set, but she'd briefly awoken in the middle of the night to discover her mother asleep next to her in bed.

Privacy seemed to be a thing of the past.

Astra had considered rousing her and kicking her out, but she spotted her father in an armchair next to her bed. He'd pleaded with her in her mind to leave her mother alone. Apparently, she'd been worried that Astra would disappear in the middle of the night and had hardly slept since they'd discovered their children were missing. Astra had simply snorted and rolled over, covering her head with the blanket.