Wildfire and Stars Eternal

Chapter 40: The Celebration

"I didn't think we'd ever get rid of him," I said as I shut the door in Rowan's face. "Although to be fair, you did just put him through hell... again."

Aelin waved a hand nonchalantly. "Rowan will live. Besides, he can go compare weapons or something with your bat boys. We women have a much more enjoyable task." 

"I mean, not really," Mor said from where she was sprawled across the bed. "We all know Feyre is going to be wearing her drop-dead gorgeous gown. Me, I've had my gown picked out for months." She raised her head to look over at Amren, who was sitting on the armchair next to Aelin, a book in her hand. "Amren's probably going to wear what she's wearing now." 

Amren scowled at Mor. "For your information, Morrigan, I bought new clothes just for this occasion. And besides-" She waved a hand dismissively, looking back at her book. "My accessories more than make up for it." 

I couldn't help but smile as Mor groaned and dropped her head back against the covers. "You're no fun, Amren." 

Amren just shrugged. Aelin sighed melodramatically. 

"Well, seeing as I'm a bit of an uninvited guest, and most of my wardrobe is a literal world away, I  still need to find something suitable." She looked over at me, eyebrows raised. "Now that I'm thinking of it, what exactly is suitable for this... holiday? Is it a holiday?" 

"Sort of," Mor replied. "You'll understand better when you see it." 

"So everyone keeps telling me," Aelin grumbled. She jumped off the chair and made a beeline for my closet. "I want to see what you're wearing, Feyre." 

"You already have!" I laughed as I followed her inside. "I was wearing it when we first met in our dreams." 

Aelin's mouth formed a small oh. "Well, Mor's right. That dress is drop-dead gorgeous. I'll have to find one to top it, I suppose." She began pushing through the racks of dresses towards the back. For some reason, she stopped when she got to the section of dresses Rhys's mother had made for me. 

She took one of the dresses between her fingers. "Did Rhysand's mother make these?" 

"Yes, she did," I replied slowly. "How could you possibly know that?" 

Aelin smiled sheepishly but didn't answer for a moment. Finally, she turned to me. "I may have snooped around your cabin a little bit while I was there. Rowan and I found a hidden floor inside the wardrobe of one of the bedrooms." 

"You found what?" Mor popped her head inside the room. "What was inside?" 

"Children's books," Aelin said, smiling a bit. "Lots of them. They were from Rhysand's mother." 

"Were they Azura's, or his?" Mor asked softly as she stepped into the closet. I heard Amren get up and follow her inside. 

"Both," Aelin admitted. Mor smiled fondly at a space on the wall, and I knew her mind had gone back in time. 

"I bet I know what books are there," She said. "I'd wondered where those had gone." 

"That doesn't explain how you know these were made by Rhys's mother," I said, reaching out and running my hand over the glittering fabric of my Starfall dress. 

"There were also some dresses in there," Aelin explained. She took the Starfall dress and rubbed her fingers over the seam on the shoulder. "The stitching was similar." 

"How do you even notice something like that?" Amren asked as she finally followed us all into the closet. Aelin shrugged and turned back to my dresses, heading for the opposite wall.