Chapter Text
VARADHA'S POV
The sun is setting when he arrives, its dimmed light with different hues of orange and yellow painting a picturesque view visible from the palace as it slowly goes behind the ice capped mountains at the sunset palace of the Dawn Court.
He neatly tucks his wings and conceals them carefully in the eyes of others. He is not used to showing off his wings to anyone else, unless it is to intimidate someone as most of the fae fear his wings. A lot of guests have already arrived at the palace. Fae from the three courts all gathered together mingling, awaiting the start of the feast.
Tonight marks the symbolic death and rebirth of the Sun. Where the hours of the night are much longer than day. The Winter Solstice. It is a very important day for the fae people as it also symbolizes the rebirth of light. A symbol of hope for many of the fae people. The main reason that he is here is because he symbolizes the night. He is meant to start the ritual as the winter solstice starts.
He fiddles with his mask nervously as he waits for the newly crowned Lord of the Dawn Court and Lord of the Day Court. It is customary for the three of them to start the ritual together as they represent each race of the fae kingdom. He has never met them before as he is the youngest to be crowned as Lord since his father passed away a decade ago. He had only known their fathers as they had governed through the whole fae kingdom peacefully for more than a decade now. The other Lords stepped down to let their heir take their throne only recently so Varadha has not met them yet.
The sun sets completely and he feels the nerves that settled over him through the journey ease as the night descends. He moves to put his mask on, ties it at the back of his head and decides to go into the palace to find the two people he needs for the ritual.
He stops mid way into the palace as he feels the flap of huge wings moving towards him. He squints at the full force of the wind brought down by the wings and shields his face with his left arm.
As he opens his eyes fully he can't help but gawk at the sight in front of him. A tall muscular man only wearing the ceremonial outfit of the Dawn Court in the shade of cream with red details on the sides, a stark contrast to his beautifully tanned skin, stands behind him. His wings, the color of rust carefully tucked behind him looking soft to the touch as it slowly disappears from sight. He wears a thin black leather strap across his muscular chest and another around his bicep. He also wears a single necklace on his neck bearing the stone of the Dawn Court. The Garnett. Its red color symbolizes their strength and prowess when it comes to battle. His eyes move to his face and he can't believe what he sees. The man has the most gorgeous face he had ever laid eyes on. The color of his eyes are a darker shade of red, almost the color of blood and are rimmed with kohl that made them even more sharper and intimidating to look at, under thin lashes. His nose shape is perfectly proportioned to his face down to his mouth and his lips are pink and plump surrounded by a perfectly trimmed beard and mustache that accentuate his jawline.
He has never been this mesmerized by a person ever in his life. In fact he has never felt this kind of attraction towards anyone this strong in all of his existence. Until this man right here in front of him. Making him feel things he never even knew existed within him.
He tries to have a little peek inside of his mind to try and get to know his thoughts and he is left with a void. Nothing.
He can block me out?
Then his eyes go down again to his necklace.
Oh it must be the necklace that protects him from me. Impressive.
“So you must be Varadha. The powerful lord of the Night Court” the man extends a hand towards him to shake hands with him, pulling him out of his own thoughts.
He straightens himself keeping his face void of any emotion. He has gotten used to not showing his emotions when he became the Lord of the Night Court. He cannot afford to get swayed by his own emotions especially when he is the one tasked to uphold justice in the fae realm.
“Yes I am. And you are?” He extends out his hand to the man before him. Varadha’s hand clasps with his as they make a formal hand shake. The man's hand is rough, almost calloused to the feel in contrast to his soft hand. Calluses that talk to a history of using a hand held weapon. An urge to caress the hand enters his mind and he takes his hand away to prevent it from happening.
“ Devaratha, the High lord of the Dawn Court. A pleasure to meet you”, Varadha feels the gaze of the man- Devaratha- shift a little and he has to physically control his expression again to not show his surprise at the subtle appreciation in the gaze that travels over him. Devaratha doesn't make it too obvious and immediately starts herding Varadha into the palace proper to get to the ceremony circle.
“ We should move towards the circle, Ravi must have already gone there once he realized we hadn't reached the palace yet” Devaratha says, his words conveying his relationship with the lord of the day court.
They're friends then?
They walk past the main courtyard overlooking the ceremony circle and enter the corridor that takes them to the circle as Deva starts to put on his own mask.
“ Was your journey here comfortable? I heard there was a storm forming over the southern seas” Devaratha's voice sounded carefree and Varadha felt surprised all over again. The previous lord had never cared much beyond pleasantries with Varadha, whether due to the fact that he was considered Varadha competent or because of the fact that he had always looked preoccupied with thoughts regarding his kingdom.
This new lord seems different, he is more open than previous one or more precisely more earnest in his words. Varadha answers with a hum and Devaratha doesn't push him for an answer beyond that. They reached the circle and like Devaratha had theorized the Lord of the Day court had already reached the circle and was waiting for them.
“ Took you long enough Devaratha, I was wondering if I should send a search party for you” The lord says to Devaratha and before he can answer back, the lord turns to Varadha to introduce himself,
“ Raviraju, High lord of the Day court. It is a pleasure to finally meet you lord Varadha. I hope your travel here has been safe” he says and Varadha suddenly realizes that Devaratha had not used his formal title when he called Varadha by his name and somehow Varadha had not minded at all.
“ It is a pleasure to meet you as well Lord Raviraju”, Devaratha spends their exchange stealing glances at Varadha. Raviraju moves forward with his hand out and Varadha puts his hand out expecting a formal hand shake again but instead the lord puts his forehead to his knuckles in greeting. Varadha feels his eyes widen a bit and Raviraju moves back, his face bearing a teasing smile. Varadha almost thinks that the smile was aimed at him before he realizes that it was aimed at Devaratha who looks a little ticked off at Raviraju. They both get into a conversation just with their faces and Varadha gets curious on what they were so intensely communicating about.
He somehow tries to figure out what Raviraju is thinking about. He stops when he realizes that Raviraju wears a necklace, which bears the stone of the Day Court. The Blue Topaz. The stone strikingly matches the color of his expressive eyes which also compliments the ceremonial outfit of the Sky Court. He watches him as he starts to put on his mask for the ritual.
Hmmm. He is also wearing the necklace too.
Their conversation and Varadha's observation of them comes to a halt as the ceremony circle comes to life beside them. An unearthly glow envelops them as the lights take to the sky, painting it in hues of green and blue in waves and Varadha can't help the awe that takes over him at the sight, regardless of how many times he has seen it. He turns to the other two after a second only to find Devaratha looking at him instead of the lights. Raviraju clears his throat and Varadha moves his gaze to him but not before he catches irritation flying past Devaratha's face.
“ We should get started with the ceremony. Wouldn't want the fae gathered here to shout at us to start it you know?” Raviraju with amusement and Varadha takes his place on the circle as the other two do on their sides.
Varadha starts with his part of the ritual, he conjures the lights into his hands, a flame of gray and blue. He takes the flame, places his hand on the circle and the circle starts pulsing with the light and slowly fades away leaving swirls of dark smoke in its wake. The lights in the sky disappear and the entire courtyard gets plunged into darkness. He moves and stands in his part of the circle again, done with his part of the ritual.
He waits for Devaratha to start with his part of the ritual and is not disappointed when lights flare up again in hues of russet orange and various reds. The lights surround Devaratha, he hears a couple of sighs of awe from the courtyard and he can't help but agree. The lights enhance whatever beauty that Devaratha has into something even more awe-inspiring. His wings peek out from behind him in their beautiful sunset color and it almost looks like the flames themselves were flowing from his wings.
Varadha watches Deva move his hands downward to the circle with grace and the circle slowly lights up with the colors of orange and red. The waves of color paint the sky again but this time with the colors of blue, gray, red and orange.
Both Varadha and Devaratha turn towards Raviraju and spread their hands out in front of themselves. A golden beam of light connects both of their hands and slowly two other lines form to connect them with Ravi. Fires light up the beams and they move up from their hands into the sky forming a perfect triangle of varying colors. The triangle pulses with light thrice and dissolves into a shower of light. Screams of joy sound through the air and all three of them turn to the courtyard as the sun peaks back into the horizon, staining everything that the light touches red and bowing to the fae there in thanks. The ceremony is done, the sun has reborn and a new cycle begins in the fae world.
Varadha turns to the other two getting out of the bow and finds Devaratha walking his way,
“Vara- Lord Varadha, I apologize for not using your title before. I meant no disrespect”, Varadha nods his acceptance and a weight seems to have lifted from Devaratha's shoulders.
“ Would you be amenable to joining me and Ravi at the feast tonight? I am aware that you generally keep to your quarters for the night on the day of the ceremony but I figured I would ask you to know” Devaratha says hopefully and Varadha almost feels regretful to reject the proposal but he had never taken part in the feast and he wasn't going to do it this year either.
“ I apologize Lord Devaratha”, Varadha wonders if it's the sun rise or if there was a blush on Devaratha's face, “ I have to reject your invitation, I am not that fond of crowds and would like to rest from the journey I made here”
Disappointment takes over Devaratha's face before a smile comes back to his face,
“ It's alright Lord Varadha, I hope you rest well. Please let me know if you need anything for your stay here” Varadha hums in assent and Devaratha turns to leave. He watches him walk to Raviraju and an exchange happens between the two. They both turn to walk away when Raviraju catches his eye and nods at him. He nods back to him and watches them walk away. Somehow throughout all of this Varadha realized that the only thing bothering him was the fact that Devaratha had shifted to calling him Lord Varadha and not Varadha alone. He moved towards the courtyard outside the palace as he opened his wings to take flight.
DEVA'S POV:
Deva had been preparing for the ceremony when he had gotten the news. He had immediately rushed to the training grounds only to find Aadhya already there, maintaining a strong barrier to prevent the tampering of the scene.
He lands on the ground near the training grounds and walked to the barrier. He laid his hand on the barrier to let her know about his presence so that she would let him in. Aadhya smiled at him as he entered the barrier.
“You’re late brother” Aadhya’s smile fades as it turns into a grim expression etched on her face. He moved towards Aadhya putting his arms around her shoulders while holding the back of her head to kiss the top of it.
“There has been an incident. Our general has been killed in cold blood here at our own training camp. Come I’ll show you” Aadhya wraps one arm around his waist as she starts to walk taking him with her towards the training camp passing through the soldiers sleeping quarters heading for the mess hall where the meetings for battle strategies and planning are held.
Deva is shocked at the news. He was only told that there was an emergency by one of their soldiers, which is why he went straight to their training camp. He did not even realize that there was an incident of a murder like this and it was his general that was killed.
Aadhya opened the door to the mess hall as three of their soldiers carefully examine the whole mess hall.
“Please leave us,” Aadhya ordered the soldiers. Each of them bowed at her before heading out of the mess hall.
The expressions of anger and confusion written across his face as he takes in the crime scene before him.
Who would dare do this to his general?
He crouches down to look more closely. General Vijay was lying dead on the floor with his own blood pooled around him. His throat seems to have been slit deep that had caused him to bleed out and die in this room. A dagger lying by his side that bears purple markings around its handle. He gets up and moves towards the table and there are parchments scattered all around. All of them do not seem to contain any significant information regarding the reason for murder except for one parchment. It's mixed in the middle but there is no denying what it is.
“Has anyone seen who did this?” Deva looks at Aadhya.
“No one else was here at the mess hall when it happened. Everybody else was sleeping and it was dark. No one heard anything. It was a quiet and swift kill.” Aadhya crosses her arms, brows furrowed.
“I want this mess hall cleaned and all that parchment on the table needs to be taken to my quarters. We need to give him at least a proper funeral and you need to tell his family about the news.”
Aadhya opens the door to fetch the three soldiers that were investigating the scene a while ago. She talks to them outside as Deva ponders on a gut feeling he had when he saw that parchment.
The three soldiers walked inside the hall to start cleaning it. Aadhya moves towards him, hooking her hand in his left arm.
“Let’s talk about the other details over lunch. I figured you haven’t eaten yet so I cooked lunch for us. Let them do their jobs for now”
Aadhya gives him a side glance smiling a bit but it did not reach her eyes. Her eyes seemed glossy, almost like she was about to cry.
He just gave a simple nod at her as an answer as they continued to walk out of the mess hall passing through the sleeping quarters. They pass by the training grounds for new soldiers and then they head straight for the courtyard passing by the fountain in the middle and finally going up a few steps to the palace door.
As they got inside the palace, they went into the left corridor that leads them to the dining room. The table is already set by the maids in the palace and Aadhya gestures for him to sit down by the table. Steaming hot dal is brought by the maids and pickle is set aside for his more spicy palate. Deva is thankful it's something light. He doesn't think he could eat anything heavy after coming from the crime scene.
“So did you notice anything unusual at the crime scene?” Aadhya asked as she poured dal over the rice on her plate.
“Nothing much I might need to investigate more into the parchments left on the table. It seems to be connected to why he was killed”
Deva tries to hide the fact that he has suspicions on why their general was killed. At least for now it must be kept a secret until he knows for sure if his instincts are right.
Aadhya did not push further and they continued to eat in silence. He finishes eating quickly and gets up to wash his hands when Aadhya speaks up again,
“ Brother, there was something I found that I hid before anyone else could see it” Deva turns towards her ready to ask her why she would tamper with the crime scene but his words die in his throat on seeing what was in her hands. Feathers as dark as the night sky lay in her hand.
Deva feels his heart speed up and has to swallow his nerves. There are only some people in the fae world with those feathers. None of them live in the Dawn Court. They live in the night court and the most famous one of them with wings like the night was the High lord of the Night Court. Who is supposed to be here in the Dawn Court for the ceremony today. Deva hopes the implications that his mind comes to are wrong. The courts can't afford another war but they would have no choice if one of their own Lords started it.
Ravi’s POV:
The party after the ritual is already in full swing. It is a shame that the High Lord of the Night Court could not join them. Ravi had been looking forward to it, especially after noticing that Deva was mesmerized by his presence. He has known Deva since they were just teens and he does know when Deva gets affected by someone else. He tried to tease him through it. Greeting the Lord of the Night Court with respect but then teasing Deva afterwards with that smile and it seemed to throw off Lord Varadha a little bit. He did not mean to offend the Lord of the Night Court. He did it only to confirm his suspicions about Deva and he was right, his smile had ticked him off when he looked at him.
Ravi had almost wanted to tease him then about it verbally but settled with teasing him with his expressions instead. He knew Lord Varadha was curious about their conversation but he made no move to try and ask them so Ravi let it be. Soon, the ceremonial circle lit up and they moved to their respective positions on the circle. Right before the ceremony had started , he saw Deva staring at the night lord again and couldn't help but smile at it. He had turned towards the lord of the Night once Deva looked away from him and was surprised to find him staring at Deva too.
The ritual had begun then and the world had plunged into darkness at the night Lord's command. He had waited for Deva to begin so that he could confirm his suspicions again and was almost giddy to find them right. The lord of the Night almost stared in awe at Deva throughout his part of the ceremony and Ravi quickly decided then to dedicate some part of this visit trying to get them together.
That's why he had suggested to Deva to formally invite the Lord of the Night to the feast but unfortunately for him and Deva, that had been a bust. It seemed the rumors of the Night lord never attending the feast had been real. Which was how Ravi was in the position where he is now, sipping his wine while listening to Deva wax poetics about the night lord, drunk and mourning the fact that he wasn't there with them. It's a good thing he had the foresight to cast a barrier around them when Deva had started to get drunk or else come tomorrow morning all three courts would be buzzing with news of the love struck lord of the Dawn Court.
He waits for Deva to complete his new spiel about the Night Lord's eyes before he decides to attack him with the truth,
“Deva, you know you haven't even seen his face yet?” Deva's face turns contemplative,
“ I bet his face is just as beautiful as his eyes! Oh those silver eyes reminds me of the weapons at the forge,” He exclaims drunkenly and Ravi stores his words away to tease him the next day, Deva and his obsession of the forge,
“ Are you sure? Maybe he isn't after all. Oh poor Deva, what shall he do if the night lord isn't as beautiful as he thinks?” He asks teasingly and almost regrets it as Deva lurches to his feet,
“ You know what I am going to prove you wrong. We both are going to his room right now to see him!” He declare and Ravi gets to his feet to stop him,
“ And what will we tell him when he asks us why we are there? Tell him we came to gawk at his beauty?” Ravi asks exasperatedly,
“No, we tell him we came to check on him because………because of the murder!” Deva says and Ravi feels all the high he was feeling leave him, dread taking its place.
“Murder? What do you mean Deva?”
Deva seems to have sobered up once he realized what he said to him. He turns to Ravi again this time seriously,
“ I'll brief you about it on the way, we need to go talk to the night lord” Deva says gravely.
“Why Deva? The night lord has no jurisdiction in the matters of the Dawn court”, Ravi says questioningly.
“We found a dagger, Ravi. A dagger with purple markings.” The information floors Ravi and he has to tamper down on the terror he feels.
“Purple markings? Like from the demon kingdom? That makes no sense Deva, their army is in shambles, they would not risk a war now” Ravi tries to rationalize it, hoping against hope that it wasn't the demon kingdom.
“Ravi, do you remember after the war which court stored all the demon weapons?” Deva asks and a shiver goes down Ravi’s spine when he remembers,
“ The night court” he answers, fear tinging his words,
“The night court, so let's go meet the lord shall we?” They leave the feast and Ravi has a bad feeling that this case will drag all of their lives into turmoil and hopes he is very very wrong.
Ravi follows Deva as they walk to the room designated for the Lord of the Night in the palace. Deva knocks thrice at the door to make his presence known.
“Lord Varadha? I am sorry for disturbing you at this hour but we need to talk to you.” Deva says through the door after knocking.
No answers come from the room. Not even the sound of slight movement.
Maybe he is already sleeping?
Deva tries to turn the knob only to find it unlocked. He continues to open the door of the room only for them to find that the Lord of the Night Court is not in his room. The bed is still perfectly made almost as if no one had used it.
Where is he? Has he left already without saying goodbye?
The dread Ravi feels starts to slowly eat him up on the inside.
Third Person’s POV:
The night before the winter solstice
The training camp at the Dawn Court is quite peaceful at this time of the night. All of the soldiers slept in their own quarters. Almost everyone is asleep except for one. General Vijay.
General Vijay scrambles through the documents that are stored in the office. The documents taken out on the mess hall table as the general frantically searches through it.
A shadow is seen passing through outside the mess hall waiting for its turn to make a move on the general.
Beads of sweat form on General Vijay’s forehead as he notices the shadow. Before the general can do anything, the shadow suddenly takes form in front of him, appearing from thin air. A person, their face hidden inside a hooded coat.
Before the general could scream for help the person moves swiftly, slitting his throat deep, letting him fall down the floor.
The dagger, now used, was thrown onto the floor along with a single feather as dark as the night.
The person disappears out of thin air as quickly as they appeared as the general slowly bleeds out to death on the floor.