A Court Of Shadow and Blood

☆ Iron Punishment ☆

She brushed Lilith's hair back, singing a soft song that she used to sing for Madalyn when she was younger and would cry. But the girl did not cry; she stayed quiet, as if she'd been trained not to make a sound. Her wings fluttered across the bed as she drifted into a silent, squirming sleep. She had a feeling the girl had never been sung to sleep before.

Feyre inspected her cuts in the quiet of dewy morning, the world outside the window wet and cool. She seemed to have a firm set to her lips, her shoulders strong.

"Are you okay?" she murmured, shifting slightly. Lilith clutched her loose shirt.

Feyre didn't glance up. "I'm fine." Eblis's fingers continued to brush the girl's hair, though she quieted her humming. Feyre proceeded to pull her tunic over her head. "What's going to happen today?"

She sighed. Right. Because she'd broken a prisoner free of their cell, without the Queen's permission. To Hybern, the High Lady of Night had gone missing. And she'd done it.

"Nothing good," she settled on. Lilith butted her head against her chest at that moment, and Eblis had to wonder after the girl. It seemed Lilith had been so touch-starved that she had yet to release Eblis, as if she understood and accepted that Eblis was to be her mother figure by the Queen's command and was too young to fear growing attached to people. Her heart throbbed, then, and she kissed the girl's forehead.

She continued, "I will probably be punished."

"But how could they know it was you who freed me?" Feyre asked, sheathing a few choice knives into her outfit.

"They don't need to know," she replied, "they just need an excuse. A reason to point a finger at me-and I'm sure they'll find it." Eblis wrapped Lilith in a blanket and extricated herself from the girl's grasp, similarly beginning to clothe and armor herself as Feyre did. Her Spymaster's armor slipped over her like a second skin, the metal monochrome black, the cape an even darker shade. Her hair had grown just long enough over her month in Velaris that she pulled as much as she could into a short puff of a ponytail. She covered the darkness beneath her eyes with a fine powder, masking her sleepless night of staring at Lilith and questioning how this day was going to pan out.

"I'm most likely going to be whipped," Eblis said into the quiet.

Feyre nodded with a grimace, as if realizing the full implications of her words. "And I will have to watch."

"You will have to do nothing," she added. She checked her weapons. "Stay in the shadows and do not break free of them no matter what. A prisoner going missing is one thing, but to allow that prisoner into her throne room is a completely different situation."

Feyre's eyes closed, but she nodded again nonetheless.

Eblis sighed, turning to watch Lilith sleep fitfully. She added, after a few moments, "A few of my spies have made it back to Hybern. Imillion and Requeza are already aware of the basics. Are you sure you want the rest of them to know?"

"You can trust them, Eblis." Feyre placed a hand on her shoulder-the first time they'd touched since...since they'd shook hands, picking a gift out for Elain. "From what I've seen, they're all incredibly loyal to you."

"Yes." She mulled over the words, but both her shadows and Imillion chose that moment to warn her of someone coming to her room. Eblis pushed the Peregryn away before waving a hand to Feyre with a silent warning. The female was thus whipped into darkness.

Eblis picked up Lilith, careful of her wings, and set her upon her High Lady's cot the same moment her door popped open. She stood and faced the newcomer.

"Anastasia."

"General-Spymaster."

They both stared at the other, one dressed in armor, and the other in a fine green mess of tulle and chiffon. Far too grand for a handmaiden's gown.