The Son of Night & Spring

Chapter Eighteen

His father wanted blood. His rage seemed endless but Lotus half ignored him, like a parent to a child's tantrum. He was just tired of the ringing in his head and the screaming didn't ease it.

Lotus's thoughts were filled with an ocean of questions. Explanations to her cup filled with answers; leaving him questioning more. The moment he needed them the most, his senses abandoned him.

"We should kill her," Tamlin says, "That crown on her head isn't something to be ignored. For all we know, she's a ruler just like Amarantha- I say we kill her now before she has a chance to kill us."

His Father was afraid.

Lotus could see it in his eyes, the slight line of pale skin on his face from that mask he wore for years.

Perhaps he was afraid of reliving that pain the Queen put him through. Of wearing that mask once more- or maybe he blamed Amarantha for his Mother's leaving. He could see it making sense in Tamlins mind. If Feyre had never gone Under the Mountain, she would have never met Rhysand. A dal would have never been made and she wouldn't have disappeared on their wedding day.
Lotus understands that hidden hate for Rhysand.

But he adores the child the High Lord of Night has blessed him and his Mother with.

Nyx eases that hate into dislike. So he could not side with his Father in this matter.

"I believe you've overlooked your welcome, High Lord of Spring," His aunt Nesta hissed at his name. "This does not concern you, it concerns the Night Court. Which you have no part nor opinion on, so leave and we will handle this."

"We? I never assumed you held any authority in this court, Nesta." His Father snapped back, "The only title you hold is Feyre's pathetic sister."

Cassian growled at Tamlin, "Watch your mouth, beast." Still standing beside his brother, Azriel still having enough energy to glare at his father.

Tamlin's claws grew, "And who are you, bastard, to make demands to me? It's as much my business as it is this court; My son is my business and I get a say in it until the day he stops breathing.

Especially with a threat now targeted at his back, roaming these very walls where he sleeps!"

His aunt and Father wished their looks could kill.

The tension only grows as Cassian stands behind his mate. His eyes dared for Tamlin to make a move towards Nesta.
Lotus growls at Azriel's shadows approaching towards his father, Try it and see what happens.

However before anything happened, Morrgian stepped in between them.

"Boys, boys, let's all be rational about this. We're not each other's enemies, let's calm down and weigh our options. Instead of killing her, couldn't we send her back?"

"How would we do that, oh wise one, how exactly do we do that. Is it even possible-what if she doesn't want to go back. If she decides she prefers to stay here, what then. Since you seem to have all the answers tell how you planned to do this."

Lotus felt like strangling his Father.

He hated deep down that he could be right, what if she didn't want to go back?
Morrgian was a very intelligent woman, but she could lose her temper quickly. At this rate, they'll never come up with a solution.

He held his tongue back at the look of her face. The last thing he wanted is for her to think of him defending her.

Unknowingly, his eyes wandered back to his Rhysand. His Mother knelt by his side, his eyes wide and looking at everything but not being able to see anything. Her voice likely whispering sweet nothing but his focus was elsewhere.

He felt a slight pity for the male.

Finding out that in another world, you fathered a daughter from the womb of your most hated enemy.

However, Lotus was selfish. And the look in Rhysand's eyes gave him all the answers he needed. Rhysand was selfish too. Which was why he uttered the next words, looking straight as his own enemy. "I think she should stay."

He felt a pause from the House Itself.

"She is powerful. More than her Mother, more than all of you combined- perhaps even all of the High lords themselves. Whatever show she performed here, that was as simple as narrowing her eyes. She knows things we don't, weaknesses of ours, secrets we hide-" Nyx, he thinks, "-She's good with her words.'

"All the more reason to get rid of her," His father growled.

"All the more reason to keep her." Lotus hissed back. "I saw it."

"Saw what?"

"She doesn't recognize me. I don't exist in her world." He glanced at his Mother, her trembling hands at the thought of her first baby boy not existing.

He shook the feeling off. The vision she accidentally sent to his head, "Which means I can-"

"Rival her."

Lotus turns back to his Mother. Her gaze strongly intended on him, a hidden hate in her eyes, However, even he knew he was nowhere close to how powerful his father was- which isn't' much- so why put him high, beside a female who is born of Darkness and Chaos herself?

"So I can befriend her," he countered back. "I sincerely doubt she intends to stay, it must have been difficult to challenge you in her world, why would she do it a second time? He's guessing, spilling words he wasn't sure it was even true, he just needed to convince them. "The closer I get to her, the more we can convince her to leave."

The faster he gets closer to her, the faster she could help him fix spring.

Lotus understood all their feelings of Amarantha. It would be the same for her Daughter. But this time, he didn't need their approval. For once, he needed Rhysands.

"She threatens authority, the Courts, our loved ones, " Nyx. " However, her declaration is clear. She's Rhysands blood. His flesh. Would you kill Nyx if he had even a drop of Amaranth's blood?"

Rhysand flinched and their eyes met.

A war battling in his head. One of reason and one of heart.

Images of his Mother and sister flashing before his eyes, his mate and his son. And now her, his Daughter. A family he lost, a family he made, and a family he gained. All fighting like a fight between sky and sea.

However in the end, Lotus was right. She was Rhysand's blood.

And deep down, he knew despite her actions, the blood she spilled from her hands, the things she's done, Rhysand loved her in her world. So he would love her in this one.

Rhysand wouldn't abandon her,

He doesn't abandon family.

That was Lotus's advantage.

He glowed at Rhysands words. "She's staying."

Ignoring the arguments that broke out, their warnings, their fears, concerns, the consequences. He didn't give a damn.

The beast inside him roared. Vibrating his body, Lotus's plan was now in motion. All that was left is to make the move.

.....

Unknown to everyone, at the back of the room, a door was opened slightly. Light tried to sneak past but the Darkness swallowed it whole.

Indio eyes sharpened, her smile growing to the end of her ears; which stayed to hear every little word. Including the ones they didn't speak out loud.

She slowly made her way to the she herself had once used before she turned the Night Court to dust.

Katherina whistled in the dead of night, A song similar if not the same as the one Lotus heard from the Harp.

The same song the Darkness once sang to her himself.