NESTA & CASSIAN

We Are Getting Our Family Back (Short Story III)

They had her.

Hybern had her.

Cassian couldn't breathe, he couldn't think and he couldn't function.

He knew he was an idiot to Nesta the moment he reacted the way he did when she told him about the baby but at least, he reassured himself, that she'd be safe in Velaris. That they'd both be safe in Velaris while the War raged.

And he could live with her being mad at him. But safe.

And now...

Now Nesta and their child were in enemy's hands. And he did nothing to stop it.

"There was no sign of Mor either." Azriel continued reporting to his High Lord and Lady as Cassian paced through the cabin.

"How could this happen?" He demanded, running a hand through his pitch black hair. "How? Eplain this to me!"

"Cass." Rhys said, sternly. There was an order hidden in his name, in the tone of his brother's voice. Cassian shook his head no at the High Lord.

"No." He muttered. "No."

Cassian looked from Rhys to Azriel, his brothers, his closest friends, his only family.

Family.

His child.

By the Cauldron.

Cassian was out the door before he knew what he was doing. Rhys and Azriel called after him but even they could not stop him from running away.

Cassian felt sick, he felt sick to his stomach and he was going to vomit.
He didn't want to imagine Nesta in Hybern's hands, she already had endured enough in that damned kingdom.

And the baby?

Had Hybern found out yet and if he did find out, how would he use that knowledge to his advantage. And Mor, what would they do to Morrigan.

Hybern had almost taken his wings once which at the time made Cassian murderous and suicidal all at once. But if he somehow could sacrifice his wings to get his family back, he would do so without thinking about it twice.

Cassian was standing at the edge of the woods when he heard his High Lady approach. He knew she meant good but Cassian was in no mood to talk to anyone whatsoever.

"Cassian, stop." Feyre whined as she stalked after him further into the Illyrian woods. "Cassian, she is my sister."

"She is my -"

Cassian pursed his lips and turned to face Feyre. How could he ever explain to her what Nesta meant to him.
She was his love, his life, his laugh, his air, his moon.

She was going to be the mother of his child for the Cauldron's sake.
But he could not say all of that to Feyre, because she would have to kick his ass for his stupidity.

"We have-" Cassian took a shaking breath, trying to calm his racing heart. "We have to get them back Feyre, both of them. Alive."

Feyre nodded in agreement. She put a hand on his soldier in comfort and squeezed.

"We are getting our family back, Cassian." She said. "I promise."

Cassian wasn't sure if Feyre knew about him and Nesta and the baby but those words managed go break his heart into a million pieces.

"I need to breathe." Cassian choked before running off deeper into the woods.

***

Cassian found a twisted tree in the middle of the Illyrian woods. He leaned against the trunk, head falling back and eyes closed.

His broad chest raised and fell with every ragged breath his got inside his burning lungs.

Cassian could not think about her.

She was on top of him, her dress undone and he was looking at her praising the Mother for bringing this wonder into his life.
And then she told.
She told him that she was carrying his child and he -

He just stopped.
He stopped breathing, seeing, hearing, smelling. He simply stopped, his blood freezing in his veins and his brain melting in his skull.
And all he kept seeing was that child.
With his little wings and Nesta's hair, yes he'd even decided that it would be a boy.
And then he saw how that child reacted when he found out that his dad had died in the War against Hybern.
How the other Illyrian boys bullied him because he was an orphan, all alone.

Cassian was more scared in that moment than he'd been when he realised that there might be a chance to lose his wings.

After that words just tumbled out of his mouth on their own accord and Nesta stared at him like he had reached inside her chest and ripped her heart out.

She was going back to the House of Wind, she told him.

He knew how much she hated living in the House of Wind. But maybe in that moment she hated Cassian more.

So he let her go, he didn't know why. He didn't want to force her to stay because what if she stayed and he died on that battlefield.

She'd never be all right after that.
And he'd never be able to forgive himself.
Nor that he'd be able to forgive himself now, because if something happened to Nesta or the child then... what kind of male was he?

He would not abandon his own child. Cassian would not be his father, he decided as he leaned against the trunk of a twisted tree in the middle of the woods.

***

"You're back." Rhys said surprised as he looked up from the table he and Azriel and Lucien and Feyre and even Elain were puzzling together a plan to save Nesta and Mor.
And his child.

"Of course I am." Cassian said, approaching the table with two quick steps. "What do you need me to do?"

"I want one of your air forces ready to go. We have a plan to get into Hybern."
Rhys glanced briefly at Cassian's face before continuing.

"Two of Azriel's spies in Hybern found a Fae in the woods not far from the palace."

Cassian holds in his breath. Waiting for Rhys' next words.

"It's Mor." He breathed. "She has a way to get us in."

"What about Nesta?" Cassian's voice was barely recognizable. His Siphons glowed a deadly fiery color.
Rhys' hand rested in Feyre's as he said those next words.

"They still have her."