DISCONTINUED A Court of Blood and Night Rewritten

10

Oml I just finished watching the season finale of Game of Thrones, so every time I read "the Wall" while editing this chapter, I kept thinking of the ice wall that... No longer separates the living and the dead... And omg everyone's so freaking screwed. *rocks back and forth in fetal position while screaming/sobbing in shock and horror*

Get rid of the opposition, and he's free to take down the Wall. I felt myself go pale as I thought of it. It was a great strategy, and I hated to admit it. Because if the biggest opposers were gone, it would be that much harder to stop him.

"Then why get rid of Tamlin, Feyre, and Lucien?" Mor asked Rhys as a continuation of the coversation, frowning.

"If Tamlin was my ally, I'd get rid of him as fast as I could, too," Rhys said, glaring at him with undisguised loathing. After a moment, he continued. "And maybe Feyre and Lucien didn't quite agree with Tamlin's opinions." He smirked at us, at me, and I forced myself to glare back.

"You all aren't even on the same side, are you?" Rowan asked us flatly. His shoulders seemed to sag.

"Give me Rhysand's head and I'll die happy," Tamlin growled from beside me, and my muscles tightened. Are you sure you don't want his wings?

Rhys cocked his head, staring at him. "My head's too pretty for your manor," he replied, violet eyes twinkling with wicked amusement. "And yours too unpleasant for mine. Still, I think I'd mount it on the wall for the fun of it."

A snarl from Tamlin, and the corner of my lip twitched as I fought amusement. If anyone noticed, they didn't comment on my slip. But Lucien was watching me closely, and I narrowed my eyes at him. The likliness of him telling Tamlin what was really going on had lessened since I'd come back-- something had happened when I was gone-- but the threat was still there.

Rowan sighed, and I turned back to him to see his green eyes closing for a brief second. The tattoos on his face were as dark as night, and for a brief moment, I wondered what the tattoos meant.

"Well, you're going to have to work together if you want to get home," he said, eyes flicking open again. "Because I'm not letting you leave until the person I'm looking for is safe in Terrasen again." Even as he said it, the ropes that bound us loosened and dropped to the ground around us. At least he was willing to trust us some.

We all tensed, ready to protest his words, when the large, intricately carved wooden doors slammed open. "Rowan," an unknown male said from the doorway, "The Thirteen have arrived earlier than expected."

Rowan's eyebrows shot up, and he walked toward him quickly. "Is it just the Thirteen, or are the others with them?" Who were the Thirteen?

"Manon brought Gavriel and the others back with her," the male reported. The doors closed and I could hear nothing more. With a frown, I looked back at the others, who all looked just as confused as I was. Still, we slowly stood up, and my muscles screamed in protest; I had been sitting for so long that my joints locked up.

Tamlin immediately tested the doors but no matter how much weight he put into pulling them open, the doors wouldn't budge. He growled in frustration and began circling the room, looking for other means if escape. Those in the Night Court-- minus Elain and Nesta-- seemed completely at ease. They knew that this Rowan character wouldn't hurt us-- not if he wanted us to look for someone.

"Who wants to bet that the person he's trying to save is his mate?" Cassian finally asked with a sly grin as he stood, stretching. "He has that same expression that Rhys had when Feyre lef--" he stopped himself as everyone turned to stare at him and his smile faded. He grumbled a string of curses. He knew he'd just screwed up a lot. There was no getting out of this one, no way to explain it.

Tamlin stopped circling the room. Lucien didn't bother to look shocked, and I knew I couldn't bring myself to feign innocence when my court-- my family-- was there in front of me. Rhys met my gaze, and he nodded once, slowly. He'd support whatever decision I made.

"Speaking of people who can't keep their mouths shut," Mor said pointedly, sighing. She looked between Cassian and Nesta, brown eyes narrowed. "Both of you should just take a vow of silence, I swear."

"What does he mean, Feyre?" Tamlin asked tightly, and I looked at Rhys again. His face was a cold, amused mask as I made up my mind. "Why does he say it as if you planned coming home? And why would Rhysand be so upset if we broke your bond?" His tone was growing more and more suspicious as I hesitated. A mistake. One I couldn't afford.

I had a split second decision to make. I glanced from Rhys to Cassian, then Mor and Azriel and Amren and my sisters, all in the blink of an eye. Then I turned to Tamlin and Lucien, furrowing my eyebrows and shaking my head as I backed away from my mate and our Court. "I don't know what he's talking about," I murmured, forcing myself to conjure the memories of Amarantha, of the Attor and the Wyrm, of Hybern and what he did to my sisters. Forced the scent of old devastation and fear back in place. I grabbed Tamlin's arm, positioned myself just slightly behind him as if I thought he could protect me-- a simple way to stroke his ego.

Rhys looked, for just a moment, devastated. But he covered it up as quickly as I covered up my own mistake and it went unnoticed by the other High Lord. "And I don't know why Rhysand would feel that way." A complete and utter lie. I just hoped he would believe it. Lucien, not daring to reveal that he knew of my treachery and alliance with Rhysand while Tamlin was this tense, glared at me but wisely stayed silent. Safe from the gaze of the High Lord of Spring, I smirked at him for a moment and slipped my mask on again.

Just because we were prisoners didn't mean I was exempt of my responsibilities. And until I did as I origially planned, until I completely broke Tamlin, I would play the game. Until then, this was just a part of my job.