A Court of Night and Shadows

Chapter 7

I awoke the next morning to Alis in my room, telling me it was nearly time for lunch. I'd slept all morning. Despite barely remembering the party, I didn't have a drop of a headache. I groaned at the woman and sat up in bed, only to realize I wasn't dressed. In anything.

Alis stifled a laugh. "You left quite the grass stains in your dress," she said before slipping out of the room.

I sat frozen, remembering. Trying to remember. I was naked. I'd been brought home naked. I remembered dancing in complete freedom and then... I was in and out of blackness. I scooted across to the edge of the bed and felt an ache in between my legs I hadn't felt since the boy I'd meet occassionally at the stables back in the mortal world.

Oh, no.

No no no no no.

But there was no denying it.

I felt the sting of tears in my eyes. Panic filled my lungs.

Tamlin. Oh, Tamlin, no. What did you do?

My breaths came faster and faster, the room getting smaller and smaller. I fell back into bed, pulled the blanket over my naked body, and squeezed my knees to my chest.

Please, no.

My chest heaved. I felt the bond build into a deep burn but it paled in comparison to the savage breaths spiraling out of me. I tried to calm myself. I tried to think of the plan. I tried to think of the good I was trying to do. I tried, but I couldn't. I couldn't think of anything but the touches on my body I didn't know about.

What good was the plan after this? I couldn't fight for Tamlin, not anymore.

It hurt to think about him.

Everything hurt.

I'm coming, I heard between my sobs. I'm coming now, Feyre. Hold on.

Rhysand.

For Rhysand, I dragged myself up from the shelter of my bed, bathed, and put on the heaviest tunic I could find with a pair of long pants. I stood at the doorway too long, a few helpless tears falling from my eyes, before I finally found the courage to step out into the hallway.

It was a long trek to the dining room.

I didn't make eye contact when I entered the room and I sat at my old seat across the table from Tamlin. Lucien was joining us today. He rubbed his temples as he ate, unusually quiet.

We ate for minutes in silence. No one greeted me. I said nothing. I couldn't bring myself to lift my head at all, lest I lay eyes on Tamlin - I wasn't sure I could stomach it.

Lucien shifted in his seat. "My contact at the Winter Court managed to get a letter to me." Lucien took a steadying breath, and I tried to muster the strength to pay attention. This would be the first time they'd ever really spoken business around me. I moved in my seat and felt the sting of pain - unwanted pain. I didn't bother to look at Tamlin's reaction. "The blight," Lucien said softly. "It took out two dozen of their younglings. Two dozen, all gone." He swallowed. "It just... burned through their magic, then broke apart their minds. No one in the Winter Court could do anything - no one could stop it once it turned its attention toward them. Their grief is... unfathomable. My contact says other courts are being hit hard - though the Night Court, of course, manages to remain unscathed. But the blight seems to be sending its wickedness this way - farther south with every attack."

I was tired - so tired. "Why don't you guys just call the blight by her name and stop with this childish hide and seek with me? I'm honestly sick of it," I breathed in a heavy sigh, the bite in my words obviously startling them.