A Court of Shadows and Lies / ACOTAR FF

Chapter 55

--- Jez POV ---

"You know, for a mighty Goddess, Mother's plan is stupid," Celeste hissed. My sisters had made their way into my bedroom, all seven of them lounging on my sprawling purple sheets. I was sat against the headboard, twiddling my thumbs, while my family stared at me, dumbfounded, at what I had told them. "She wants to hold a party?"

"Yup," I nodded, grabbing the large spare pillow to my right and hugging it against my body. "She thinks it'll be a good idea to throw one of our parties."

"That is pretty silly," Etta echoed, combing through Mabel's bird nest of hair. "The last time we did that, Elspeth nearly destroyed the north wing."

"I did not," Els whined. "It was that stupid High Lord-"

"Sisters," Ori murmured, massaging her temples, "I...I am actually at a loss for words at the moment and I don't need some fucking bickering-"

"Ori swore!" Niamh exclaimed, giddy. Oriana didn't look remotely enthused by the outburst, making my youngest sister fall back onto the bed, wrapping herself in the duvet. "With all seriousness, I'm not entirely sure what that is meant to achieve."

"But also, the fact that she was in a human body," Mabel mused, "and that her daughters essentially killed it, has made my day."

"Have you heard of The Council?" I asked Sif, who was lost in her thoughts. She turned to me, her eyes empty momentarily before blinking into the present. She shrugged, toying with the corner of the duvet.

"Not as far as I'm aware, I haven't even met father, let alone aunts and uncles," she murmured. "Does she refer to aunts and uncles as familial? Or those who are close to her?"

"How would I know?" I asked her, she shrugged.

"Did she say anything about Coventina?" Sif murmured. I shook my head.

"No, she didn't," I whispered. "Do you think the other Gods and Goddesses know?"

"They have to," Elspeth argued. "There's no way in all the continents, worlds and beyond that they wouldn't know about Coventina."

I stared at Elspeth and nodded in agreement. "Do you think they know about Vorkalth's dad?"

All seven of my sisters stopped what they were doing, Etta's comb was held still in Mabel's hair. I had certainly caught their attention. Several pairs of eyes landed on me, concern etched in every muscle and grit. They knew something that I hadn't, or found out something that had contradicted everything I mentioned to Mother.

Sif tilted her head cautiously, trying her best to articulate the next words that left her lips.

"You mentioned this last week," she asked slowly, her back straightening. "Elspeth did some digging."

"And?" I urged, squeezing the pillow close to me.

"He's awake, Jez," Els said slowly, "he's coming to the party. He doesn't slumber."

Dread filled every inch of my body, remembering the conversation with Vorkalth. Someone else was sat on the throne. "He does," I whispered, lifting my palm up into the air. With ease, my magic flowed through me and into my fingers, a golden projection of figures hovering above my hand.

"The darkness has been growing everywhere," Vorkalth's voice boomed in my room, his face mere millimetres from my own. "Ever since The Last Deity War, and he has slept since. My father has slept and yet you threw me in here, throwing away my birth right. You would have ruled with me, and I would have fucked you until your heart's content."

"Does a Stygian sit where your father sits?" I asked Vorkalth, my voice small and scared. I hadn't felt the shiver in my tone but it was there, clear. A female without her magic, nothing to protect herself while Azriel was momentarily incapacitated. Gods, had I been stupid, full of myself, thinking that I could walk into his cell and get information.