A Court of Blood and Glory

Monsters

Rhysand

She was back, and she had flown, but she had also been injured, and I'd felt all of her pain as the ash arrows pieced her wings. I'd had to crouch down when I felt her pain, and bit my lip to prevent myself from crying out. When I'd seen her I was terrified, the blood clearly hers, and flowing too fast, a horrid stench coming off of her.
I winnowed back to the palace immediately, needing to get the arrows out of her, needing to find someone to save my mate, save her from the poison oozing out of the arrows.
I winnowed into the sitting room, where I found Amren surrounded by pages of work and the book of breathings, Mor sitting nearby, also leading through her work, but one look at me had them running over, Mor giving a cry of worry as she took in my mate.
I lay Feyre down on the couch, not caring about staining the furniture, and began to rip the arrows out of her wings, Mor holding her as Amren and I worked. My mate was so pale, too pale, her skin almost grey, and her breathing shallow and laboured.
Azriel and Cassian joined us a moment later, and they stood stoically by the door, not wanting to crowd around Feyre, but I could see their worry in their stance, as they were still, their spines stiff as they took in the scene before them.
"Azriel, go and get a healer from the Hewn City." Amren commanded, knowing that no amount of her magic could save my mate from the poison. Tears began to flow freely down my face as we awaited the Illyrian's return, and I tried to use the bond to reach my mate.
Feyre. Feyre wake up, try to heal yourself. Please. Feyre.
I rested a mental hand on her shield, and I could feel her pain on the other side. I saw Amren's face fall as Azriel didn't return, and I took my mate's hand, grey and cold, trying to push my power into her, try to keep her alive. Mor shed some tears at the sight, and Cassian lost some of his composure, but Azriel winnowed into the room, a young male in tow, and with a short growl from me to push him into action, the male began to run his hands over Feyre, over her wings. I held my mate's hand the entire time, and I didn't try to stop the tears from flowing.
Finally, her breathing turned from ragged to steady, and I let out a sigh of relief as the male stepped back from her, we all did, including Amren. The healer turned to leave, but I held his mind, removing any memories he had of coming up here, replacing them with images of Cassian with a stab wound in his stomach, and that we were all the cruel people he though us to be. He started to shake in our presence, and I ensured that Feyre's wings were glamoured from his view as Azriel grabbed him and winnowed him back to the Court of Nightmares.
I would not give Keir any information that he could use over us.

Feyre

Pain. Pain and darkness and horror. That was all I could feel, all I could comprehend as the poison worked its way through me. I saw all of my worst memories, but they were twisted, making them so much worse than they had been. I saw my nightmares, and I saw new ones.
I saw my sisters being beaten and tortured. I saw Rhys being led down a passage Under the Mountain by Amarantha, his wings out for her to destroy. I saw my family pilled up, their bodies being eaten by the monsters that Hybern had created. But then I saw a crack in the darkness.
Feyre. Feyre wake up, try to heal yourself. Please. Feyre.
I heard Rhys, and I pushed and pushed through the pain, trying to get to him, to escape, and I felt a tug, something tying me to the world, someone pulling me back, and I knew that they were taking me from death, trying to pull me back from the door I wanted to cross.
The darkness turned comforting, became familiar, and I knew that I wasn't dead.
Feyre. Feyre wake up, try to heal yourself. Please. Feyre. I heard those words, again and again, and I felt my power healing me again, until the darkness claimed me once more, but that wasn't the darkness of death, it was the darkness of sleep and recovery. And I was not going to die that day, not like that.

Xxx

I awoke in my bed, the curtains drawn, but the light of dawn seeping through a crack. I stood up, noticing the weight of my wings behind me, and I vanished them as I let the light of the day into the room.
I dressed quickly, putting on a thick cream jumper and leggings, before walking out into the palace, looking for my family.
Rhys. Rhys, where are you?
I'm coming back.
From where?
But warm arms were around me as I walked into the dining room, and Rhys turned me to face him as he kissed me softly, murmuring my name as we pulled apart. "Rhys." I said quietly as a loud cough came from a corner, where Cassian was sitting.
"If you two are going to do stuff like that then please get a room." He drawled, but there was relief in his eyes as he took me in. "It's good to see you in one piece, Feyre." The general said, and I went to sit on the sofa opposite him, Rhys summoning drinks from the kitchens as he sat next to me.
"What happened?" I asked, but both of the male's looked grave as I spoke. It was Mor who responded, walking into the room with a huge smile on her face.
"You gave us a huge scare, Feyre, when you showed up covered in blood. We all thought you were going to die, what with the amount of poison in you. We had to get a healer from the Hewn City, and he worked on you for hours."
"I erased his memory of his time in here, and made him believe that he was healing Cassian after I threw him off the mountain. We are still monsters to them, and they have no memory of you having wings either." Rhys said, his fingers dragging lazy strokes up my thighs.
"But what else happened since I was out?" I asked, unsure why everyone seemed so forlorn. "And how long has it been?" Rhys's hand left my thigh, and he grasped my hand tightly.
"Three days." Cassian said, crossing his arms. I looked to Rhys, but he only stared at our hands, as if he was remembering some horror.
"Azriel killed Beron not an hour after the healer left. He used the blade you had on you, and no one suspects us, but he also had to kill the Lady of Autumn to do so. Eris became High Lord, and he slaughtered his brothers the moment he took the crown. He promised us armies, and he has followed through on his word. All of the courts have moved their armies south into Summer and the border of Autumn. We are making a blockade between the Spring Court and the rest of Prythian, whilst keeping most of our armies on the east so that we can fight off any attacks from Hybern too, but there is also Vallahan, Montesere and Rask to contend with now, so Autumn has kept their troops in their own territory, in order to defend the east. We have been spread so thin, and with the letters you stole, there is no way that we have enough troops to fight Hybern and their allies, and we don't know what manner of monsters they have with them either."
I was silent, and no one spoke as I thought. "They have Jurian. He is alive, like you said, and four of the mortal queens are fae now, as well, although Jurian remains human." Mor took in a sharp intake of breath.
"Well that just fucks things up even more, doesn't it?" Mor said, and she stormed out of the room. I looked back to my mate, only to notice two new tattoos on his skin, one band on his wrist, and another behind is ear.
"What are those?" I asked, already knowing the answer.
"I made some deals, which is also the reason why Amren and Azriel aren't here right now." He sighed deeply, and Cassian took that as his cue to leave. "This one," He said, pointing to his wrist. "is a bargain with the Weaver. She will fight for us, do as we ask, and in return she gets free reign on the battle field to kill anyone in her path. So long as we keep her contained to one area, we shouldn't have to worry."
"Ok, and the other one?" I said, shocked by what he's done, but I understood why he did it. I pulled his ear back so that I could see the dark whorls inked behind it.
"I made a deal with the Bone Carver." He said, and I pulled away so that I could see him clearly, but he shut his eyes, tears wetting his dark lashes.
"If the Bone Carver fights for us, I have to show him how to get out, and he can have any object of his desire in the Prison." He kissed me, slow and deep.
"And?" I asked, realising that he wasn't saying anything, even though the bond was quiet. He was quiet, and attempted to kiss me again, but I moved out of his way and stood up, leaving him sitting on the sofa alone.
"He can have my bones when I die." He'd once denied the Carver my bones in exchange for knowledge, so to promise his bones... he must have been desperate.
How does he escape?
By binding himself to a fae body, like Amren did.
I thought a fae warrior bound her.
She lied, to keep herself out of the Prison's clutches. The prisoners have ears everywhere.
I was silent, as I comprehended what his words meant.
"The Carver will be free in the world, and so will the Weaver, because we will have to break the spells that bind them." I sat down again, but Rhys didn't move to comfort me, knowing that I needed to sort through the information without distractions.
"Yes. Amren knows the spell to unbind the Weaver, and Azriel is with the Carver now. Mor and I have been trying to find ways to contain them, and Cassian is preparing our armies, and the other Courts', for what will happen on the killing field."
"We are in deep shit."
"Yes we are."