A Court of Spring and Stars

Chapter One

~48ish years ago

Sometimes being right was not as fun as people made it out to be. Elanor and Rhysand found that out the hard way, probably the hardest of ways if they were being honest with themselves. This party was not about forgiveness or starting fresh or any of the other promises the female had made to the citizens of Prythian. It was a trap, just as they had suspected. A trap in which she stripped them of what made them high lords and in her case, a high lady.

Amarantha sat on her throne and looked out at her audience. She had just proclaimed herself Queen of Prythian and looked very smug about it. Elanor hated smugness on principle, but that was a matter for another time. She tied their power to her and left them with scraps of what power they had. The woman sat on her throne and the only sound that could be heard was the clink of her ring against the arm of the chair. "Peace can be had between all of us if only the High Lord of Spring agrees to be my consort and lover here Under the Mountain." She proclaimed, her voice having a sickening saccharine quality to it that made Elanor's stomach turn in disgust.

The female eventually got up from her throne and made her way to the Spring lord to take his hand. Tamlin had backed away as if the mere thought of her touched burned his skin. He proclaimed rather loudly in front of everyone assembled "I would sooner take a human to my bed, marry a human woman, than I would ever touch you." He growled softly. That probably could have been laughed off except that he had decided to take it further. "Even your own sister preferred a human to you. She chose a human man over you."

Amarantha looked down at the high lord and smirked slightly. "I'm feeling generous this evening, the mood of the party must have gotten to me. I'm going to let you take that back. Simply apologize and agree to my proposal and you can have all of your power back. Just you of course, but that is better than nothing now isn't it?"

Tamlin spat in her face and she laughed at that. "Fine you think you can really get a human to love you? I will give you seven times seven years to find a human woman to marry you. Now this can't just be any human woman, no only the best will do for my favorite high lord. She must be a human woman with ice in her heart, a certain amount of hatred for our kind. So much so that she would willing and gladly kill a faerie. One of your's of course. It's only fair after all. Then she can be brought her and you can woo her to your heart's content. That way you can know my pain and my sister's pain."

A bargain had been made and rejected and during that exchange she had noticed several things at the exact same time. The first thing she noticed was the Spring lord's temper, this she already knew about and had experienced but she did not think he realized how much trouble he had allowed his temper to get them all into. He had a point, there was no denying it. What had been done to Lucien, his friend and emissary was terrible. No one had deserved that, but Amarantha wasn't the type to care about that. She did have a ring made out of a human's eye so that wasn't so surprising. What was with this female and taking eyes? The second thing she noticed was that all too familiar look between the female and the lord of Spring. They were mates and he wasn't about the accept that and therefore an insult was given. The insult that he would rather take a human woman as a lover than her. Then lastly Elanor noticed Amarantha's gaze turn to her mate. She knew what this would possibly mean for the two of them so they made their promises down the bond.

Two promises were made between them in that moment. The first was to not mention the Court of Dreams. That would be taken to the grave. There was a reason they had only shown Amarantha the Court of Nightmares in the first place. They knew that their friends would keep the city safe and keep the steward of the Court of Nightmares under control. The second was that they would survive and make their way back to each other, no matter what it took and that whatever they would have to endure for the next forty nine years would not be held against them.

As this was happening Amarantha gave Tamlin his bargain. He had seven time seven years to find a human woman to love him for who he was, stone heart and all. His face would be shielded by the masks the Spring Court wore to the ball. The entire court would wear these masks until the time of the curse being broken, otherwise they would remain this way forever and Tamlin would be hers and rule beside her Under the Mountain. In the meantime she would take Rhysand, the High Lord of the Night Court as her consort. He would warm her bed until Tamlin came to his senses and accepted her. The very thought made Elanor's stomach churn, but she kept quiet knowing that making a scene would only make everything worse. Then Amarantha turned to her and began to speak as if she was giving her some sort of kindness by sending her away. She was to go to Spring and help Tamlin and Lucien locate this miracles human woman as well as try to make Tamlin lovable enough. Basically the entire fate of the world rested on her ability to work with the male she hated more than anything and make him fit for female company. Wonderful.

Somehow she was given a last moment with her mate before she was whisked away to Spring. They remade their promises the only way they knew how. A tattoo appeared on each of their left arms, a promise that they would do what it took to survive and to find each other again. Goodbyes were said and then she winnowed away, the only remnant of the power she once held.