𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟗

"𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 "

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╰┈˚ · ° .  ᴛʜᴇ ᴀʀᴄʜᴇʀᴏɴ ꜱɪꜱᴛᴇʀꜱ walked side by side as they approached the faerie that they had captured.

"Are you one of the Suriel?" Feyre said quietly

The faerie went rigid. And sniffed. Once. Twice.

Then slowly, it turned towards them, the dark veil draped over its bald head blowing in a phantom breeze. A face that looked like it had been crafted from dried, weatherworn bone, its skin either forgotten or discarded, a lipless mouth and too-long teeth held by blackened gums, slitted holes for nostrils, and eyes ... eyes that were nothing more than swirling pits of milky white—the white of death, the white of sickness, the white of clean-picked corpses.

Peeking above the ragged neck of its dark robes was a body of veins and bones, as dried and solid and horrific as the texture of its face. It let go of the snare, and its too-long fingers clicked against each other as it studied the twins.

"Humans," it said, and its voice was at once one and many, old and young, beautiful and grotesque. "Did you set this clever, wicked trap for me?"

"Are you one of the Suriel?" Maiven asked again

"Indeed I am." Click, click, click went its fingers against each other, one for each word.

"Then the trap was for you," she continued tilting her head while clicking her tongue of the roof of her mouth

"I have not seen a human woman for an age. Come closer so I might look upon my captor."

They did no such thing.

It let out a huffing, awful laugh. "And which of my brethren betrayed my secrets to you?"

"None of them. Our mother told us stories of you."

"Lies—I can smell the lies on your breath." It sniffed again, its fingers clacking together. It cocked its head to the side, an erratic, sharp movement, the dark veil snapping with it. "What would two human women want from the Suriel?"

"You tell me," the younger of the twins replied with a small smirk

It let out another low laugh. "A test? A foolish and useless test, for if you dared to capture me, then you must want knowledge very badly." The humans said nothing, and it smiled with that lipless mouth, its grayed teeth horrifically large. "Ask me your questions, humans, and then free me."

"Is there—is there truly no way for us to go home?" Feyre asked

"Not unless you seek to be killed, and your family with you. You must remain here."

At that moment Maiven didn't know what she was feeling. Sadness because she would never see the rest of her family again. Relief as she could maybe be free of his claim on her.

"What do you know about Tamlin?" Feyre asked The Suriel

"More specific, human. Be more specific. For I know a good many things about the High Lord of the Spring Court."

"Tamlin is—Tamlin is a High Lord?"

Click, click, click. "You did not know. Interesting." The Suriel answered. It's words clear as it said

"Did you also not know that this is the Spring Court, little human?"

"Yes—yes, I knew about that."

The Suriel settled on the ground. "Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter, Dawn, Day, and Night," it mused, as if she hadn't even answered and Maiven didn't miss the way its eyes trained to her as he spoke of the last court. "The seven Courts of Prythian, each ruled by a High Lord, all of them deadly in their own way. They are not merely powerful—they are Power."

"Everyone at the Spring Court is stuck wearing a mask, and yet you aren't," She said cautiously. "Are you not a member of the Court?"

"I am a member of no Court. I am older than the High Lords, older than Prythian, older than the bones of this world."

"And what can be done about this blight that has spread in Prythian, stealing and altering the magic? Where did it come from?"

"Stay with the High Lord, human," the Suriel said. "That's all you can do. You will be safe. Do not interfere; do not go looking for answers after today, or you will be devoured by the shadow over Prythian. He will shield you from it, so stay close to him, both of you and all will be righted."

"Where did the blight come from?"

Those milky eyes narrowed. "The High Lord does not know that you came here today, does he? He does not know that his human woman came to trap a Suriel, because he cannot give her the answers she seeks. But it is too late, human—for the High Lord, for you, perhaps for your realm as well ...Across the violent western sea, there is another faerie kingdom called Hybern, ruled by a wicked, powerful king. Yes, a king," he said when Feyre raised a brow. "Not a High Lord—there, his territory is not divided into courts. There, he is law unto himself. Humans no longer exist in that realm—though his throne is made of their bones."

Braken had talked to the young assassin about the King of Hybern, but as everything Fae-related he did not go into much detail. The majority of Maiven's knowledge was from the books that she had read at The Temple when she was able to sneak into the forbidden part of the library. Many times she was caught and punished for it but to her, all that knowledge made all of it worth it.

"For some time now, the King of Hybern has found himself unhappy with the Treaty the other ruling High Fae of the world made with you humans long ago. He resents that he was forced to sign it, to let his mortal slaves go and to remain confined to his damp green isle at the edge of the world. And so, a hundred years ago, he dispatched his most-trusted and loyal commanders, his deadliest warriors, remnants of the ancient armies that he once sailed to the continent to wage such a brutal war against you humans, all of them as hungry and vile as he. As spies and courtiers and lovers, they infiltrated the various High Fae courts and kingdoms and empires around the world for fifty years, and when they had gathered enough information, he made his plan. But nearly five decades ago, one of his commanders disobeyed him. The Deceiver. And—" The Suriel straightened. "We are not alone."

The girls scanned the trees, but everything had already gone silent in the presence of the Suriel.

"Humans, you must free me and run," it said, those death-filled eyes widening. "Run for the High Lord's manor. Do not forget what I told you—stay with the High Lord, and live to see everything righted."

"What is it?" If she knew what came, Maiven could stand a better chance of—

"The naga—faeries made of shadow and hate and rot. They heard my scream, and they smelled you. Free me, human. They will cage me if they catch me here. Free me and return to the High Lord's side."

Shit. Shit. Maiven lunged for the snare, but four shadowy figures slipped through the birch trees, so dark that they seemed made from a starless night.

The naga were sprung from a nightmare. Covered in dark scales and nothing more, they were a horrendous combination of serpentine features and male humanoid bodies whose powerful arms ended in polished black, flesh-shredding talons.

Their huge, almond-shaped eyes greedily took in the Suriel, Feyre and Mai.

The four of them paused across the clearing, the Suriel between us,

The creature smiled, a row of razor-sharp teeth greeting them as a silvery forked tongue darted out.

"The Dark Mother has sent us a gift today, brothers," he said, gazing at the Suriel, who was clawing at the snare now. The naga's amber eyes shifted toward the sisters. "And a meal."

"Not much to eat," another one said, flexing its claws.

"Humans," the Suriel begged.

The assassin looked at the naga and then at The Suriel for then turning back to look at her sister.

She raised her hand higher, her curved knife in her hands and her two blades hidden in her boots.

Before the fight could start Maiven shouted "Feyre run!" The girl launched herself at the tether holding The Suriel, cutting through it with her blade and as soon as it was free it was gone.

"Mai" Feyre whispered. Fear laced her words. fear for her, for her sister that she didn't want to leave behind

"GO!" Mai yelled as she eyed the four nagas in front of her.

Her ear caught the sound of the quick steps of her sister running back and with a last steading breath she was ready to fight

"Time to play little beats" she taunted

The nagas snarled before one launched himself at her.

She avoided him easily. Her body moved in a fluid motion as she felt the presence of another one of them behind her. The human crouched down bringing both her knives through his thigh. It was an important point for humans because of the artery there but she didn't know the anatomy of the naga, she just hoped that they had the same weaknesses. Maiven rose from her crouched position swiftly cutting the first one's throat before plunging her knife in the heart of the other one

To her relief they both fell to the ground now dead. Drenched in their blood she looked at the remaining naga expecting to be two of them not one.

A scream echoed through the forest. Her sister's scream. Ice cold fear invaded her body. Her hands loosed the thigh hold her weapons and for that second of distraction she didn't see the last naga ready to attack her

He pushed her to the ground, caging her under his body and holding her arms down with his hands. Both her knives out of her reach as they fell out of her grasp when she fell.

Maiven cursed herself for the stupid error and in that moment the words spoken by Braken echoed in her mind, freezing her heart and making the walls that she had built around it for years thicken.

Never take your eyes away from your enemy. Never distract in the middle of a fight. Just a moment and you are dead.

"What are your last words, human?" The naga said mockingly testata

Maiven's eyes grew dark and cold as she headbutted the naga without a second thought. He let out a loud shrink, losing the hold on her hands for a second, just enough for her to reach the side of her boot for one of her blades. With all her strength the human girl stabbed the naga in his neck. His blood coating her face and body now mixing itself with the one of his own brothers.

Maiven shrugged the corpse of the dead naga away from her body. She rose to her feet and quickly collected her curved knives before rushing back into the forest searching for her sister.

Running as fast as she could, Mai used the trees as a cover. Her feet light on the ground as she uses all the training techniques that she had learned to stay as silent as she could.

It wasn't to long before she saw her sister with the High Lord of the Spring Court

"I was tracking a pack of them— four escaped, and must have followed your scent through the woods. I heard you scream." The human heard Tamlin say

"No need for you to hunt the rest now, High Lord. They are already dead" Maiven spoke, making her presence known.

For a second Tamlin went into a fighting stance not having heard the girl approaching before he relaxed recognizing her.

"Mai!" Feyre yelled running to her sister. She too had blood everywhere and tears now started to escape her eyes at the sight of her sister.

Feyre threw herself to her twin, hugging her tightly and whispering apologizes for leaving her alone.

Maiven stiffened in her sister's embrace. She couldn't help it. Right now her walls were high and thick. Her face void of any emotion.

You almost died— Maiven thought watching her sister. Her jaw clenched before the girl started to talk.

"You don't need to apologize, Feyre. I told you to run." Her voice was steady. No emotion.

Feyre tightened her hold to her sister. She knew what she was thinking. She knew that a lot of times when they were still in the mortal lands when Mai came back from a mission she would grow cold. Just as it was when she first came back after those four years

"Are you hurt? I am sorry I didn't see one running away" Maiven whispered as she brushed the tears from her twin sister's face.

"It's fine. Tamlin killed him" She said trying to send a reassuring smile to her

The assassin looked at the High Lord giving him a small nod as a thank you.

"Did- did you kill the other nagas?" He asked uncertain

"They are that way in the clear. Three less naga to deal with" She answered pointing behind her

With a last look towards the two the youngest Archeron spoke again while starting to walk away "I see you both back at the manor"

•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•

╰┈˚ · ° .  Just as Maiven entered the manor she noticed Lucien pacing back and forth

"Maiven! By the cauldron what happened?" The red haired fae exclaimed looking at her up and down with wide eyes

"Run in some nagas. I killed three of them. The fourth it was Tamlin" She explained unbothered already climbing up the stairs

"You killed three nagas?" He asked with wide eyes

The assassins stopped on the stairs and turned back to him. Without missing a beat she took out the knives that she'd stolen from him and threw them to the ground at his feet.

"I apologize for the stains of blood"

His chuckles were the last thing that she heard before she was in the hallway and back in her room.

As soon as the door closed behind her Maiven slided her body down to the floor.

Her back and head rested of the door as she closed her eyes trying to calm her heart

My sister was almost killed today and it was my fault

This thought haunted her mind from the moment she heard Feyre scream and it never stopped its loudness in her mind.

But it was soon replaced by other words. Something that Braken used to say to her everyday for the four years during her training at The Temple. Something that he continued to remind her during the following years.

And with a single tear running down her face she whispered those words

"Love is weakness" 

✎

˗ˏˋ 𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞 ˊˎ˗

Hello everyone! New chapter!

I'm sorry. This chapter was a rollercoaster for Mai. She doesn't know how to deal with emotion so she just shut them down.

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

𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞!

– 𝐋𝐨𝐥𝐚 ☾