Battle Scars

When the night falls

Spring dawned on Velaris. The sun seeped into her bones, her heart, letting it warm her. They had made it through the winter with no movement from Briallyn or Beron, no armies unleashing. But Cassian warned that many armies did not attack in the winter, and Briallyn might have been amassing them in secret. Azriel was forbidden from getting within a few miles of her, thanks to the threat of the Crown, and any reports had to be verified by multiple sources. In short: they knew nothing, and could only wait. The mood hadn't been helped by a rare red star blasting across the sky one day—an ill omen, Nesta had heard the priestesses muttering. Cassian reported that even Rhys had been rattled by it, seeming unusually contemplative afterward. But Eve suspected that the omen wasn't the only thing contributing to Rhys's solemnity. Feyre was only two months from giving birth, and they still knew nothing about how to save her.

It was all very disturbing but an impatient, demanding letter that requested her presence immediately helped Eve take her mind off the ongoings in Velaris. Eris was waiting for her and Cassian when they arrived in a forest clearing nestled in the Middle. Eve's first glance was stolen by the entrance of a cave behind the Lordling- the cave in which Rhys and others had spent years being prisoners.

"Have you never seen it?" Eris asked by way of greeting, tracking her stare. "No." She looked away from the unnerving peak. "Why is it sacred to you?" Eris shrugged. "There are three of them, you know. Sister peaks. This one, the mountain called the Prison, and the one the Illyrian brutes call Ramiel. All bald, barren mountains at odds with those around them."

"We didn't come for a history lesson," Cassian muttered. He had insisted he come with her since she had absolutely refused to let Azriel come with her. Him and Eris together would give her a headache enough to last for a week- something she had no wish for.

Eve cut him a look. "I asked. I want to know." Cassian snorted, and jerked his chin to Eris in a silent order to go on. "We don't know why they exist, but do you not find it strange that two out of the three have underground palaces carved into them?" "I'd hardly call the Prison a palace," Cassian cut in. "Just ask the inmates." Eris gave him a mocking smile, but continued, "Unsurprisingly, the Illyrians were never curious enough to see what secrets lie beneath Ramiel. If it, too, was carved up like the others by ancient hands."

"I thought Amarantha made the court Under the Mountain herself," she said. "Oh, she decorated it and made us act like a sorry imitation of the Court of Nightmares, but the tunnels and halls were carved long before. By who, we don't know." "That's all the history I can take," Cassian said, earning a withering glare from Eris. "Your letter seemed to imply that your father was making a move. Out with it."

Eris' face darkened. This is why Eve had indulged his history lesson- to provide them all a moment of casualness before what she suspected would be a dark storm setting in.

"My father went to the continent again last week. He came back seeming normal, without the glassy-eyed aloofness my soldiers displayed. He did not invite me to accompany him, or explain what he discussed with Briallyn. I can only assume the fallout is approaching, though, and wanted to warn you. It was not something I could risk putting in writing. But for now ... for now, it seems as if the world is holding its breath."

"For what?"

"For you to find the Harp." Eve blinked, furrowing her brows as her head tilted to side in confusion. And realized too late, too slowly, that Rhys had not told Eris they'd found it. And that she had given it away. Eris demanded, "You have it?"

"Does it make a difference?" Cassian said casually.

"The Night Court possesses two objects of the Trove. I'd say yes." Eris straightened. "Is that what all these delays have been about? Biding your time so you can learn the Trove's secrets and use the power for your own gains?" Eris was so used to the twisted politics and scheming of his court that even when the simple, easy truth was offered, he would not see it. Eve pitied him. A bit. "I find myself not entirely comfortable with your court possessing two items in the Trove." His gaze shifted to Cassian. "Especially when you have so many other weapons in your arsenal." Made females.