Song of Shadows

Chapter Twenty-Six

Feyre

I take a deep breath and adjust the diamond and silver diadem digging into my scalp. Voices drift from the room beyond the elaborately carved doors. Rhysand stands beside me, dressed in his elegant black tunic and pants. You look beautiful as always. Are you ready?

I glance at my eldest sister, striking in her shimmering gown of dark gray, and lift an eyebrow. She nods, steel glinting in her eyes. I turn to Azriel and try not to wince. There is no kindness, no light in his eyes. More shadows than normal trail behind him. Darkness Incarnate. He gives me a slight nod. I push open the doors and enter into the meeting room atop the House of Wind. The eyes of the High Lords turn towards me and my family.

I stop at the head of the long table we had set up and sit down. Rhys and Azriel sit on my left, Nesta on my right. "Thank you all for coming." Rage has threatened to consume me almost every waking moment since Azriel returned without my sister. It is a struggle to keep my voice neutral.

Kallias turns his piercing blue gaze towards me. "Why did you summon us all so urgently, Feyre?"

"I wondered about that myself," Thesan interjects.

"As many of you are aware, my sister, Elain, is mated to Lucien," I say. "Her rejection of the bond caused tension between our Court and the Spring Court, as Lucien rejoined Tamlin prior to that. When my sister went to speak to Lucien in an attempt to soothe the conflict, she was imprisoned there against her will."

Looks of outrage bloom on Tarquin and Helion's faces. I cannot read Kallias or Thesan's faces. The High Lord of Winter rubs his chin. "The laws of our land are clear on that matter: A male can claim his mate. Taking her away by force would be enough justification for Tamlin to declare war on you. As all of our Courts stand between your lands, this could threaten us all."

Clenching my fists under the table, I nod. "We understand that, but--"

Helion shakes his head. "I can't believe Lucien would act like that, but I hope you don't mean to ask us to go to war again, Feyre. Not so soon after Hybern. Not over such a... small matter."

I bite back my angry retort as Rhysand's soothing warning comes down the bond. "No. We do not want to solve this with violence. It is the last thing Elain would want either," I snap. "I want to change the law that is keeping my sister imprisoned."

The room falls completely silent. "Those laws have existed since Prythian was first formed," Thesan says quietly.

I take a deep breath to steady my voice. Rising to my feet, I begin pouring each High Lord a glass of wine. "Yes, those laws have existed since the Courts were founded, but they were written millenia ago by ancient High Lords who could never have foreseen the changes our world has undergone."

My mate gives me an encouraging nod. Every pair of eyes follows me as I circle around the table, floating the glasses with my power. "Humans were once enslaved by our people, but many of them, my mate included, fought to free them. The king of Hybern recently destroyed the wall that has separated our peoples for five hundred years. Now, we are working to build peace with the humans here and on the continent.

"Before Rhysand decided to change his Court, there had never been a female Second or Third here. Before my mate decided to challenge tradition, there had never been a High Lady. Surely our predecessors could never have seen these changes coming. However, our world is changing, whether we accept it or not. Though we are immortal, if we do not change with the world, we will eventually be destroyed."

Tarquin lifts his glass to me in a small salute. I meet the wary gazes of Kallias, Helion, and Thesan. "The humans treat their women as little more than chattel, denying them many freedoms granted to the men. Under that archaic law, a mated female is little more than property to her mate. Some even interpret that law to extend to an unmated female belonging to her father. In that regard, we are no better than the humans." The other High Lords bare their teeth at that. I feel a glimmer of wicked delight at their wounded pride.

Nesta opens her mouth to say something, but I cut her off with a sharp glance. She returns my glare. Thesan exchanges a look with Kallias, then Helion. "What of the Illyrians within your lands? There are many unsettling rumors about them, particularly how they treat their females," Kallias says, raising his eyebrows.

"We are working with the Illyrians to change that," Rhysand says. "Surely after encountering my general, you can understand how stubborn they can be. I won't risk a civil war in my own lands, not after the heavy losses the Illyrians faced."

"What if Tamlin rejects our changing of the law?" Thesan says. "Will you go to war for your sister?"

"You say that Elain was taken against her will," Kallias says. "All we have is your word..."

Azriel pins the High Lord to his chair with his smoldering hazel eyes. The brilliant light flooding into the room seems to dim for a heartbeat. "I witnessed the entire thing. Lucien tried to kill me when I protected Elain from him losing control of his rage. He has been driven insane by the rejected bond. Tamlin intervened and ejected me from his lands, leaving Elain behind." His hollow voice chills my blood.

"I will raze his entire Court to the ground myself if he harms my sister," Nesta says quietly. I barely repress a shudder at the undercurrent of unearthly rage in her voice.

Tarquin gets to his feet. He waves his hand towards us. "It doesn't matter. What occurs between the Night and Spring Courts is none of our concern. If Feyre and Rhysand say they will not involve us, then I believe them."

"I do as well," Helion interjects.

"Feyre speaks true, however. These laws were from a time long before any of us were born, and I do not feel they have a place here any longer. I have done away with a long-standing tradition of how lesser faerie servants are treated in my lands," Tarquin continues. I give him a warm smile at this. He is making the changes he so wanted to make. "I say we change this law."

Thesan closes his eyes for a long moment before getting to his own feet. "I am in favor as well."

Kallias glances from Rhysand then back to the others before nodding. "Viviane would flay me alive if I refused to change this." A small smile tugs at the corners of his mouth.

Rhys lets out a chuckle. "I think it's the females that oppress us, Kallias."

Tension drains out of the room as the others join in the laughter. My mate winks at me as an official looking piece of paper appears on the table in front of us. "Let's get the stuffy, boring part out of the way, shall we?"