A Court of Death || ACOTAR

79

Cassian could not stop thinking about what he had seen Astryn do in the battle at Adriata. The amount of power—Fae power—she unleashed wasn't surprising. She inched out even Rhys in that department even if they all never talked about it. No, it wasn't that that alarmed him.

He remembered the feeling of that blast of pure Death rushing past him, brushing over him as it shot at its intended target. He had watched the life drain from the Hybern soldier he had been fighting. The male hadn't even had time to scream. One moment, he had been striking out to block a blow from Cassian, and the next he was a corpse on the ground. And that crash of swords and shields and bodies dropping as every Hybern soldier in sight died...Cassian didn't think he had ever seen anything so catastrophic.

He knew exactly what sparked it. He had heard the things a Hybern soldier who slipped through the group of Summer Court soldiers and Illyrians fighting to keep the area secure. He had heard those vile words, and he looked back at Astryn and he could hardly find any remains of his friend. Her eyes gleaned with death and emptiness until she suddenly snapped out of it, the power drained completely. For only a split second, he hadn't been sure if he should catch her or not when she wavered on her feet and he knew she was going to fall. He wondered if that death power might kill him on contact if it hadn't all been expelled. He caught her anyway.

He hadn't wanted to hand her off to Azriel, but he had done it anyway. Since then, he hadn't seen her much. Whatever she did with that burst of death power had exhausted her. Her power was back to full capacity, but she was tired.

The sound of the weapons and shields and bodies dropping echoed through his mind again, and then Astryn's voice, so small and drained. I'm tired, Cass.

He was proud of her for what she did, for how much she contributed after showing up barefoot in nothing but a nightgown entirely on her own. He was proud of her, but he was terrified for her, terrified of what the Hybern soldiers who survived would go back and tell their King. That King who still wanted her to make heirs with the power in her blood and body. He would only want her more.

He found himself gravitating towards her bedroom. He listened for a few seconds, and the even, steady breaths he heard let him know she was sleeping. He quietly opened the door and peeked in, if only to confirm to himself that she was still there. He eased the door closed again and turned almost right into Azriel.

"Shit," he exclaimed, "don't sneak up on me like that, Az."

"What are you doing?" Azriel asked, jerking his head towards the door as if to make it extra clear that he was talking about peeking into Astryn's bedroom. "She's sleeping, Cass. She needs sleep."

"I had to check on her," Cassian muttered with a shrug, "I was just...you didn't see it like I did, okay? I had to check on her."

"I saw the corpses," Azriel said after a moment, "they looked like they had been dead for weeks. And she said she was sent straight to Death's realm when she lost consciousness. She came back quickly. He told her a little bit about how much power Nesta stole from him, how it impacted him."

"Is he..." Cassian trailed off, fearing Death might have a grudge against Nesta Archeron.

"No," Azriel dismissed, knowing exactly what Cassian was thinking, "no. The only reason it was his power she reached was because he offered up a sliver of it anyway, just as Elain was offered sight. She took more than he offered, but he was unsurprised, apparently. He holds no ill will towards Nesta, I promise."

"Thank you," Cassian breathed, shoulders losing some tension. "Have you had the chance to talk to Astryn about coming with us to the High Lord's meeting? I think it would help ease tensions with Tarquin, and I know Helion is already as certain of an ally as there is but he'll become a tad bit more certain if she's there reminding him. And she has a way of keeping Eris at least a little bit in line, which I've just realized is suitable with the monster charmer thing she has going. Maybe she could get Tamlin to fight Hybern too if she's so good at taming beasts."

Azriel gave him a sharp look and he held his hands up in surrender.

"I plan to speak with her after she wakes up. She has been resting since...everything. Whatever she did with that death power drained her terribly."

Cassian nodded his understanding before carefully moving to the next subject, "I know she told Rhys she would talk to Nesta about coming to the High Lord's meeting too, but I don't think she should do it. I think the battle—the fact that her sister walked into that battle and the war is real and here now...I think that might sway her. Any convincing any of us try to do is more likely to have the opposite than intended effect."

Azriel nodded,and then Cassian slipped away. Azriel stepped into Astryn's room, shutting—and locking—the door behind himself so no one could peek in and risk waking her. She had been asleep for a long time already, but he was determined to make sure she slept uninterrupted until her body was ready to wake. He wouldn't even let anyone wake her if she slept through the meeting in two days.

He stayed there with her and stood guard as she slept, and he tried not to wonder what it may have been like to witness when she struck out with the death power.