The tent functioning as a prison cell was plush - more plush than its prisoner deserved. Shadows on the wall danced and leaped in the dim light cast from the crackling camp fire outside. It illuminated barely a sliver of the interior, a flickering strip which revealed Nyx on his knees, strapped around a beam in the centre.

When Fiona entered he looked up, his expression quickly changing to one of disgust as he recognised his visitor. Nyx picked his wings off the ground where they had been resting, and flared them out proudly, sitting straight. 

"Come to gloat, have we?"

She did not give him the dignity of an answer. Nyx's lip curled as they watched one another, Fiona with that sharp, omniscient expression that meant she was registering every emotion as it crossed him.

"I wish you had just listened to me, and gone home when I told you to," Nyx sneered up at her, shuffling as far forward as he could manage.

"You mean when you tried to manipulate me," Fiona corrected him, raising an eyebrow.

Malice bloomed in his eyes. "When I did what needed to be done. At any cost required," he fired back. "If you had left when I told you to, none of this would have happened."

Fiona nearly laughed. "Is that so? I didn't realise I was the lynchpin in your grand plan. Tell me," she stepped closer, head cocked to one side. "How exactly would my leaving Velaris have kept your parents alive?"

She saw him flinch internally, though he was still proud enough to hide the hurt from his face.

"My father was busy alienating the Autumn Court - on your behalf. To keep poor Fiona away from evil uncle Eris," He jutted out his chin, glaring up at her. "And look where he is now - parading through the streets of Velaris - burning my city."

"It's not your city." Fiona spat.

"It's not yours either." He returned, drawing himself up to his full height, sliding his bound hands up the pole until he was towering over her in the dim.

 She could feel the venom behind the words, knew that if he wasn't restrained he would likely have launched at her by now. Why Nyx had decided she was the villain was beyond Fiona, but if she could egg him into making a mistake amid his own vengeful rage, then all the better for her.

She crossed her arms. "It was my mothers'."

Nyx dropped his head back against the beam, looking down on her. "And it was your brother and grandfather who lit the torch, burning it to the ground." A small, smug smile tugged at his lips. "What a family."

Though she knew exactly what game he was playing, Fiona couldn't help but bristle. "He's not my brother." She clenched her fists, feeling heat building in her palms. "And If I'd had a family like yours, I would have defended them to my last breath."

Nyx's gaze dropped to her hands, where smoke was beginning to seep out from between her fingers. Ignoring it, Fiona stepped closer, delighting in the flicker of fear it earned her. 

"It is your own cowardice that has landed us here, Nyx." She hissed. "And you have no one to blame but yourself."

Fiona moved away, noting the deep breath he took, rolling his shoulders from where he had pressed his wings flush against the pole. She rubbed a little ash between her fingers as she went on. "I came to ask you two questions."

"The first," she lifted a grey finger, rooting him to the spot with that look of hers again. "Comes as a credit to your involvement in the attack on Velaris. Since you were such a key part of the plan, I want you to tell me - was Eris at the battle with Keir?"

Nyx seemed hesitant to answer, as though the ash crumbling from her palm to the ground had most of his attention. She snapped a finger, lighting a flame on the tip of her nail as his gaze shot back to her. 

"I don't know," he admitted, glancing nervously between the dancing flame and Fiona. "He might have been, but...I never saw him. When we met, it was always with Aidan."

An internal sigh of relief, and something a little lighter, trickled through Fiona from head to toe. She tried not to react as she smothered the flame between her fingers. "Good. Now for number two - did you, or did you not use your sycophae powers to manipulate your wife into supporting your scheme?"

Shock sparked bright and brief in Nyx's eyes. After a moment her words sank in, and the Prince began shouting at her, yelling gross obscenities. She was a half-cast, he crowed, and how dare she accuse him of such a thing, how dare a bastard have the gall to speak to the crown Prince of Velaris at all. But Fiona had seen all she needed to, and as she turned away, she spit on the ground at his feet, quickly shutting him up. 

"You disgust me, Nyx Archeron," she said, trying to channel all the hate and revulsion she could possibly muster in the words. "And when justice finally comes for you, I hope she takes her time."

*

Fiona went straight from the tent to the infirmary, where Riordan had been moved. Madja had assured her upon his arrival that the wounds were not deep, and that her cousin would recover soon. But they had spent so long apart - even if he was up and walking in hours, Fiona longed for the familiarity of his company, especially amid the turmoil of the last few days. 

It was something of a relief to find the ward mostly empty. Riordan's bed was near the end. He was accompanied by Bella and Xander, and a flickering candle by his side - though nothing could be brighter than the beaming smile he gave Fiona upon her arrival.

"I've been waiting." Dan rolled his eyes in mock indignation. "These two have been here for hours, and yet my own darling cousin..."

He reached out a hand which Fiona slapped away as she came to sit by Xander on one side of the bed. "Oh calm down," she scoffed. "I already gave you a dramatic welcome in the mud, remember?"

"Ah yes," Riordan sighed. "Where were you, anyway?"

Fiona couldn't help but glance preemptively at Xander. "I went to see Nyx."

Dan raised a russet eyebrow from his bedside. "Because you missed his pretty face so much?"

"Because I wanted to confirm that Eris wasn't at Velaris." Fiona answered, wryly.

"And was he?"

She nodded. Before Xander could get in all the questions she could tell he was waiting to ask, Fiona relayed the prophecy to Bella and Dan. Her cousin, as she had expected, was largely concerned with the lines about the Autumn Court, and set to work deciphering them at once.

"So Keir will win if the 'dead man walking' yields," he hummed to himself, running a bandaged hand over his chin. He glanced up at her. "And you think Eris is the Dead Red King?"

"I know he is," she confirmed. "So it's vital that we sway him to our side before Keir gets to him."

"What makes you think he's not already with Keir?"

Fiona blinked. "I just told you. He wasn't in Velaris."

Riordan twisted his head to one side, a sign Fiona remembered from their years growing up together. That little twist was his way of preparing her for the rebuttal to follow. But Dan was gentler than she'd expected - which somehow made it worse.

"Fiona," he began, clearly gearing up for a brotherly lecture as he fixed her with a keen but kind look. "That doesn't mean he wasn't pulling all the strings. This is Eris we're talking about. I know you want him to turn out to be the good guy-"

"That's not what this is about. Just because I've discovered he's my father, that doesn't change thirty years of being with him." She cut her cousin a glare, fiddling with his bedsheets. "Nyx said he never saw Eris - that they always met with Aidan. So there's a good chance he was never involved, that it was all Aidan from the start."

The four of them were quiet for some time, digesting. Fiona wondered if the others were equally unconvinced, and were only stalling, trying to find a nicer way to disagree. Diplomatic as ever, it was Xander who eventually broke the silence.

"How certain are you that Aidan and Cillian are illegitimate?" His violet eyes glowed softly in the lamplight.

"Aidan I know for sure. Cillian... I can only assume." She shook her head, frowning. "But Eris was so anxious to get me back from Velaris. I don't think he would have been so worried if I wasn't an heir."

Xander laughed. "Is it really so hard to believe that he might just have been afraid to lose his daughter?"

Fiona shot him a glare, but said nothing.

"War, heirs, prophecies..." Bella chuckled, running a hand over her braids. "When did everything get so intense? It was only a few months ago we were sitting in Rita's, dancing and getting wasted."

Quiet laughter rippled around the bed as Riordan sighed. "What I wouldn't give for some faeblood now..."

A beat passed before Xander got to his feet, rolling up his sleeves. "I don't know about faeblood, but might some wine suffice?"

The girls turned to him in surprise. "We barely have enough to feed the camp." Fiona remarked. "Where are you going to find a cask of wine?"

A look of uncharacteristic mischief sparked in Xander's eyes. "There have to be some perks to being High Lord."

Bella let out a scoff of disbelief, mirroring the delighted grin that had split Riordan's caramel skin. "Why not? We deserve a drink!" He bolted upright and immediately winced, a hand shooting to his side. 

The three of them laughed as their invalid was lowered back to bed by Bella, who went with Xander and returned minutes later with four bottles of Summer wine. Ever the dutiful friend, Bella threw one straight to Riordan, who looked positively elated.

Meanwhile Xander sat back down beside Fiona. Their cousins didn't seem to notice when he snuck a hand onto her leg, but she stilled all the same, trying to summon her most casual expression while drawing a little closer to his side.

Though the feeling of his thumb brushing over her knee wasn't half as disconcerting as when his voice appeared in her mind for the second time that day.

I hope I didn't give you too much of a fright earlier.

Fiona slid a sideways glance to him. Though he didn't look at her, she saw the slightest of smiles twitch at his lips. It was odd, odd and enthralling to have Xander's voice bouncing around inside her head. It was almost like hearing him - she could hear his wryness, almost see that dry smile, and yet it was utterly different to any sort of sound that a person's lips could make.

She tried to answer him, sending her reply down that cord of rope that hung taut between them. 

Ah yes...I was wondering when we'd get a chance to talk about this.

Xander perked up beside her, eyebrows shooting up. But the others remained oblivious. And though he seemed surprised, he didn't respond for some time, pretending instead to be involved in the heated conversation about Adriatic and Velarian wines unfolding between Bella and Riordan.

Taking advantage of their distraction, Fiona crept a tentative finger toward's Xander's. The both of them stared ahead, stifling a smile as their fingers intertwined atop her knee, his thumb drawing circles inside her palm.

Why didn't you let me kneel? 

Though he didn't look at her, Xander's head cocked to the side ever-so-slightly.

Earlier, she clarified. When you told everyone you were High Lord. You asked me not to kneel.

The silence from Xander's other side was interrupted only by a burst of laughter, and a thwack thrown toward Dan's shoulder. After a moment, he replied.

Feyre never bowed to Rhys.

Fiona couldn't help but turn, affection blooming in her chest. Those violet eyes landed on her, offering her a sad sort of smile. A thousand urges rolled through her - the urge to hold him, to kiss him. She had to clench a fist to keep still, to keep from cupping that crooked jaw and brushing his perfect lips. But in front of their friends, all she do was give his hand a tight squeeze.

Evidently, Xander was far more practiced at hiding his emotions. He laughed along to all of Dan's jokes, bantered with Bella and never once showed any sign of what had passed between them. But perhaps Fiona's distraction was a little too obvious - she caught Riordan glancing at Xander's hand on top of hers, and once or twice he smiled - but mercifully, her cousin made no comment.

After an hour of wine and laughter, the four of them had returned to something like normality. They might have been anywhere in the world - a Velarian bar, a mountain cabin - but for that short while, Fiona almost forgot they were two bastard heirs, a Lord General's daughter and a High Lord. Wine had always been a good transporter, but never had a group of fae been more grateful for the chance to forget themselves and their surroundings.

"The world has really gone to shit, hasn't it?" Bella was shaking her head with a mournful smile, the last dregs of her bottle dangling precariously in her grip. "I mean, what will even happen if Keir takes over? What would Prythian look like?"

"Forget Prythian," Riordan gestured for the bottle with a grimace. "We won't be there to see it."

Fiona sucked in a sharp breath through her teeth. "Thanks, you two. Nice and morbid for the end of the evening."

Dan raised the bottle in salute as Xander shifted beside her. "Actually, I've called something of a meeting to discuss just that."

The three of them stilled. Bella narrowed her eyes. "Like..a summit?" 

Xander nodded. "With the High Lords and Ladies."

"When?"

"Tomorrow," he answered, pointedly ignoring the stare Fiona was aiming at him.

I'm sorry I didn't tell you.

A sort of caress came gently floating over from his side - a caress that Fiona ignored as she continued to glare his way incredulously.

"Did you invite Eris?" she asked, unblinking.

Xander turned to look at her, and nodded curtly. "Yes. Although, I haven't had a response yet."

Fiona didn't bother to hide the pang of hurt that flashed across her eyes. In a smaller voice, she asked him, "Did you invite Mor?"

The tent somehow grew even quieter in the wake of her words. The rustling of canvas fabric in the wind could be heard outside, as could the crackling of a fire two rows away. Even Riordan was still as they awaited Xander's response.

It came quietly, like a whisper from the back of her mind.

Yes.

Her shoulders seized up involuntarily, as though physically steeling herself - from Xander, and from the impending confrontation. But somewhere between the loss they had suffered, Riordan's return, and the four bottles of wine, Fiona couldn't find the heart to be pissed off.

The three companions watched her decompress as she let out a long sigh. "Give me the bottle," she eventually demanded, watching Bella crack a smirk. "This is going to be one hell of a reunion."