Novalunosis: An ACOTAR Second Generation Story

Chapter 15: Accismus

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Accismus (origin: Greek)— a form of irony in which a person feigns indifference to or pretends to refuse something he or she desires.

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TW: Discussion of Catrin's work in this chapter. Please see story details for full trigger warnings.

Also... spice.

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They winnowed straight to the Spring Court, vanishing their wings within the first few moments of being in Tamlin's territory. Catrin shrugged on a thick tan coat over her dress and threw on a navy hat, attempting to better blend into mortal fashion. Nyx wore a cream cable knit sweater, black pants, a black coat, and was donning his glasses.

"What's with those?" Catrin asked, suspiciously. He usually limited his use of the glasses to reading.

"Think about it, they are the perfect way to fit in. Why would any fae where glasses? It would just be idiodic for them to not magically fix their eyes," he responded. He gave her a quick wink as she rolled her eyes, trying to hold back a smile.

Their journey from the Spring Court to the village was quick. What took mortals two days to trek only took them a matter of seconds as they winnowed just outside the village. To be cautious, they walked the short distance through the woods to reach the inn. Catrin was trying to focus on the mission ahead but her mind kept drifting back to her conversation with Nell and Leila from the day before. She had been biting her lip, eyebrows furrowed in contemplation as she felt herself start to spiral, overthinking the situation. It was a lot simpler when she thought Nyx and Karoline were together. They could have feigned a relationship knowing perfectly well that it wasn't a possibility. Now, this was distracting her from the mission.

"How are you feeling?" Nyx asked suddenly, pulling her from her thoughts.

"Me?" she asked, surprised by his question. "I am fine. I should be asking you that." She paused shortly. Eyebrows still furrowed, slowly changing from an expression of introspection to concern.

"How are you feeling? This is going to be very different from speaking with Aila." She looked towards him, analyzing his face as he responded.

"I'm fine," he replied. "I know this is going to be tough, but you have prepared me." He turned to meet Catrin's gaze before continuing, "I trust you." It took all of Catrin's strength to not react. Not knowing how to respond, she quickly changed the subject.

"You haven't spent too much time in the mortal realm, right?" she asked as she looked ahead, carefully following the discrete, tree-lined path. She knew the answer to this already, his parents had told her as much but, this was a good distraction. She admittedly was also curious about his past.

"I haven't been too often, but I've been before," he replied casually, pointing to his glasses. "Remember?"

"Right," she could feel her restless nature continue to increase as they walked. "What brought you there?" She tried to keep her voice steady but her anxiety was rising. There was no reason she couldn't have a normal conversation with him. They were friends. Absolutely nothing was different between yesterday and today.