We waited outside the gates while a guard mounted a horse and galloped down the long, dusty road to the fortress itself. A second curtain wall lay around the bulky building. With our Fae sight, we could see asย thoseย gates opened, then another pair.
โHow did you evenย meetย him,โ I murmured to Elain as we lingered beneath the shade of the looming oaks outside the gate, โif heโs locked up in here?โ
Elain stared and stared at the distant fortress. โAt a ballโhis fatherโs ball.โ โIโve been to funerals that were merrier,โ Nesta muttered.
Elain cut her a look. โThis house has needed a womanโs touch for years.โ Neither of us said that it didnโt seem likely she would be the one.
Azriel kept a few steps away, little more than the shade of one of the oaks behind us. But Mor and Rhys โฆ they monitored everything. The guards whose fear โฆ the salty, sweaty tang of it grated on every nerve.
But they held firm. Held those ash-tipped arrows at us.
Long minutes passed. Then finally a yellow flag was raised at the distant fortress gates. We braced ourselves.
But one of the guards before us grunted, โHeโll come out to see you.โ
We were not to be allowed within the keep. To see their defenses, their resources.
The guardhouse was as far as theyโd allow us.
They led us inside, and though we tried to keep our otherness to a minimum โฆ The hounds leashed to the walls within snarled. Viciously enough that the guards led them out.
The main room of the guardhouse was stuffy and cramped, more so with all of us in there, and though I offered Elain a seat by the sealed window, she remained standingโat the front of our company. Staring at the shut iron door. I knew Rhys was listening to every word the guards uttered outside, his tendrils of power waiting to sense any turn in their intentions. I doubted the stone and iron of the building could hold any of us, certainly not together, but
โฆ Letting them shut us in here to wait โฆ It rubbed against some nerve. Made my body restless, a cold sweat breaking out. Too small, not enough airโ
Itโs all right, Rhys soothed.ย This place cannot hold you.
I nodded, though he hadnโt spoken, trying to swallow the feeling of the walls and ceiling pushing on me.
Nesta was watching me carefully. I admitted to her, โSometimes โฆ I have problems with small spaces.โ
Nesta studied me for a long moment. And then she said with equal quiet, though we could all hear, โI canโt get into a bathtub anymore. I have to use buckets.โ
I hadnโt knownโhadnโt even thought that bathing, submerging in water โฆ I knew better than to touch her hand. But I said, โWhen we get home, weโll
install something else for you.โ
I could have sworn there was gratitude in her eyesโthat she might have said something else when horses approached.
โTwo dozen guards,โ Azriel murmured to Rhys. A glance at Elain. โAnd Lord Graysen and his father, Lord Nolan.โ
Elain went still as a doe as footsteps crunched outside. I caught Nestaโs eye, read the understanding there, and nodded.
Any attempt to hurt Elain โฆ I did not care what I had promised my sister. Iโd leave Nesta to shred him. Indeed, my eldest sisterโs fingers had curledโas if invisible talons crowned them.
But the door banged open, andโ
The panting young man was so โฆ human-looking.
Handsome, brown-haired, blue-eyed, but โฆ human. Solidly built beneath his light armor, tallโperhaps a mortal ideal of a knight who would swoop a beautiful maiden onto his horse and ride off into the sunset.
So at odds from the savage strength of the Illyrians, the cultivated lethalness of Mor and Amren. From my own clawing and shreddingโand Nestaโs.
But a small sound came out of Elain as she beheld Graysen. As he gasped
for breath, scanning her from head to toe. He staggered toward her a stepโ
A broad, scar-flecked hand gripped the back of Graysenโs armor, hauling him to a stop.
The man who held the young lord fully entered the cramped room.
Tall and thin, hawk-nosed and gray-eyed โฆ โWhat is the meaning of this.โ We all stared at him beneath lowered brows.
Elain was shaking. โSirโLord Nolan โฆโ Words failed her as she again looked at her betrothed, who had not taken his earnest blue eyes from her, not for a heartbeat.
โThe wall has come down,โ Nesta said, stepping to Elainโs side.
Graysen looked to Nesta at that. Shock flared at what he beheld: the ears, the beauty, the โฆ otherworldly power that thrummed around her. โHow,โ he said, his voice low and raspy.
โI was kidnapped,โ Nesta answered coolly, not one flicker of fear in her eyes. โI was taken by the army invading these lands and turned against my will.โ
โHow,โ Nolan echoed.
โThere is a Cauldronโa weapon. It grants its owner power to โฆ do such things. I was a test.โ Nesta then launched into a sharp, short explanation of the queens, of Hybern, of why the wall had fallen.
When she finished Lord Nolan only demanded, โAnd who are your companions?โ
It was a gambleโwe knew it was. To say who we were, when we knew full well the terror ofย anyย Fae, let alone High Lords โฆ
But I stepped forward. โMy name is Feyre Archeron. I am High Lady of the Night Court. This is Rhysand, myโhusband.โ I doubtedย mateย would go over well as a term.
Rhys came to my side. Some of the guards shifted and murmured with terror. Some flinched at the hand Rhys liftedโto gesture behind him. โOur third in command, Morrigan. And our spymaster, Azriel.โ
Lord Nolan, to his credit, did not blanch. Graysen did, but remained steady. โElain,โ Graysen breathed. โElainโwhy are youย withย them?โ
โBecause she is our sister,โ Nesta answered, her fingers still curled with those invisible talons. โAnd there is no safer place for her during this war than with us.โ
Elain whispered, โGraysenโweโve come to beg you โฆโ A pleading glance at his father. โBoth of you โฆ Open your gates to any humans who can
get here. To families. With the wall down โฆ Weโthey believe โฆ There is not enough time for an evacuation. The queens will not send aid from the continent. But hereโthey might stand a chance.โ
Neither man responded, though Graysen now looked at Elainโs engagement ring. His blue eyes rippled with pain. โI would be inclined to believe you,โ he said quietly, โif you were not lying to me with your every breath.โ
Elain blinked. โIโI am not, Iโโ
โDid you think,โ Lord Nolan said, and Nesta and I closed ranks around Elain as he took a step toward us, โthat you could come toย myย house and deceive me with your faerie magic?โ
Rhys said, โWe donโt care what you believe. We only come to ask you to help those who cannot defend themselves.โ
โAt what gain? What risk of your own?โ
โYou have an arsenal of ash weapons,โ I said. โIโd think the risk to us is apparent.โ
โAnd to your sister as well,โ Nolan spat toward Elain. โDonโt forget to include her.โ
โAny weapon can hurt a mortal,โ Mor said blandly.
โBut she isnโt a mortal, is she?โ Nolan sneered. โNo, I have it on good authority that it was Elain Archeron who was turned Fae first. And who now has a High Lordโs son as aย mate.โ
โAnd who, exactly, told you this?โ Rhys said with a lift of the brow, not showing one ounce of ire, of surprise.
Steps sounded.
But we all went for our weapons as Jurian strolled into the guardhouse and said, โI did.โ