Six Of Crows & A Court Of Thorns And Roses

2- Pointy Ears

2- Pointy Ears

Rhysand

Even he struggled to keep his face impassive as the mortal stumbled out of a portal and across the courtroom floor. Poor, poor human girl. Tonight she would meet her end.

Amarantha cleared her throat.

The mortal looked up from her wild attempt to take in the room and finally stared at Amarantha's ears. Many mortals did that, he noted. He didn't know what they're ever expecting.

"What business do you have here, mortal filth?" Amarantha asked, almost sweetly.

The human, as if sensing the falseness of the polite tone in the tyrant's voice, flicked a blade into her hand, now staring intently at Amarantha's eyes. Brave and stupid then. She still hadn't replied.

The girl was too small and dark skinned to have been from below the wall, so where was she from?

Amarantha waved her curved fingernails lazily in Rhysand's direction. Right then, he thought bitterly.

Rhysand slid his hands into his pockets as he strode forward from his place next to the raised dais that held her throne. He took hold of the mortal's mind as gently as possible, discerning that she was thinking in a very strange language. She stood perfectly straight and still, eyes locked on Amarantha as he clawed through her mind a little more just to try and find a name.

The fact that he didn't know the language didn't matter, he could still understand her perfectly. However, Amarantha didn't know this. So he ignored the very confused and panicked curses and a couple prayers to some Gods he'd never heard of and came up with the best lie he could think of.

"The thing is foreign. I've never heard that language before."

But apparently the mortal knew theirs as she started to translate what he'd said in her mind. Her gaze snapped to his as she noticed him for the first time.

Maybe I was wrong about Kaz... She thought.

Rhysand wondered who Kaz was as he smirked at her like I knew everything about her. Truth was there was so much in her mind- so much different- that he hadn't had time to work out what kind of human she was. He could see the colours, though- very Night Court.

'Hello darling', he whispered into her mind. Her thoughts jumped but she showed no outward sign of having heard him. Good.

Maybe he was in a bad mood, maybe he wanted to push her or maybe he was warning her as I added: 'You're going to die tonight'.

This isn't Grisha magic... Grisha's can't actually read thoughts, can they?

So she was used to magic, but not of this kind. He was starting to work out that not only was she foreign, she wasn't a mortal of this land- she had no idea who or what the Fae were.

He let go of her mind a little so she could stand on her own. She didn't sink to her knees or cry out. She just stood still and rotated the hilt of the knife in her hand in small, sharp movements, still staring at the queen.

Rhysand cocked his head to the side in lazy puzzlement. Her sent interested him; it was overpoweringly human as if her own body was trying to hide something underneath.

Who was this little mortal, all dark hair, and dark skin, who managed to run through a portal?

Was Amarantha opening portals into the other mortal worlds again? That thought didn't sit well with him at all.

Oh no, Didn't Kaz say Jesper was meant to follow us later? Crap.

He didn't know who this Kaz was, or why he was so interested.

His brave little mortal threw her gaze back up to Amarantha as the Queen said: "Are you planning on using that knife on us, stupid animal?" When the girl said nothing, all politeness had fled from Amarantha's voice. "You will answer me, or are you're kind too illiterate to even converse now?"

Rhys could hear the girl translating what had been said through her mind, yet she still didn't speak. She now looked around, gauging the people (and no doubt exists) near her. She had a predators mind then, not stifled by fear.

'What's your name, darling?' He whispered to her mind. She didn't mean to, but involuntarily thought up: Inej.

"Bind it and put it in the cells. We'll have fun with it another day." Amarantha sounded impatient. The girl didn't panic, only slid onto the balls of her feet, putting herself into a fighting stance. An Attor came to put rope around her wrists. This was usually just so the mortals didn't get it into their heads that they could get away, not that they could or it was necessary.

Inej whirled and swung the knife in a way that was admittedly impressive- for a mortal. But, of course, a steel blade did her no good her. The ropes were around her wrists, at her back in moments.

However, her thoughts weren't on the fact that she was tied up, she didn't seem bothered at all.

I've fought off Grisha blindfolded before, what's going on? A couple of pointy ears and I'm all off balance.

He wondered what she was usually like then...

Where is Kaz, anyway?

"Your Majesty," Said the second Attor that had just walked in. "I found this in one of your tunnels." He gestured to the human he carried by the arm. The boy was dark, not in quite the same way as the girl, with formal clothes on. He also appeared to be limping slightly and very cross. Inej looked round at the boy and thought: Kaz, what have you done, you idiot?

The boy, Kaz, looked across at Inej, eye's widening, and thought's tumbling.