A Court Of Love And Family

Chapter 19

Feyre POV

We land on a balcony of the House of Wind and Rhys helps me over to a couch.

"Glad you could join us this time, Lady." Eris says from his seat.

"Nice to see you too, Eris." I reply sarcastically. "Care to tell us why you're here?"

"Still straight to the point I see. Don't care for small talk?"

"For someone who was in to much of a rush to go through Keir, you sure seem to have no problem wasting time."

"Fine. Now, I'd be lying if I said I didn't have a hand in my father's decision."

"What?!" We all exclaim.

"Only because it provides a cover for his death."

"Ah. So you've finally decided you want the throne, have you?" Rhys ponders.

"Yes. But my father is to smart to personally fight in a full scale war, he has his army for that and he knows it's safer to command from the sidelines."

"But he fought in the war against Hybern." I sate.

"In that case Hybern had been invading our lands for 50 years and he didn't particularly care if he saw the other side so long as Hybern was gone. This war, however, he wants to live to see the end of."

"Okay. So if Beron won't be on the battlefield how is this supposed to cover his death? What's your plan here Eris?" Mor questions.

"I already have some of my father's advisors working to convince him to personally challenge Tamlin to a duel. To the death. All you have to do is ensure Tamlin accepts the challenge and wins."

"How are we supposed to ensure Tamlin accepts the challenge? It's not like we can walk up to him and just tell him that Beron's going to challenge him to a duel." I say.

"When a challenge like this is given the challenged must be given 24 hours to make their decision. It's an ancient binding magic, if the challenger tries to force them to decide any sooner than the deadline something terrible happens." Rhys explains.

"Do we know what this terrible thing is?" I ask.

"No. Presumably it's something so horrible and terrifying that it had to be removed from all texts." Cassian shivers.

"Oh?" I raise my eyebrows and start to grin.

"Feyre, no. I know that face. That's your plotting face. And whatever it is you're plotting I can tell you right now it's a bad idea." Rhys says.

"Yeah, probably. Beron's not dumb enough to force Tamlin into a decision." I say, dissappointedly. "Anyway, if Tamlin defeats your father you'll stop the war and will cease attempts at expanding into the mortal lands?" I ask, turning to Eris.

"Of course. I have no interest in another devastating war and trade is a much more stable endeavour than expansion." Eris replies.

"Okay. So, we go forward as though we were preparing for war and bring troops to support Spring. Assuming the advisor's are successful in convincing Beron we ensure Tamlin accepts the challengs and is victorious. Then we hope the title transfers to Eris and not one of his brothers. If the advisor's are unsuccessful we could try to have Tamlin challenge Beron or we could just go to war." Rhys declares.

"I say we avoid war at all costs. Cauldron knows we've had a hard enough time keeping the Illyrians in line since the last war. If this actually results in war we could end up with full scale rebellion on our hands." Cassian responds.

"Agreed. If Beron doesn't challenge Tamlin we do everything in our power to convince Tamlin to challenge Beron. We can't afford another war." I add.

"Are you satisfied with that Eris?" Rhys asks.

"Yes, I'll see you on the battlefield." Eris replies, standing. "Oh, and congratulations, Lady." He adds before winnowing.