A Court of Heart and Fealty | Rhysand

Chapter 32: The Forest House

Chapter 32: The Forest House

The woods surrounding the Autumn Court were sprawling and rolling like surges in the sea before the maws of water broke apart. From her spot, she could see the top of the Forest House complex, the heart of the court cresting over the treetops. Behind her, on the other side of the dense trees would be the farmlands where most of the lesser fae in this court worked. The modest city lay on the far side of the Forest House, which like the House of Wind, looked over its people. Helion winnowed them as close as he could, just out of sight of the outermost ring of guards. She could already spy the edges of the bridges between the thick trees where they walked through, as silent as owls.

And just as good as hunters.

But she had snuck out of it before, so she could sneak in again. There was a myriad of servant tunnels. The one that Amoise made and used for decades was hidden behind a waterfall, leading right to the halls where her chambers were. If Beron knew of it, he never made it known that he did. Galadriel used it when she helped Lucien escape. The last time she saw him had been as he ran through that water, watching until the smear of his vibrant hair completely disappeared.

"Here." Helion turned her, then waved a hand in front of her face.

Galadriel felt no change, but sense the magic now covering her. A glamour. "What do I look like?"

"Brown hair," he told her. "Brown eyes. Slightly tanned." Perfectly usual traits for a common fae born to this court. "I left your voice the same."

"You're amazing."

Tossing his hair over his shoulder, a smirk wrought across his sharp cheeks. "Well, I can't hear that too many times. I do ask that you owe me something for this though."

Galadriel raised her brows. "Anything."

"The General Commander—you close with him?" Already sceptical of where this was going, she pursed her lips and nodded. Helion grinned. "Brag about me, will you? I know we've never spent time together in that way, but I'm sure you have a vivid imagination of what I'd be like. Morrigan too while you're at it."

Nervous, she couldn't laugh, but let out an airy sound. "Sure, Helion."

"Sunset. Meet here." He stepped back under the shaded belly of a tree with a final nod. The leaves looked like gems hanging from the dark oak arms of a chandelier, shimmering in shades of red and orange and yellow. "I can't risk going anywhere near that place."

Would Rhys?

Shaking those thoughts from her head, Galadriel looked up at the Forest House. She didn't want to know. The forest, as familiar as it was, felt strange as she walked through it. Like seeing someone that you knew for years, but when you see them again, they don't add up to the memory in your mind's eye. The Forest House was guarded against winnowing, the invisible dome ending right where Helion had dropped her off so there was no way for her to even get closer by any way but on foot. When she had snuck out to meet Helion those nights he brought letters, she had been known by the guards then. They let her pass and return without intervention, especially when they knew the Lady of Autumn favoured her.

Now, she spied every branch, listened to every rustle. She could get past the outer rings with a little stealth and wit, but getting past the middle ring, where sentries patrolled across the sloping shingles on the buildings further out, would be a challenge. Galadriel couldn't even take the time to soak in the beauty that she missed—that even the Night Court couldn't stand against.

Using the shade of the trees, tracking the movements of the sentries' patrol, recalling the paths she knew they would take, Galadriel slipped beneath those bridges hanging between the trees unseen. Undetected.