A Court of Lies and Secrets | ACOTAR fanfic [Girl x Girl]

Inanimate Emotions

I wake up the next morning to find Renae's hands pressing into my shoulders. Her voice calling my name and gently easing me into consciousness.

"What's going on?"

Through the open door I can hear rushed footsteps around the house and raised voices full of worry and my mind jumps to the worse possibly scenarios before she can reply.

"Long story short, Iagan and Ginerva kidnapped a few of the humans and burned the camps into nothing but ash. Most of them are fine, few deaths and even fewer were taken." I sit upright the second Iagan's name is mentioned but my sleep dazed state isn't good for processing such news.

Those foul monsters couldn't possibly have done this out of spite, surely not?

Afraid so. Seems like Mommy and Daddy dearest aren't happy about their little girl's return. They hold grudges like children. Her voice echos around my mind. Speaking through the bond is much easier to take in information.

How do you know it's them?

They left a note nailed into one of the skulls of a human. An image of the mangled human corpse appears in my mind. Ropes around it's body tie it against a tent pole and blood drips from every cut and wound. The attack so severe I couldn't even tell whether the body is man or woman. A small note flaps against their head, blood seeping onto the paper and dripping from the metal in their head. The note reads:

Don't break Montesere rules again.

It was aimed for me. Ren's voice cold with guilt. I pull her into a hug and spend a few moments reassuring her that it was nowhere near her fault. My words completely useless considering every court member has probably said the same thing plenty of times and the sun has barely risen.

She goes on to tell me how Rhys and Feyre are planning how to retrieve the stolen humans from Iagan and Ginerva as soon as possible and preferably before too many can find out.

The unharmed humans are safely held in the one camp Montesere didn't burn to the ground and some families were even allowed to stay in the few finished houses built in the new village.

It was only a matter of time before another attack on the humans, but taking some of them hostage is taking it a bit far.

Ren escorts me into a room filled with the Night court members including Lucien, Jurian and Vassa who are all involved with the humans and their camps.

As we walk closer toward the door, the volume of their shouts increase with every step. The unknown voices must be one of the human's protectors, no doubt furious about the terrible protection and guilty about not doing more.

We enter and nobody acknowledges due to Rhys and Lucien practically battling it out over the large circular table that fills up most of the room. Vassa, Jurien and Feyre are arguing in a corner whilst Nesta screams her opinions louder than any of them to nobody in particular.

"This looks like it's going well." Ren mumbles to Azriel who has to stick out a hand every now and then to Cassian, stopping him from sticking an Illyrian blade between either Jurian or Lucien's eyes.

"They haven't stopped screaming at each other since sunrise." He replies, showing no interest in stopping them. He seems exhausted from their arguments, like when Adara has to spend days or weeks listening to the youngsters argue.

"Rhys mentioned stopping the construction of the village to get as many fae into Montesere as possible, Lucien disagrees. As for them,"he points in Feyre's direction who is groaning into her palms at whatever Vassa shouted, "Jurian retorted to violence a little earlier than we predicted and Feyre gave him what's what. After that, I have no idea what they're talking about.