A Court of Bastards [ACOTAR]

Chapter 50

As she'd expected, Bella and Dan leapt at the chance to accompany her to Autumn. Though her cousin was far from fully healed, the aim of the mission was secrecy, not combat - with any luck, Fiona could get into the Forest House safely enough by herself, and escape with the other two quickly and quietly once she'd spoken to her father.

Father.

Fiona had been so wrapped up in actually getting Xander to agree to the mission, that she hadn't quite comprehended what she'd signed herself up for. Flying under the cover of night, with the faint silhouette of patchwork forests and fields beneath their feet, her insides began to twist at the prospect of the man she flew towards.

How would she stand before him, now that she knew? Could she call him uncle, and act as though nothing had changed - as though her feelings for him were confined to simple, two-dimensional hatred?

No. Eris had taught her to lie, but she wasn't that good. 

And what of the prophecy? Elain's face came swimming into view, followed by a gaunt conjuring of Eris as the Dead Red King, his crown slanted atop a gleaming white skull. Perhaps he was dead already - perhaps Aidan had got to him, or Keir had found the perfect way to cover his tracks. Fiona paled at the prospect of walking through the doors of the Forest House to find a set of beady black eyes and that sickle-shaped birthmark beneath the crown.

Calm. She had to stay calm and focused - the Autumn Court was a pack of wolves, trained to scent fear. Fiona had no choice but to bury her doubts as deep as they could go.

Though the task became all the more difficult when Bella began her descent, flying them low enough to scan the terrain. Pin pricks of light became roaring fires, smouldering woodland in little pockets through the territory, and here and there they could spot the ashen remains of buildings in the dark. 

Fiona felt the tension build among the trio. And her doubts only worsened when they eventually reached the Forest House to find it unguarded. No sentries marched the perimeter, nor were Beron's hounds anywhere to be seen.

"I have a truly terrible feeling about his." Riordan mumbled.

Steeling herself, Fiona pointed to a copse of trees a short distance from the entrance. "Can you get us down there?" she asked Bella. With a curt nod they were speeding for the ground, the eerie silence all-encompassing in the woodland, as though even the critters were hiding.

Once on the ground, Fiona fixed her companions with a firm look. "I'll go in alone," she announced, immediately dismissing Riordan with a flick of her hand when he began to protest. "That's a non-negotiable. Eris will never let enemy fae into his home, so our only shot is to make it look as though I've come by myself."

"I really don't like this, Fiona." Bella muttered, glancing at the distant lights of the Forest House through the canopy. 

"Neither do I," she admitted. "But I'll run at the first sign of trouble - I know all the escape routes, and I reckon I could guess the border of the winnow-ward to the millimetre," she joked, flashing them a weak smile.

Riordan and Bella exchanged a glance, clearly unconvinced.

"We'll be here." she nodded. "If you need a hand, make a racket." The Illyrian reached for her hand in the shadows, giving it a squeeze. "We'll come running."

Fiona attempted a grateful smile that ended up more like a grimace. With a deep breath, she turned away from the anxious faces of her friends, and set her sights on the Forest House, forcing her feet to tread the path toward to her childhood - back to her family, and the world she'd spent a lifetime running from.