A Court of Magnolias and Ash

Twenty

Eris:

I braced myself as I walked into the hell that is the Court of Nightmares. An ugly reminder of my past, of me.

Layers of rock and filth surrounding a den of monsters. Creatures that haunted human and fae nightmares. Luckily, I've had practice walking amongst demons. Hundreds of years, to be exact.

However, you can't choose your family. The same blood that flows through me, snakes through my brothers, father and mother. I like to think what little good that flickers inside me is from her.

I hurried through the crowd of despicable beings; I was late. Rhysand had called to me but I was too distracted by Nesta to respond. I hadn't been distracted like this before. I hadn't cared before. Another infuriating tick with this woman.

When I didn't respond to him, he gripped my brain, holding me still as I hovered above Nesta. They don't call him the most powerful High Lord without reason.

"Thank you for joining us, Eris," Rhysand tilted his head, raising his chin towards me. He sat at the head of the table, in an onyx chair meant for a king. Beside him, in a matching chair, sat Feyre—High Lady of the Night Court.

Glancing around the room, I realized they were all here. The inner circle, the ones who made the rest of Prythian tremble. "I apologize for not coming sooner," I replied flatly.

"What delayed you?" Amren sneered, her silver eyes sending daggers into my chest. She was different since the war, that other worldly danger didn't linger behind her irises. Still...I wasn't about to irritate the ancient beast.

I stared at her, at the fire bird who saved us, who unleashed herself upon the sea of men. Crossing my arms against my chest, I smirked, "busy. Not all of us have time to continue affairs in distant courts."

Amren snarled in response.

"Is Nesta alright?" Cassian asked quietly, a leash tightened around his growing anger.

I nodded, unsure if I should explain what really delayed me. What I saw in the flames, what nearly frightened her to death. What stole a minute of my life away.

"Why did you take her?" Feyre asked, her voice ringing against the rock walls.

This caught my attention. I knew why, but she didn't. Keep it to myself? Or...?

Feyre's hand lit with fire, "I'm waiting."

"Why did you let her run away?" I countered, releasing my arms to pull out a wooden chair from the center of the table—the center of the inner circle. Perhaps this was my trial.

Before anyone could speak, a strained voice spoke up, "she thought she would kill us. That her abilities would demolish not only us but all of Velaris. An endless inferno." Cassian breathed, his fist tightening till his knuckles went white.

I twisted in my seat, to get a better angle of Cassian and to show the High Lord and Lady that I did not fear them, not even when my back was turned. "She dreams of you," I confessed, watching as his fist loosened. "All of you," I continued while turning to face the rest of the inner circle. "You were her family. You were supposed to protect her," my voice grew louder, thickening with outrage.

Rhysand snarled, stopping my rant before it could continue further. "Yet you were the one to kidnap her."

"It was either kidnap or kill," I revealed—a truth I didn't care to admit. "I shouldn't have been able to get through the wards to begin with, yet I did. Why?" Pressing further was dangerous, but what did it matter? They needed to question themselves; they were not always good and noble.