Chapter Text
Sitting around the table I eyed Rhys, who was sitting casually as ever as he listened to Tarquin speaking about his reconstruction efforts. I zoned out a bit as I looked at him, until I spied Cresseida looking towards me, watching me watching Rhys. I quickly looked away and tried to make it seem as if I just zoned out randomly, and wasn’t specifically staring at the High Lord of the Night Court.
I’m sure I failed miserably.
It was just hard sometimes, not to stare at him. He was the most beautiful man I’d ever seen, but beyond that, his presence seemed to take up the whole room. Tarquin was an attractive male, and when alone with him, it was easy to imagine him in a more sexual manner. Until he was in a room with Rhys. Then he might as well be an ugly wallflower.
Rhys just screamed sexuality and sin. He drew the eye right to him. I felt guilty about the thoughts I’ve had about him. It wasn’t so long ago I with was Tamlin, in love with Tamlin, yet when I was with Rhys I tended to forget all about him. Regardless of the fact I had left him for good, I still felt guilty. Like Amarantha was right about my inconsistent human heart when I thought about Rhys. Like I was a traitor, a whore. Moving on too quickly. Aside from that, Rhys was my friend. He was doing everything he could to help me heal, and I was repaying him by thinking of him in ways I don’t know if he would welcome.
Sometimes I felt like Rhys did indeed want me. Sometimes I felt like it was impossible. He just got away from Amarantha, how could he possibly want to bed another female so soon? Would it make him uncomfortable to know I thought about him that way? Or would he welcome it? Why would he want me, if he was ready? I couldn’t believe someone like Tamlin would want me, let alone another High Lord, and the most powerful and beautiful of them all.
But the way he looked at me, the flirting, the effort he put in to help me, to bring me closer, and the flashes of emotion I caught sometimes…the jealously…I couldn’t be imagining that, could I?
As I was contemplating this, I felt a wash of magic. Familiar magic. I sat up straight just as Rhys and Tarquin jumped to their feet.
I froze. Completely froze in place. The spring scented wind hit me right before I heard steps and yelling as the doors to the dining room were thrown open.
Rhys was in front of me all of a sudden and Amren at my side, pulling me up out of my chair, just as Tamlin walked into the room, Lucien trailing behind him.
I looked at Tamlin and the fury that hit me was surprising. I hadn’t seen him since he locked me up in the manor, but my anger at him had been buried under everything else. Watching him storm into Tarquin’s dining room, brought that right back. Not sadness or helplessness, but pure, stinging fury.
“Tamlin. I don’t believe you sent me any kind of word announcing your arrival. What could possibly bring you to storming into my palace, uninvited?” Tarquin asked him in a hard voice.
Tamlin snarled at him in return, “When I heard my fiancée, who’d been kidnapped by Rhysand, was not only here, but that you were hosting them, like she wasn’t a captive-“
“I’m not one.” I snarled back. Tamlin flinched and looked at me, his face contorting in pain. “I sent you a letter-“
“You don’t know what you’re saying Feyre, he’s messed with your mind!” Tamlin implored me and I scoffed in response.
“Oh, please! Rhys hasn’t touched my mind, other than to teach me how myself.” I raised an eyebrow as my talons touched upon his shield. The flinch and wide eyed shock and horror he gave in response were worth every second.
“Rhys rescued me. From you. You, who locked me up like a prisoner! After I had just gotten free from Amarantha’s dungeon only a few months prior.” I spat at him. Rhys placed a hand on my back to steady me and Tamlin focused in on that.
“I was trying to keep you safe! From him! You would never have left me otherwise! I know he’s playing with your mind, Feyre. Probably you don’t even realize it, it’s so insidious. But Rhys can’t be trusted, Feyre, he’s a monster! You saw what he did Under the Mountain!” Tamlin gave me a look like I was too stupid to understand. His constant belittlement still in tact, clearly.
I shook my head in disbelief, “I saw what he was like Under the Mountain, all right. I saw him try to help and save me at every opportunity, while you sat on your ass and ignored me. He tried to kill Amarantha to protect me, while you did nothing until you were already free and I was dead. He felt me having a panic attack at the wedding, and came immediately when he heard me calling for help. And again, when you locked me in the manor, he heard my distress and pain and saved me. It was you who wouldn’t let me do anything or go anywhere, locking me up, preventing me from living in any real way! Rhys is the one helping me heal. Helping me train, which you refused me! At every opportunity, you tried to hold me down. Keep me dependent on you. While Rhys has helped me fly. Helped me become strong and independent and free again! You got what you wanted out of me, getting your powers back, and then you wanted me to be a pretty doll to sit beside you. But that was never me, Tamlin. That was never going to be me. We just don’t work, together. We’re too different. We want different things.”
My long winded speech had caused those around to look on wide eyed and shocked. None more than Lucien and the sentries from Spring who’d accompanied him and Tamlin.
“No!” Tamlin growled. “No, I refuse to accept that. I know you love me, Feyre! You broke the curse, we were meant to be!”
I actually rolled my eyes at that. “First of all, you sent me home before I could break the curse. I beat Amarantha’s bargain. Her riddle. Not your curse. You can’t rewrite the narrative here. And I did love you. Or I thought I did. But not anymore. Not after what you did to me. I couldn’t love anyone who tried to control me in such a way, to misunderstand me in such a way that they could think locking me up was okay. It’s not. It’s abusive, Tamlin. Just like you ordering me around like I was your pet and not your fiancée. Not letting me go out, not allowed an ounce of independence, not letting me help with anything, and refusing to even talk to me. Just doing what you want. As always! Letting your temper control you until you blew up a room with me in it!”
Tamlin actually flinched at that, remembering the red splattered walls as I often did, I’m sure.
“Feyre-“ he tried to implore me but I cut him off. “We’re over, Tamlin. I’m sorry, but I can’t be with you anymore. We just don’t work. We want different things. I’m happy at the Night Court. Please don’t come after me again.”
“How could you possibly be happy at the Night Court? With those monsters?!” He growled.
“Tam, maybe-“ Lucien tried to interject, but Rhys speaking caused him to stop.
“Monsters? That’s rich coming from a literal beast, Tamlin. Maybe if you hadn’t treated Feyre so beastly, in fact, she would still be with you. But alas, you showed your true colors before you could trap her as your wife.” Rhys sneered at him. I could feel the anger churning inside him. Like it had pressurized as he listened to us and now the top had blown off, letting it out.
Tamlin growled in response, “Only because you came and stole her away!”
Tamlin’s eyes widened a second later. Too late. He basically just admitted to wanting to trap me into a marriage so I couldn’t leave even if I wanted to.
Everyone was looking at him with disbelief and disgust. Even Lucien. Rhys chuckled, “What can I say? When a gorgeous female calls to me for help saving her from a dreadful beast, I’m inclined to assist! Ever the knight in shining armor, of course.” He purred and bowed with a flourish. For the benefit of his audience, of course.
Tamlin made to more forward, claws out, face partially shifted already, when he froze. Darkness swirled around Rhys. The damper on his power lifted slightly, while his mental talons held Tamlin in place, preventing him from attacking.
“Feyre doesn’t belong to you, Tamlin. She is free. She is her own person. Able to make her own decisions. All of Prythian would side with her, the Cursebreaker, over you, I’m sure. Aside from that, she is part of the Night Court, not Spring. As it was always meant to be.”
That got my attention. What did he mean by that? Always meant to be?
But Rhys continued on in my defense, “She is no longer involved with you, in any way. I suggest you adjust to this reality. She is completely safe and happy where she is. Maybe you should begin focusing on your lands and people. Hybern is coming, Tamlin. You can only stick your head in the sand so long, eventually, you’ll need to make a choice. As High Lord, I do hope you make the right one for your people.”
“He’s right, Tamlin. We can ally in this war, fight Hybern, but you need to get yourself under control. Storming another High Lord’s palace and lands is not the way to go about it. Nor is trying to entrap the female who saved us all from Amarantha!” Tarquin added, a low growl underlining his voice.
Tamlin snarled at them both, “I can’t believe this. You might have everyone else fooled, Rhys, but I know you too well for that. You’ve done something to Feyre to make her act this way!”
I rolled my eyes as I scoffed at that. “Are you delusional?! I’ve always been this way! From the second you kidnapped me to Prythian! I was broken after Under the Mountain and let you and Ianthe treat me like a doll because I didn’t have the energy to fight it. But that’s not me. Anyone who claims to know or love me, would have known that wasn’t me! But you didn’t even seem to realize, or care, that I was wasting away to nothing right in front of you. I was a ghost! And you just let it happen. And now you say that’s not me? As a human, I fought you at every turn, trapped the Suriel, killed a Naga, went Under the Mountain, killed the Middengard Wyrm, and beat Amarantha at her own game!”
Tamlin was just shaking his head in denial. I was a bit flabbergasted that he didn’t seem able to confront reality.
“Leave, Tamlin. I don’t want to see you again.” I told him, trying to put some hard finality to my words.
Tamlin just shook his head in impotent fury. He may have tried to move but Rhys was preventing him from attacking anyone. Finally, he winnowed away. Leaving Lucien and his sentries behind.
“Feyre, I’m so sorry.” Lucien breathed out. “Since you left, Tam’s lost it. I don’t think he’s going to let this go. Be careful.”
“You don’t need to go back with him, Lucien.” I told him, sympathy in my eyes.
He chuckled sadly in response, “Where else would I go? Besides, someone needs to try to help the people of Spring. They deserve better.” He said quietly.
“They do.” Rhys agreed. “Tamlin would be best served focusing on them and helping prepare for the inevitable invasion from Hybern.”
“Do you really think it’s inevitable?” Lucien asked, turning to me to confirm. It warmed my heart a bit that he clearly still trusted my word.
I nodded, “It is. War is coming, Lucien. The only chance we’re going to have against their numbers is in unifying Prythian. That includes Spring. If there’s anything you can do…”
Lucien nodded thoughtfully, “I’ll do what I can.”
I walked over to him with a slight smile, grabbing him in a hug. “Thank you.” I told him.
He chuckled, “You look so much better. You’re really happy, you promise?”
I pulled back to look him in the eyes, so he could see the truth to my words, “I am. Or at least, I’m getting there. Rhys and…well, his people, have been helping me heal. I’ve already come a long way. There’s a bit more work to do there, I know, but I don’t know what I’d have done without Rhys.”
“Hard to believe, but the results speak for themselves I suppose.” Lucien smirked, shaking his head.
“Feyre gives herself too little credit. She helped herself in all the ways that matter.” Rhys told him. I blushed in response and Lucien raised an eyebrow at me.
He looked between the two of us, and whatever he saw or gleaned, caused his eyes to go wide and his jaw to drop. “You’re-“ he started but then froze. He relaxed a second later but his eyes darted between us before he shook his head. I wasn’t sure what that was about, but now wasn’t the time to ask.
“I better get back. I’m sure the manor has already been ripped to pieces.” Lucien winced. I heard Rhys scoff in the background. He wasn’t wrong, Tamlin’s destructive tendencies were terrible.
“If you need help, or go get out, at any point, please don’t hesitate to send me word. Rhys, can you give him some paper spelled to find me, just in case?” I asked him. He nodded immediately and produced a paper and pen he handed to me.
I insisted Lucien hold on to it if he needed to reach me, for anything. As he prepared to winnow back to Spring, one of the sentries I recognized, Hart, spoke up.
“Lady Feyre. I’m deeply sorry we never intervened between you and Lord Tamlin. We wanted to, many times. We should have, regardless of his status as High Lord and whatever punishment it would have brought. It was cowardly of us not to intercede. You have my apologies and…my support. I will ensure the other sentries and soldiers know what is coming, and what side we should be on when it does. For whatever good it will do, I am with you, Cursebreaker.” He bowed his head and the other sentries with him all did the same.
I smiled gently at them, “Thank you, Hart. I appreciate that, but I know how difficult it would have been for you to do so. Lucien can contact me at any time. We intend to fight for Prythian against Hybern. I hope Tamlin will come to see the truth of things, but it’s good to know you will be there to help. If you need help yourself, please, don’t hesitate to communicate with Lucien to contact me.”
After they’d left, I sagged in place. Rhys came up and supported me. “You were incredible, Feyre darling.”
I gave a low chuckle in response, “I didn’t feel very incredible.”
In my mind I heard his next words, “I could feel your rage, how hard it was to hold your powers back. That alone was incredible to see, your control was impeccable. You managed to keep them secret despite your emotions. You also told off Tamlin and got his emissary and sentries to side with you over their High Lord. That’s certainly unprecedented.”
I could sense he wasn’t done, but Tarquin came up at that moment.
“Rhysand, Feyre, please accept my deepest apologies. I don’t know how he got past my wards and guards, or how he knew you were even here, but I intend to find out and I promise you, appropriate action will be taken.” He looked to Cresseida as she came up.
“I also want to assure you that despite my words before, I did not alert Tamlin or anyone else you are here. I can certainly see why you left. And I commend you for that, Feyre. Too many women stay in abusive relationships, seeing no way out. The Lady of Autumn being a prime example. I’m thankful you were able to escape and I wouldn’t put that in jeopardy, I swear.”
I could see her sincerity and told her, “I appreciate that, Cresseida. I believe you, as well. I don’t think, however Tamlin found out where I was, that it came from one of you.”
Tarquin and Cresseida both nodded and we spoke some more about enforcing the wards and protection going forwards before we retired for the night.
Rhys walked me back to my room and saw me inside. He went right to the decanter on the table and poured us both a glass of wine.
I took it from him and sipped on it while he led me out to the balcony. He leaned on the railing as I watched him.
“You defended the Night Court. Defended me. To Tamlin.” He said in a low tone. He was looking up at the stars shining over the sea.
“Of course I did.” I murmured back as I stepped up beside him. Our arms brushing as I leaned onto the railing and looked up at the constellations above us.
I felt his attention shift from the stars to me. But I kept my eyes on the skies.
“I wouldn’t have thought such a thing possible, not too long ago.” He huffed in amusement. He turned to me, laying a hand on my arm.
“Thank you, Feyre.” He kissed my cheek then, I swore I felt it all the way down to my toes. I tried to control the color flooding my face.
“You don’t need to thank me. Like you said, I’m part of the Night Court now. I’ll defend it with everything I have.” I told him sincerely.
The stars in his eyes seemed to explode. Filling his eyes with wonder and satisfaction.