Deep in the woods where I'd been discarded, ferns hung over my face, insects crawling over their long-fingered leaves. I heard the hooves of a deer speed by, and saw a great tree that I recognised. They hadn't bothered to take me that far. In fact, dropping me here proved they didn't know who my father was, nor where he lived. The stone fortress father called home should be just past the line of trees, on the hill. But I ached and bled, and I didn't yet want to move.
I loved the forest.
And there I lay, bruised, brutalised, raped and left to the beasts; my father's voice winding through my mind and memories, low and menacing, warning me as he did throughout my childhood to stay out of the forest, especially if I was by myself.
But I never could stay away from the trees, the dancing leaves, the smell of mulch beneath the fallen needles, and the silent scuttle of animals all around—ensconced in a peaceful, green haven. In the forest, I heard music; it was a song I heard nowhere else.
I heard it now, laying in the bed of grass, a premature pinecone digging into my side, the rays of sun bestowing thousands of kisses upon my cheeks through the spaces of leaves above.
I could move. I should. Father said if I ever were in the forest alone and he found out, he would kill me before the Fae could. But I knew my father, and why he would say such a thing, because it was necessary for upholding his reputation among our people in the mortal realm. Graysen, the great haven from the Fae, the great enemy of them, taking over for my grandfather.
Somewhere to my left, a twig cracked, and my limbs jolted. But I couldn't pull my gaze from the canopy above. I didn't want to.
I hadn't been to the forest since Ma disappeared, though I wished every day I would end up here again. What a bittersweet grant to my wish.
For now my blood feeds the forest's earth. And the wall protecting humans from Fae is destroyed—it had been for years.
Father always told me that if Fae got their hands on me, they would do worse than any human could.
I really should get up, run back. But father would start a war with the town once he found out what those men did. I would be locked away for good.
I decided long ago I'd rather die than be imprisoned.
I moved my legs, rolling over, wincing at the sharpness of pain between my legs. A warm trickle flowed down my inner thigh, but I kept raising myself, my shoulder now rustling the fern beside me.
I didn't register the feeling underneath my arms as hands until I was yanked around, staring at an armoured chest. Such elaborate patterns; pink and blue flowers, Babies-Breath, and swirling designs. Father's guards didn't wear armour like that.
My eyes widened in alarm as I raised them up, and up, toward the long, glowing face of a male Fae. The green of his slanted eyes flashed bright, flecks of red gold blazing from the rims before his mouth twisted into a cruel smile—and I knew... Father was right.
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A Court of Mortal Love (ACOTAR Fanfic)
FanfictionTW: This book deals with triggering topics, rape/violence and gore. I was born to Graysen, enemy of the Fae. He taught me his history. The history of the war with Hybern, 27 years ago, of the different kinds of Fae to hate, and of Feyre, who was ta...
