A Court of Love and Healing {ACOTAR}

Change the Prophecy

Lucien and Elain walk over to Tamlin and Briar after the toast, Lucien squeezing his friend's shoulder, and Elain smiling prettily. "That was an admirable speech, High Lord."

Tamlin gives her a once over and inclines his head a bit. "Thank you. But you can just call me Tamlin. I—", he seems at a loss for words for a moment. "I want to apologize for my temper...for—for the things I said when you brought Briar..."

Elain blinks in a bit of surprise but smiles. "I understand the state you were in, and I appreciate the apology. Thank you for allowing me to attend this ball with Lucien. I've...been having a hard time lately with my magic and...there has been a lot going on so it helps me take my mind off things for a while and simply enjoy the present instead of crying about the future."

His brow furrows and Lucien interrupts. "A conversation for later, Tam."

Tamlin's green eyes slide over to his friend, his mouth tight and expression stormy. Briar wraps her arms around one of his and rests her head on his bicep. He lets out a breath as if he is forcing the sudden tension and panic out of his body due to her touch.

Elain bites her lip. "I didn't mean to sour the mood, I'm...I'm sorry." Tamlin notices the white light beginning to cast her eyes in a soft glow as her hold tightens on Lucien's arm. He grabs her other arm as she stumbles a bit and he and Lucien lead her to a chair as they become wholly white, her face going slack.

"Holy shit that's creepy", Tamlin mutters. Briar slaps his chest scoldingly and he glances at her and shrugs.

Lucien takes Elain's face in his hands. "El...El, I'm here. Stay with me, sunshine."

{ With a shuddering gasp that escapes her lips both from her body and from her ghostly form, Elain finds herself ensnared in a chilling embrace of darkness. It wasn't merely a presence that invaded her mind; it was a malevolence so palpable it seemed to sear her very soul. This time she knows what is happening—Koschei is summoning her, the painful searing in her chest like the slow slice of a honed shard of glass down her chest.

"Elain Archeron," the voice echoed through the recesses of her mind, a growl that dripped with venomous intent. Each syllable carried the weight of millenniums of cruelty and malice, resonating with a power that threatened to render her insane. "Your feeble attempts to shield your thoughts are laughable, little Seer. Do you truly believe you can hide from me? I have melded a part of me into your very soul. There is no escaping me. You are my chess pawn to use. So you had better behave, for now, I am allowing you to stay with your mate."

Elain's heart raced with a primal dread, each beat a desperate plea for escape from the claws of the entity that had invaded mind and soul. She struggled against the suffocating grip, but Koschei's influence was a relentless force, tightening its hold with every futile attempt at resistance.

"Do not delude yourself into thinking you can defy me," Koschei's words sliced through her consciousness like a blade, leaving behind a trail of icy terror. The air grew thick with his presence, suffocating her with its malevolent intensity. "You are a mere plaything to be discarded when I grow weary of your insolence. So it is in your best interest to behave and bow before me."

Elain's breath came in ragged gasps as Koschei's presence enveloped her, drowning her in a maelstrom of darkness and despair. She could feel the tendrils of his power worming their way into her, twisting and corrupting her light, smothering it with icy darkness as it forced her down. Her knees slam to the ground she can't even make out.

"Cassian," Koschei's voice rang out with a chilling edge. "The warrior who dares to defy me. He fancies himself untouchable, protected by his precious bonds of loyalty, does he? He has not shown up on my command yet. Loyalty can be forged or bought or forced, Seer, and power can corrupt even the noblest of hearts."