A Court of Love and Healing {ACOTAR}

Mothers and Babies

Notes:

TW for non-con (not by the MCs), gore, and trauma. --Sangravah scene--

Nyx whines and cries as Feyre bounces him on her hip, the boy chewing on his chubby fist, drool dripping down his arm. "C'mon baby, I know...I know. She swallows, bustling into the hallway and down the stairs in her ankle-length navy-blue nightgown, storming into Rhys's office.

"Rhys."

"Mmh?", he mumbles, barely sparing a glance as he looks over some letters—most likely about the Queens and such from the other Courts, as well as Jurian and Eris.

Nyx wails and flails, reaching for his father. Feyre grimaces as he cries into her ear, cradling him closer to keep a hold of the squirming babe.

Rhys finally looks up and his brow crinkles as he gets up from his chair and scoops up Nyx, murmuring softly in his arched ear as he cries, but calms ever so slightly.

"I'm sorry", he says, looking at Feyre and pulling her gently into his other side, kissing her head. "I'm here. I'm paying attention now."

Tears spring to her eyes and she buries her face in his chest, exhausted. "He's teething. He's in pain and I don't know how to help him. Please...can—can you please heal him?"

Rhys rubs her back and sighs worriedly. "Unfortunately I cannot heal inner pain, darling. Only cuts and scrapes or worse."

"Then get Lucien here to do it. Mind-link him. Please. I-I'm too tired to focus on holding that magic right now."

"Feyre, darling, Nyx is a healthy boy who is teething. We cannot always take away every small thing that ails him. He will never learn how to endure if we do that."

"Rhysand", she growls. "He is my son and I won't have him in pain."

"He is my son too, and I won't have him coddled. I wasn't, and I was stronger because of it. Because my mother knew that sometimes a little pain or a few harsh punishments grows character and strength. This is Prythian, Feyre. Not the mortal lands. He is going to have to grow up and be a fighter one day. He's an Illyrian male."

Her lip curls and tears fall down her tired face. "He's just a baby right now. Not a grown male, not a warrior, and not the heir. Right now he is just our baby. You can treat him as such as that won't make him weak, Rhys."

He sighs and cuddles the small boy whose eyes flutter closed, silence finally falling around the room.

"I won't allow you to treat him like he's just some warrior. Like he's just another...", she trails off, her heart lurching at what she was about to say.

"Another what, Feyre?"

She forces herself to look into the deep blue depths of his eyes, her paler blue ones still teary. "Another soldier. Warrior. Brute. Just because he's Illyrian doesn't mean that he doesn't have feelings or want to feel love and comfort. It doesn't mean that he was only bred to be a brute. Neither were Cassian or Azriel. They have siphons so that can control their magic; because they don't want to be killing machines. They want to be people, Rhys, people. Illyrians are our people", she says weakly. "Nyx's people. Your brothers' people. Your mother's people, despite the horror she faced from them. They cannot be all bad. I know that many--most--of the males that live there are awful and that's part of the problem and the stigma around them. They're still clipping females, Rhys. Nesta was talking to me about Emerie and what she went through and that shouldn't have happened. You told me you had laws in place."

"W-We do have laws in place. Clipping is banned."

"Which may be true but are any of us actually enforcing the ban? Cassian and Azriel go there least often as possible because of their own trauma. They aren't enforcing it because those males are the ones that hurt them too. Even if they aren't afraid of them, I'm sure it dredges up trauma. And...fuck, Rhys. Nesta's daughter has wings", she chokes out. "And she had a point, wh-what if she wasn't related to me? What if her little girl had to grow up in Illyria? What...?", she sobs softly. "There are little girls like my niece that will be targeted there. And it shouldn't have taken Nesta getting pregnant with a little Illyrian girl for either of us to see what was still going on. Illyria is part of our Court. We need to do better. We should have the moment we heard about Emerie. She has been a better sister to Nesta than I have, and...and the failings of this Court is why she was clipped and beaten by her horrific father. I am sure you had too much going on when it happened, or maybe your father was even High Lord at the time. But it's no longer acceptable."