A Court of Blood and Glory

Nightmares

Feyre

I was hollow and full at once. I felt nothing and everything at the same time. I was pain and horror, despair and anguish. I was vengeful.
I looked to my family, to the dreamers around me, and I knew that they were the same as me in those moments. We were going to shake the lands with the power that we would release upon Hybern, we would tear them apart, and we would laugh in the face of those who thought otherwise.
I had feared becoming a monster, but it didn't scare me from then on, because the war would not be won by dreamers, it would be won by those that gave everything and more. It would be won by me, by us, and we would stop at nothing to ensure our victory.

Xxx

I stood in the palace on top of the Court of Nightmares, looking out over the lands as Rhys came up behind me, his hand going around my waist. We stood there for some time without talking, looking out as if we could see the destroyed mortal lands. I didn't know how much had survived Hybern's blast from the cauldron, and I didn't want to.
"Azriel has been watching Hybern's forces. They are in the Spring Court, and they are prepared to attack at any moment. There numbers are huge though, and we can't defeat them with the armies we have." His wings lowered so that they touched the floor. "I don't know what to do, I don't know who else we can ally with." Tears began to soak his cheeks, and I pulled his face so that he looked at me.
"I am not going to give up, I am going to fight. We all are, and we will save our people, we will save all of Prythian." I reached up behind him, running my hand over his wings as he purred. "There must be something, there must be someone we can ally with."
"Autumn Court." He breathed, stepping away from me, walking towards where Azriel sat with Mor. "Azriel, has Beron sided with anyone?" He demanded, and I realized where he was going.
"No, they are all at each other's throats." Everyone looked to my mate and Azriel. "Beron wants to side with Hybern, but Eris and his brothers are trying to convince him otherwise, and Beron hasn't been able to make any alliances without starting his own internal war."
"So if we offered them an alliance now?" Rhys asked, suddenly excited. And rightfully so.
"Beron would be an issue, but Eris would definitely want an alliance; he thinks that Hybern won't give them the power and lands they were promised."
Mor stiffened, her eyes wide as she realised what Rhys wanted.
"Send word to Eris that we want to meet with him, tell him that we want an alliance, and we wish to hear his thoughts and demands."
He walked from the room with Azriel, Amren and Cassian joining as they discussed what to do next, but my attention went to Mor, went her pale face and shaking hands. I sat by her, taking her cold hand, and looked her in the eyes.
"Are you willing to do this, to ally yourself with them?" She shuddered, and Amren walked back in and pulled a chair up to face us.
"For my court, for Prythian, I will do anything, even if I am not comfortable with the whole situation."
"We can find another way, if you want. We can do anything." I said, trying to get her to talk, tell me what she wanted.
"No, we can't. So I will ally with Beron and Eris, and I will do whatever I need to so that we win." She took a shaky breath, and looked between Amren and myself. "I will do anything, even if I hate it, so I will just have to endure their presence, and then I can spend the rest of my life avoiding them." She looked me in the eyes before she stood and walked to her room, shutting the door slightly louder than was needed, and didn't come back out.
Where are you?
I needed to talk with Rhys, needed to know why he wasn't talking to Mor on the matter.
I'm in my study. Are you ok?
Yes, I am, but we need to talk.
Come find me, then.
I walked the halls of the palace, remembering everything that had happened to me when Rhys brought me here. Muffled voices sounded as I reached the study, and I opened the door to find the Azriel half-wreathed in shadows, Cassian nudging pieces around on a huge map spread over a table in the corner, and Rhys behind his desk writing letter upon letter, the table covered in paper, reading them aloud every so often.
"Rhys, can we go outside?" I asked, and he rose immediately, joining me as I left the room.
"What is it, Feyre darling?" He asked, concern rippling through the bond.
"It's Mor. What were you thinking? You practically ignored her thoughts on Eris and his festering court!" He looked regretful, and he slumped against the wall.
"I did, and I've been trying to keep my letters free of any mention of her, of her part in this, and ensure that she doesn't have to meet them, but I can't let their armies, their huge armies, escape us. We will be lost without them."
I looked at him, really looked at him, beyond the mask he kept on around the others.
You can fool them, but you can't fool me. I can see that you are struggling, I can see that you don't really have any hope, but you have to talk, have to stop trying to save us all by sacrificing yourself.
"I know, but I can't. I can't stand the thought of any of you getting hurt."
"I get that, but Mor is hurt, and you aren't listening to her. Please, Rhys, just go and talk to her, get her to help you write the letters." He nodded, and I turned from him, trying to go to Mor, but Rhys pulled me back, pressing his lips against mine. It had been too long since we'd been together, alone, like that, but there was a war, and we needed to spend every moment possible with each other.
"Get back in here you prick, we are trying to work and can't when we hear you on the other side of these very thin walls." Cassian said, smirking as he took in Rhys's hand, which had moved to grasp my arse. My mate growled at the general as he walked back into the study, but Rhys tugged me along with him, his hand only moving slightly higher, and we followed Cassian to the table, Azriel standing by it, and I looked at the figures that Cassian had been moving around.
What am I looking at?
A map of Prythian and Hybern, with all of the armies positioned where they are right now.
Huge numbers of black pieces lay on the Spring Court borders, and the same pieces were placed in Hybern as well. Violet figures showed the Illyrian camps, most of them in the Night Court mountains, but there were still a few in the Summer Court, where pale blue figures surrounded the Illyrians left behind, but nowhere near enough.
The other Courts had pieces placed on their southern borders, many figures, though not as many as the Night Court, displayed their armies, but the only place I had interest in was the Autumn Court, where huge amounts of red pieces were placed in the centre of the territory.
"Even though the Autumn Court has not allied themselves with anyone, they are not unprepared. Beron has always ensured that his court had the largest army, outside of the Night Court, and he has managed to raise it very quickly with all things considered."
"If we manage to get Eris to side with us we will have a force strong enough to deal with Hybern, but we still don't know if those are all their armies, so I don't think it's enough." Cassian said gravely.
"I can't get anyone into Hybern now, and I can't get in there myself. I don't know anything about what they have." Azriel said, the shadows around him not as evident as they were before.
The shadowsinger walked up to the table and placed several pieces in the Summer Court. Even then they were still very weak, practically defenceless against any attacks. I looked over the whole board, trying to find some way of giving us any advantage, but my eyes settled on some islands out at sea, islands that invoked a memory.
"What about Myriam and Drakon? They have been in hiding but I doubt that they haven't got any armies." I said, looking to Cassian as I spoke.
"I didn't want to pull them into this, but you are right, they wouldn't be defenceless. We can fly out to them and see what they say." Rhys said, a conflict within him as to whether we should involve the people in hiding. "We will go tomorrow. You, me and Mor can go, and Cassian, Azriel and Amren will stay here to continue with the plans, and to see whether anyone else suddenly finds more people to fight." I nodded along to his words, and we soon left the room, done for that day.
"Where do we sleep? Where is your room?" I asked Rhys, having never been there before.
"This way, Feyre darling." He said, a gleam in his eyes. We wandered the halls of the mountaintop palace, the air warm and sweet, before Rhys stopped outside double doors, which he opened to reveal a room larger than that that was in the town house, one that was as large as the dining room in the House of Wind.
A bed large enough to accommodate wings, and then some, took up most of the space, and an armoire took up the wall across from the bed. Despite the size of the room, it was surprisingly bare, with a table being the only other sign of furniture. There were no signs, though, that it was his room.
He pulled me towards the very large bed, but picked me up just before I lay down, and held me in his arms as he kissed my neck, his hands pulling my top over my head as he put me onto the silky sheets, climbing on top of me.
"I love you, Feyre darling." He purred, his lips on my neck.
"I love you too, Rhys." I gasped as his tongue moved lower and lower, brushing over my exposed breasts, but I stopped him in his tracks, pulling his face up so that he looked me in the eyes. "My turn." I said, and I flipped him over, his wings spread out beneath me, and I lightly dragged my finger down the sensitive spot, the metal cool under my touch. He arched his back, and I made him moan as I reached down his pants, taking hold of his cock.
"Feyre!" He gasped, and I grinned at him as I took his clothes off of him, relishing at the sight of his muscled body. I was about to go further, but he flipped me over so that we lay side by side, and he took the rest of my clothes off, his mouth never leaving mine.
And the moment there was nothing between us, when we lay there as one, I could imagine that there was no war, that there wasn't a looming threat, and that we were lying in a town house in a city of starlight. But that was not the case.
"Feyre." Rhys murmured, realising that I was lost in thought. "We don't have to do this tonight, not if you don't want to." I kissed him again, not wanting to miss any moments together. Not when they could be limited, not when we may not be able to be together for some time.
"I want to spend eternity with you, Rhys, and that includes right now." He beamed up at me, thrusting his hips once again, and I screamed, clenching the sheets as he licked my nipple, leaving me breathless and panting.
More.
Happy to oblige, Feyre darling.
Eternity, we had eternity ahead of us, and I would fight for it.

Xxx

I fell asleep in his arms, his wings wrapped around us, but nightmares plagued my dreams, nightmares that weren't mine.

"Rhysand." Amarantha purred from the bed, her red hair glinting in the faelight. "Come here, Rhysand, and let me play with you." She said, eyes gleaming, and even though I – Rhys – tried to resist, a force outside of his body pushed him towards the bed, and underneath Amarantha. He tried to pull away, tried to fight her, but she pushed down on his wings, membranous wings instead of metal, and pushed ash spikes through them, making him scream in agony.
"You've been a naughty boy, Rhysand, and you will pay the price." She looked over to where the door was, but it was as if it had been blown away, revealing the people of Velaris dead, their bodies piled high the way they had been when we found them, and on top were the Inner Circle.
Cassian and Azriel, wingless, their eyes gone and siphon's smashed. Mor, her golden hair red with her blood. Amren, ripped apart and clearly dead, and my body on top of them, a crown of thorns on my head, dried blood running down my ashen face.
Rhys screamed, but Amarantha only laughed, and covered Rhys's mouth, his pleas unheard by anyone as she bedded him once again, his tears the only sign of his pain as Amarantha once again dragged him back Under the Mountain.

I opened my eyes, fear coursing through me, to find myself blinded by the darkness surrounding me.
"Rhys!" I yelled, unable to see or feel him, feeling for him in the dark, and try to awaken him from the nightmare that plagued both our minds. "Rhysand!" I yelled again, crawling over the bed until I found his body, freezing cold, and sweat covering his golden skin.
Rhysand!
"Rhysand!" I repeated, shaking him, until he eventually opened his eyes, fear all too evident. "It was a nightmare, just a nightmare." I said, trying to soothe him as he reeled his power back in, the darkness receding.
"Feyre." He croaked, his voice raw, as if he'd been screaming. "Feyre, I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry." He said, looking to my shoulders, where deep scratches were, the pain having gone unnoticed in my terror for my mate, and his eyes then flicking to his hands, where claws caked in blood, my blood, had appeared.
Two memories came to my mind, one of the last time I'd awoken him from a nightmare, when he'd first brought me to Velaris, and the other from a Spring Court manor, when Tamlin had also dragged his claws down my skin.
"I'm sorry." He repeated, again and again, whispering it as he looked down at his knees, his claws finally disappearing.
"Why did I see the nightmare?" I asked, unsure as to how I'd gotten past his shields.
"I, I don't know. Since Velaris, I've been having trouble keeping my power, my emotions, in check. I guess that tonight I dropped my shield enough that you could get into my head through our mating bond." He said, almost as if he expected me to be ashamed of him, but I only held him close, and we remained like that until the sun came up, until another day began.
Another day in which we had to survive.