A Court of Blood and Glory

Lost

Feyre

We walked the halls of the palace, following one of Tarquin's servants to the High Lord's office, where Tarquin sat awaiting us, his white hair messy, as if he'd been running his hands through it.
"Thank you, for coming. No other court responded. I guess this alliance isn't worth as much as I'd thought." He was grieving, grieving for the people he'd tried and failed to protect.
"I'm sure that they had their reasons." Was all Rhys said, knowing fully well that they didn't. Not really.
"I took back the blood rubies not because of the alliance, but because I saw a dreamer, just like me, and I knew that you could change the world, and that you have changed the world." He looked down, and I saw his eyes tear up. "I was a fool. We are all fools. If that is what one legion of Hybern's troops can do, we don't stand a chance, and we will all die. No one can save us. Not now, not ever."
"There is still hope, Tarquin, still hope for all of us." I said, trying to shut out the truth of his words, because he was right. We were all doomed, and we had no chance of winning, not really. He turned to Rhys, his tears soaking his cheeks.
"Don't lie, you know I'm right." He was destroyed, not in body, but in mind.
Hybern doesn't want to destroy our cities, they want to destroy our hope.
Then we have to keep going. We can't let them win, Feyre darling, we can't lose hope. Not now, not ever.
So long as I have you I will keep fighting. I will fight until my last breath.
It won't come to that. You will not die for me.
And you won't for me, either.
"Tarquin, I don't care if you refuse to fight, so long as you give us your armies." Rhys said, commanding the young lord in front of us.
"What armies? You forget that we are neutral, that the Summer Court tends not to get involved in conflict." Realisation dawned within me.
"That's why you haven't given us numbers, you are trying to pull together an army." I said, shocked to the core.
"We have enough legions to defend the main cities, but they will do nothing against Hybern." Tarquin said, defeated.
"Give them to us, give us everything. If they can't do much damage on their own we will have to put them with the Night Court troops." Rhys wasn't asking.
"I will lead the troops to war. No one leads the Summer Court armies but me." Varian said, leaning against the doorframe, his face grave as he took in his defeated High Lord. Amren appeared besides him a moment later, her eyes on Tarquin too, but she was not pitying him, she was contemplating how to kill him.
"Then get your army together, and give us your final numbers as soon as possible." Rhys replied, and Varian nodded in response. "We can leave the Illyrians here until you raise your own armies. They will protect your people."
"Thank you." Varian said.
I looked between the two Summer Court males, and I realised that even though he didn't have the power, Varian had just become as much of a High Lord as Tarquin, taking the responsibility on his shoulders, ready to help the people he was charged with protecting.
I walked out of the room, Rhys behind me, and Amren following on.
"I can kill him. The power will pass onto Varian and then we have a real leader on the throne." Amren said, and I could tell that she knew how she would kill Tarquin already.
"We can't kill him. Not yet, anyway." Rhys said, sounding exasperated.
"Then we need him out of the way." I said, catching onto Amren's line of thinking, even though I wasn't happy with the thought of his murder. "Not kill him, just have him out of Varian's way." I said when Rhys caught my eye.
"Leave it to Varian, it's his choice as to whether he becomes the High Lord or not." With that we walked out of the palace and winnowed to see Cassian and Azriel, Mor already there.
"Next time you are that stupid you will be out of the fight." Rhys growled at the commander, who sported many bandages and bruises.
"Noted." Cassian replied, a smirk on his face.
"I'm serious, I will tie you to a tree if you try to pull off anything as dangerous as that again." He would do it. To save us all Rhys would walk into the fight without us if it meant our safety was ensured. Cassian realised that to, and he backed down from the argument. "I can't stand for any of you to get hurt. Not now, and not ever. I don't care what the cost is, I will pay it to keep you all safe."
"You will not." I growled back at him. "You have sacrificed too much. Let us take care of you, let us save you this time." He looked to me, and I saw the defeat in his eyes. Even if he pretended otherwise, Tarquin's words had struck a nerve.
Do not let Tarquin's words get to you.
I won't.
I didn't believe him.

Rhysand

I had meant it. I would gladly destroy myself once more to save them all. I would lock them away, keep them away from the fight if it would stop them from getting hurt. I would whore myself to anyone if it would keep them safe. I didn't care anymore, didn't care for the cost, only for the safety of my family.
"Are we staying here or not tonight?" Mor asked no one in particular. I looked around at the Illyrian camp, thousands of winged males lying on sick beds as they had their wounds tended to. We couldn't move them until the next day.
"We can't move the Illyrians, but we also can't leave the Night Court undefended." I said, struggling to figure out my next plan. "Let's stay here for one night, and winnow back as soon as dawn breaks, with as many warriors as we can take." I turned to the general. "Cassian, are the Illyrians back in the Night Court prepared for any incoming attacks?"
Cassian gave me an offended look. "No, I left them all drunk and unable to defend the court." He gave me an exasperated look. "Yes, Rhys. They have been given my orders, and they were moving into position as I left them. I can go back to them now if you want, and ensure that everything is as it should be." I looked him over once more.
"No, you are still injured. I will winnow back with Feyre, and we can ensure that the court is well protected." I looked to my mate, her eyes glazed over, as if she was looking at somewhere other than the camp. "Are you happy to go now?" I asked, and she nodded.
"I just feel like we have missed something, and I can't shake it."
Are you ok, Feyre?
Yes. Let's just go home. I'm sure it's nothing.
I took her hand, and winnowed to the Night Court border, picking her up as my wings began to beat. I flew and winnowed around the court, landing only to take off again moment later, but there was no sign of Hybern, no troops having been spotted by any of the Illyrian war bands.
Finally we landed in Velaris.
But there was no Velaris. There was rubble all around us. Rubble and death, blood running through the streets, through the Rainbow, and the bodies of my people piled high where my Town House had stood. There was only the House of Wind remaining, left for us to look out over the city, look out over the destruction that Hybern had wrecked.
"What happened?" Feyre asked me, as if I knew the answer, her voice cracking and tears soaking her cheeks as she took in the city we loved. The secret city that no longer stood.
I screamed, roared, released my power, feeling for any sign of life, any sign of my people. But there were no signs, no people, no one left in Velaris. Feyre didn't need to ask about the people, because she could read it on my face, read the devastation that lined every part of my body.
And fire roared through the world, hoarfrost chasing it. Every one of her power ripped free, every part of Velaris burned and froze, before darkness blasted the destruction to bits, the bodies of my people. Gone. The blood in the streets. Gone. The rubble of the once beautiful houses. Gone.
But there was one thing that escaped her wrath one thing that was spared from her power: the House of Wind. The only part of the city left. The only real home that we had left. But I would never have been able to step foot in that place again. Not after that day.
Feyre fell to the floor, her face in her hands, and I sat by her, but didn't say anything.
We are all fools. If that is what one legion of Hybern's troops can do, we don't stand a chance, and we will all die. No one can save us. Not now, not ever.
Tarquin had been right.
"He will pay." A voice said from behind me. Amren, her silver eyes filled with rage. Pure, unending rage. "He will pay with the lives of every one of his people, innocent or not, and we will make him watch as we tear them apart, and keep him alive for as long as possible as we kill him." I didn't say anything, didn't move as Mor came up behind me, her hand on my shoulder, and she cried. Cassian and Azriel winnowed in a moment later, and they too, slumped to the ground, the faces vengeful and distraught. I didn't ask why they had come. Feyre's power had been so great that it had summoned them.
The Court of Dreams. More like a Court of Ruin.
"I shouldn't have done it. I shouldn't have left them, left the city. I shouldn't have gambled the city. I did this. I killed these people." My wings drooped to the floor, and claws formed on my hands and feet. I was vengeful, I was fury and rage and destruction. I was the High Lord of the Night Court, and I was a failure, a fool.
"We can't lose hope. We, we can't stop fighting. Not now, not ever." Feyre said, echoing my words. "I will enjoy killing the King slowly, and I will not rest until every one of the dead is avenged."
Hope. The King had done this to make us lose hope, to break us, but we had not been broken, not completely, because we had been given a new form of hope, a reason to go on. A reason to fight.
I looked to my family, to my court, and I knew in that moment that no matter what happened, we would not stop fighting, not until we were all dead.
And even then we would find a way to take our revenge.