Acotar and Tog [Discontinued, Will be deleted]

Trust Me

For the first time in a long while, I didn’t know what was coming.

Feyre stood in the middle of the cramped room surrounded on all sides by Amarantha and her filth like a pack of rabid wolves waiting to be unleashed. When the floor quaked and Feyre began to sink ever lower into the ground, I was nervous with anticipation and questions. The only sure thought in my mind was the fear that I wouldn’t see her ascend back up.

I swallowed, willing my fear away so that I could be strong. For her, I had to be. I had vowed she would win and I wasn’t one to break a promise.

“Lucien.”

Feyre’s voice was a trembling gasp as she took in the Fox across the cell from her, a ragged metal gate separating them. She wanted to cross it, was even contemplating climbing it to reach her friend, but my eyes went straight for the opposite wall where three levers marked I, II, & III and an inscription on the wall sat in wait for their prey.

“Here, Feyre darling, you shall find your task,” Amarantha called. She stood at the edge of the pit much like she had when she sat to watch Feyre battle the Middengard Wyrm. Tamlin stood behind her with a hard look in his expression. I was tempted to punch him just to give Feyre a new expression to see on his face whenever she stared at him hoping for some kind of comfort.

“Simply answer the question by selecting the correct lever, and you’ll win,” Amarantha continued. “Select the wrong one to your doom. As there are only three options, I think I gave you an unfair advantage.” With a quick click of her fingers, the ceiling shuddered and twin sets of twisting blades began their descent from the chandeliers above the pit. “That is, if you can solve the puzzle in time.”

My stomach roiled as collectively, the three of us at stake in this trial realized the fate awaiting Feyre and Lucien in the pit should Feyre answer incorrectly.

My eyes scanned the riddle. It was lengthy and overly wordy, undoubtedly meant to stump Feyre’s supposedly simplistic human logic. That bitch wouldn’t let her breathe for one second in this hell mouth. The puzzle itself wasn’t challenging at its core, though. Strip away the dramatics and it was fairly straightforward. I had it worked out in less than a minute and knew that even if Feyre took longer, she could solve it quickly too.

Only, Feyre wasn’t concentrating. She shook as she stared open mouthed at the wall, her brow furrowed and already dripping in sweat, something I hadn’t expected of her despite the looming blades. Neither, apparently, had Amarantha.

“Something wrong?” Amarantha asked sounding genuinely curious.

Feyre didn’t reply. I opened myself up to her and could feel her blood pounding in her veins - my veins. Her mind was focused on nothing but the fear that had begun to cripple her, the saws that moved above her and Lucien’s head. I tried to reach her thoughts, but they had whirred together in such a blur that I was surprised to find I couldn’t crack through her mind’s barriers.

After several agonizing seconds in which I debated what to do, Lucien cried out, “Answer it!” He thrashed about on the floor shaking the chains with what strength Amarantha had returned to him and drawing Feyre’s attention away from where it should have been. “Feyre!”

Feyre continued to shake, but her mind went back to the wall where she remained unmoving from answering. I was beyond comprehension. Surely the Middengard Wyrm was a far mightier fear to face than a puzzle she was more than capable of solving? Yet, she looked so terrified, as if each word were a punishment. A small kernel of desperation rooted itself in my empty stomach betraying my hidden panic.

But then her mind slowed down as she made herself try to concentrate on the puzzle and suddenly, breaking in was easy. I leaned against her thoughts with the slightest touch and was in. The rush of emotions and words I had anticipated was a far cry from the sluggish churn I found hiding in her mind as she struggled with each word on the wall. Every syllable cried out in pain and it took her a complete minute to finish five words and even then I don’t think she knew what she’d read.