𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟓

"𝘞𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯."

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╰┈˚ · ° . ᴍᴀɪᴠᴇɴ ᴇɴᴛᴇʀᴇᴅ ʜᴇʀ ʀᴏᴏᴍ, it was big, big enough that it was the same size as the entire Archeron cottage, maybe even bigger.

The room was full of colors, bright and pastels, and flowers were literally everywhere.

A shiver ran her across her body as the feeling of wrongness echoed loudly into her.

The sensation was weird but she let it pass as something that every human might feel once across the wall in the land of Prythian.

The door burst open as 3 servants entered the room. The hair on her arm raised as she could feel the presence of the faeries there with her.

"Hello?" Maiven said but it came out more as question

The one that stood in front of the other two, with a head full of red curls spoke "We are here to help you, I'm Merissa" she then pointed at the identical blonde girls behind her. "This is Erika" She introduced the one on her right. Her blonde straight hair was identical to her twin but her eyes were green, different from the gold-brown ones of her sister.

"And this is Rea," Merissa finished.

The two twins walked away entering what the bathroom chamber as Merissa advanced towards her

"Maiven" She spoke introducing herself with a nod "You don't really need to do this. I can do it myself just fine" The gold-brown haired girl said carefully lacing her tone with calmness

"The High Lord instructed us to do this, so we are doing it. If you like it or not" Her face showed just annoyance

Oh so he is a High Lord. Just my luck.

With a sweet saccharine smile that was anything but true Maiven nodded at the faerie before walking to the bathroom, Merissa on her trail.

"Can I have a moment so I can undress? You can enter in just a minute, don't worry" Mai asked hoping for a positive answer

Merissa rolled her eyes and with the other two maids, she walked out of the bathroom.

The human girl reached inside of her corset, snatching the blade out before doing the same with the much smaller one in her hair.

Maiven frantically looked around searching for some hiding place. She looked at the flowers on the counter sighing in relief. With movements like feathers she hid both of them in the vase, taking note mentally to search for a better place later. The water still rushed out of the faucet of the bathtub helping her greatly in the mission as its noise concealed perfectly from the faeries outside any of her movements.

Maiven quickly discarded her clothes before submerging her body in the warm water putting a stop to the faucet

The door of the bathroom opened, and the three faeries entered. The twins rushed around preparing soaps and oils as Merissa kneeled to help the human girl bath.

A light gasp escaped her mouth. Mai turned her head to her, watching with amusement the wide eyes of the red-head as she took in the scars that covered Maiven's body.

"I am sorry, I just wasn't expecting it" her face flustered as she continued her work

"No need to apologize" Mai chuckled lightly, sending the fae a smile trying to ease her nerves a bit. "I am not ashamed of my scars"

"Can...can I ask why you have so many?" In almost a whisper the faerie asked.

"Not everyone has a happy past. Sometimes we can't decide for ourselves what to do with our life" Maiven revealed with a small sad smile

The rest of the bath was in silence as Merissa Erika and Rea helped Maiven to clean up.

"Alis said your sister did not want to wear a dress and I am pretty sure that the same is for you so I have this" The red haired fae said showing the clothes in her hands

She helped Maiven in the trousers and the tunic before rushing her into a chair and started to brush her hair.

•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•

╰┈˚ · ° .   Without a moment alone Mai couldn't go back to the bathroom to take her blades. The thought of being without any weapon made the human girl a bit restless but she walked out of the room anyway following Merissa. Just as the same time Alis did with Feyre. When she saw her twin, the girl let out a breath of relief as she walked to Mai ready to hug her.

Maiven shut her eyes for a second, squeezing her sister tightly before releasing her from the hug.

The two maids walked the human girls back to the dining room, the golden-haired High Fae, who was the High Lord of the spring court, and Lucien were lounging at the table. They no longer had plates before them, but still sipped from golden goblets.

Food still remained on the table, the array of spices lingering in the air, beckoning. Maiven was starving, her head unnervingly light.

The golden-haired High Fae's mask gleamed with the last rays of the afternoon sunshine. "Before you ask again: the food is safe for you to eat."

Mai rolled her eyes and sat down on a chair starting to pile food on her plate.

"Mai! " Feyre hissed

"What! I'm hungry. The last thing that I ate was three days ago and I worked so please sit and eat." She replied, hissing back at her

The fairies eyes landed on her before the High Lord switched back to Feyre "What do you want, then?"

Lucien drawled from his seat along the length of the table, "I told you so, Tamlin." He flicked a glance toward his friend. "Your skills with females have definitely become rusty in recent decades."

Tamlin. That is his name? Horrendous just like his clearly bright personality

He glowered at Lucien, shifting in his seat.

As I said. Bright personality

The younger twin tried to contain her laugh by placing her hands on her mouth before losing it. She laughed loudly, making Feyre suddenly jump next to her, still standing.

"Oh Lucien that was a good one" She said between breaths trying to calm herself causing the red-haired fae to snickered

"Well," Lucien said, composing himself a bit, his remaining russet eye switching between the sisters, "you don't look half as bad now. A relief, I suppose, since you're to live with us. Though the tunic isn't as pretty as a dress."

"A shame that you remain bad as the first time I had to lay my eyes on you. Really" Maiven talked back sighting dramatically

"I'd prefer not to wear that dress." Feyre answered trying to shift the conversation from the insult, scared that the fae would kill her sister for it

"And why not?" Lucien crooned.

It was Tamlin who answered. "Because killing us is easier in pants."

"Oh you are wrong, darling. I can easily kill in a dress. Trousers are just comfier I guess" The younger twin said without missing a beat.

"Now that we are here, what ... what do you plan to do with us?" Feyre asked with a blank face

Lucien snorted, but Tamlin said with a snarl of annoyance, "Just sit down."

Maiven pulled out the chair next to her, nodding at Feyre to sit down.

"We're not going to bite." Lucien's white teeth gleamed in a way that suggested otherwise.

Tamlin rose, stalking around the table—closer and closer, each movement smooth and lethal, a predator blooded with power. Maiven eyed him carefully watching attentively every step he took. What she didn't expect was him picking up a dish, bringing it over to Feyre, and piled some meat and sauce on the plate.

"I can serve myself." She said quietly,

"It's an honor for a human to be served by a High Fae," he said roughly.

Asshole— Maiven thought while rolling her eyes

He continued piling various foods on the plate, stopping only when it was heaping with meat and sauce and bread, and then filled her glass with pale sparkling wine before prowling back to his seat.

Tamlin straightened a bit and said, "You look ... better than before."

Was he complimenting Feyre? The girl could have sworn Lucien gave Tamlin an encouraging nod.

"And your hair is ... clean."

His attempts to flirt with her sister was so amusing to the youngest girl that a small smile formed on her face without her permission.

"Gods you suck at this" Maiven whispered with a snicker.. It was not loud enough for Feyre to hear but it was for the two faeries at the table.

She heard Lucien try to cover his own laugh as Tamlin sent her a glare

"You're High Fae—faerie nobility?" Feyre asked her words calm and quite completely unaware of the comment spoke by her sister

Lucien coughed and looked to Tamlin. "You can take that question."

"Yes," Tamlin said, frowning—as if searching for anything to say to her. He settled on merely: "We are."

"What do you plan to do with us now that we're here?"

Tamlin's eyes didn't leave her face. "Nothing. Do whatever you want."

"So we are not to be your slaves?" she dared ask.

Lucien choked on his wine. But Tamlin didn't smile. "I don't keep slaves."

"But what are we to do with our life here?" She pressed. "Do you—do you wish us to earn our keep?To work?"

Tamlin stiffened. "What you do with your life isn't my problem."

Lucien pointedly cleared his throat, and Tamlin flashed him a glare. After an exchanged look Tamlin sighed and said, "Don't you have any ... interests?"

"No." She answered

Lucien muttered, "So typically human." He then turned to look at Mai "What about you?"

"My interest is having my knife back" She answered looking at the High Lord

Tamlin rolled his eyes "Do whatever you want with your time. Just stay out of trouble." He said to the both of girls

"So you truly mean for us to stay here forever." Feyre said

"I didn't make the rules," Tamlin said tersely.

"My family is starving," She said, making Mai remember them again. She wanted to roll her eyes at that. They could work or hunt. Sometimes she just wished for them to do something to help her and Feyre, but they never did. Maiven clenched her jaw knowing that they would probably starve if they weren't there with them

"Please let us go. There must be— must be some other loophole out of the Treaty's rules—some other way to atone."

"Atone?" Lucien said. "Have you even apologized yet?"

Apparently, all attempts to flatter her were dead and gone. So she looked Lucien right in his remaining russet eye and said, "I'm sorry."

Lucien leaned back in his chair. "How did you kill him? Was it a bloody fight, or just cold-blooded murder?"

"I shot him with an ash arrow. And then an ordinary arrow through the eye. He didn't put up a fight. After the first shot, he just stared at me." She explained the two

"Yet you killed him anyway—though he made no move to attack you. And then you skinned him," Lucien hissed making

"Well we needed the money to not starve, Lucien" Mai hissed back, sending him a harsh glare. His name left her lips dripping with venom.

"Enough, Lucien," Tamlin said to his courtier with a snarl. "I don't want to hear details."

Feyre spoke before he could say anything else. "Our family won't last a month without us."

Lucien chuckled, making Mai gritted her teeth. "Do you know what it's like to be hungry?" She demanded, anger rising to devour any common sense. "Do you know what it's like to not know when your next meal will be?"

Tamlin's jaw tightened. "Your family is alive and well-cared for. You think so low of faeries that you believe I'd take their only sources of income and nourishment and not replace it?"

"You swear it?" Feyre asked

A low, incredulous laugh. "On everything that I am and possess."

"Why not tell us that when we left the cottage?"

"Would you have believed me? Do you even believe me now?" Tamlin's claws embedded in the arms of his chair.

"Why should I trust a word you say? You're all masters of spinning your truths to your own advantage."

"Some would say it's unwise to insult a Fae in his home," Tamlin ground out. "Some would say you should be grateful for me finding you before another one of my kind came to claim the debt, for sparing your life and then offering you the chance to live in comfort."

Feyre shot to her feet before she was shoved back into the chair.

Invisible bonds now secured the twins to the chair

"Do not do whatever it was you were contemplating," Tamlin said.

Maiven went still as the tang of magic seared her nose. She tried to twist in the chair, testing the invisible bonds. But her arms were secured, and her back was pressed into the wood so hard that it ached. At that moment her face hardened as she recalled the previous times where she was in this exact same position. Bloodied and wounded. Her eyes freezed as she slipped back on the mask that concealed any human emotion from her face as she looked at the faeries. But only Lucien was looking at her. Maiven tilted her head slightly. Her eyes never left his as he refrained himself from swallowing the knot in his throat. He was looking at the face of death. The one that many saw before exhaling their last breath. Eyes so cold that the winters in the mortal world were nothing compared to it.

"I'm going to warn you once," Tamlin said too softly. "Only once, and then it's on you, human. I don't care if you go live somewhere else in Prythian. But if you cross the wall, if you flee, your family will no longer be cared for. Is that not a fair bargain? And if you flee, then you might not be so lucky with whoever comes to retrieve you next." His claws slipped back under his knuckles. "The food is not enchanted, or drugged, and it will be your own damn fault if you faint. So you're going to sit at this table and eat, Feyre. And Lucien will do his best to be polite." He threw a pointed look in his direction. Lucien looked back at him, shrugging. "You too Maiven" He said, looking at the younger twin. He didn't wait for an answer as the invisible bonds loosened, but the ones their legs and middle remained intact

The girls continued to eat and as Feyre reached for a second helping of chocolate torte, the food vanished. Just—vanished, as if it had never existed, not a crumb left behind.

"One more bite and you'll hurl your guts up," Tamlin said to Feyre, drinking deeply from his goblet.

The bonds holding them loosened. Silent permission to leave.

"Thank you for the meal," She said.

"Won't you stay for wine?" Lucien said with sweet venom from where he lounged in his seat.

She braced her hands on her chair to rise. "I'm tired. I'd like to sleep."

"It's been a few decades since I last saw one of you," Lucien drawled, "but you humans never change, so I don't think I'm wrong in asking why you find our company to be so unpleasant, when surely the men back home aren't much to look at."

At the other end of the table, Tamlin gave his emissary a long, warning look. Lucien ignored it.

"You're High Fae," She said coldly. "I'd ask why you'd even bother inviting us here at all—or dining with us."

Lucien said, "True. But indulge me: you're a human woman, and yet you'd rather eat hot coals than sit here longer than necessary. Ignoring this"—he waved a hand at the metal eye and brutal scar on his face—"surely we're not so miserable to look at." Typical faerie vanity and arrogance. "Unless you have someone back home. Unless there's a line of suitors out the door of your hovel that makes us seem like worms in comparison."

"I was close with a man back in my village." Feyre revealed making her sister snort

Tamlin and Lucien exchanged glances, but it was Tamlin who said, "Are you in love with this man?"

"No," She said as casually

Again, that shared look between the two males. "And do you ... love anyone else?" Tamlin said through clenched teeth.

A laugh burst out of Maiven, tinged with hysteria. She looked between them. Nonsense. These lethal, immortal beings really had nothing better to do than this? "Is this really what you care to know about her? If she finds you more handsome than human men, and if she has a man back home? Why bother to ask at all, when she'll be stuck here for the rest of her life?"

"We wanted to learn more about you, since you'll be here for a good while," Tamlin said, his lips a thin line. "But Lucien's pride tends to get in the way of his manners." He sighed, as if ready to be done with us, and said, "Go rest. We're both busy most days, so if you two need anything, ask the staff. They'll help you."

"Why?" Feyre asked. "Why be so generous?" Lucien gave her a look that suggested he had no idea, either, given that she'd murdered their companion, but Tamlin stared at her for a long moment.

"I kill too often as it is," Tamlin said finally, shrugging his broad shoulders. "And you're insignificant enough to not ruffle this estate. Unless you decide to start killing us."

"We have something in common then." Maiven murmured under her breath. She knew that the Fae could hear her but she didn't care

"Yes of course" Lucien snorted not believing a word that the human girl had just said

"Well...," Maiven spoke, not quite feeling grateful at all, "thank you."

He gave a distant nod and motioned for them to leave. Dismissed.

Lucien propped his chin on a fist and gave them a lazy half smile.

Feyre was the first to turn around interviewing their hands before starting to walk away.

Just after a step Maiven halted

"Damn it " The girl muttered

Cursing herself she rolled her eyes and turned around looking at Lucian. Both of the High Faes eyebrows raised.

Maiven raised her chin high, her stance proud as she said the words that were once spoken to her by him. "Never be ashamed of your scars. Wear them proudly. They show your strength" His face flashed through her mind making the human girl clench her jaw. She gave them a last nod before turning back around to face her sister.

She gave Mai a small and proud smile, making her playfully roll her eyes at her twin, before interviewing their arms together and finally walking out of the dining room.

✎

˗ˏˋ 𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞 ˊˎ˗

Hello everyone!

Another chapter is out. I would really love to know what y'all think about who is this HIM. And if you are liking this story and Maiven.

Anyway please if you liked this chapter, leave a comment and a star. I really appreciate it.

𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞!

– 𝐋𝐨𝐥𝐚 ☾