Chapter 70: Sixty-Four

The bustling crowd was a welcomed distraction from my thoughts, even if the people that surrounded me kept giving me dirty looks every time I even glanced in their direction.

Rhysand had left me alone for the first time ever as he did his precious Amarantha's bidding of somesort, I wouldn't be surprised if he was stealing candy from a baby.

He had taken me to a number of parties since we struck our bargain but not once had he ever left me unattended. He typically stuck to my side like a lost child, trying to make ideal chit-chat while I ignored him.

The party was a larger event than usual and I wondered if it was a holiday I didn't know about, the crowd was louder and I could tell that more people had been drinking just by the way they moved on the dance floor.

It was a sorry event. The music was tragic and absolutly un-dance worthy, but I suppose these people here spent so much time listening to the boring music that for them it was the best.

I looked around the room for what had to be the millionth time that evening, this time noticing that the eyes that usually stared at me were otherwise occupied. I furrowed my brows, wondering if the lack of attention on me was deliberate or if they'd just lost interest. I hoped it was the latter, I could do without the stares that seared me everytime someone passed my way.

My eyes wandered and I looked around again, still noticing that the crowd wasn't looking at me. Somehow my gaze caught on the small side exit of the throne room where barely anyone was stationed. No guards. No guests. It was as if they wanted me to leave.

A thought wormed its way through my mind as an idea took hold, I had to hold back the smirk consciously.

Tonight was my only opening. My last chance to see my sister before her trial. I'll be damned if I didn't take it.

All I had to do was sneak out of the throne room, that would be that hardest part with all the leering eyes. After that, all I just needed to steer clear of wanderers and get back to my cell to fool Rhysand into thinking a guard had taken me back after he left me unattended.

Easy.

I think.

I took an anchoring breath before I stood from my seat gracefully. I began walking to the side exit I had noticed in the times I'd been here. I acted perfectly normal, like I was just going to get a breath of fresh air for a moment.

The small side door was so close. I reached out, grabbing hte cool handle and twisting before I disappeared from the party entirely.

I closed the door quickly, the sound of the crowd's cheers and conversation becoming muffled through the walls. I wasted no time as I began walking, I tried to remember where Feyre's room was, I'd only been there once after all.

My bare feet barely made a whisper on the polished floors as I walked, looking around every corner and using my senses to feel for anyone watching me.

I had walked for nearly five minutes before the halls began to look familiar. The lights flickered as I walked and the stone looked more shiny, turning a milky white instead of a dusty gray.

I took a small step and stopped short. There was heat at my back—High Fae. I stepped quickly, hiding behind the nearest corner until I felt whoever it was leave, or at least I thought they left before the heat became almost suffocating and a hot breath resonated against the back of my neck.

"Shameful," A familiar voice whispered in my ear and I turned around slowly, already knowing who I'd see once I did.

My eyes tangled with those of violet. Rhysands dark hair shone in the candle light of the halls and the smirk he wore was positively devilish. How was it that he always had to ruin everything that might turn out to be fun for me?

"Just shameful," he added, "sneaking off when I'm not looking, I thought you were smarter than that." he tsked as he began circling me like a predator—a move I once used on him. The High Lord's boots created a muffled sound on the floors. "Amarantha would be greatly aggrieved if she knew her little warrior was traipsing around the halls."

Little warrior.

"Don't call me that." I whispered as if on reflex and Rhysand stopped walking as his brows furrowed in confusion. He studied me for a long moment, maybe trying to see why i'd sounded so disturbed. I shook my head, clearing my thoughts of all things relating to my past. I'd had enough of that at my second trial.

Stijn used to call me that. My overseer. My mentor. My tormentor. I never wished to be called anything little ever again.

I wondered if Rhysand used the nickname only to arrivate me. He had trifled through my thoughts after all.

The High Lord began circling me again, dismissing the oddness of my sentence. "I wonder how Amarantha would punish you. Or perhaps she'd stay true to habit and punish Lucien. He still has one eye to lose, after all. Maybe she'll put it in a ring too." He remarked as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Without another word I began walking back towards the party in the throne room, hoping to get Rhysand off my back a little. But I was unable to do either as he grabbed my wrist and pulled, causing me to stumble.

I wasn't given a reprieve before the cool stone of the wall hit my bare back as Rhysand had me pinned between his arms on both sides of my head.

I looked at him, trying to decide if he had a death wish or if he was just down right idiotic. The air thinned and his face was too close to mine for comfort. His head was tilted to the side slightly as he studied me. "Do you actually intend to put yourself at my mercy, or are you truly that stupid?"

"I'm not the one whos trying to make an enemy out of the human who killed half the people in this court." I whispered back, refferring to my triumphs in the pits and the various fights I'd been apart of since I arrived.

Rhysand chuckled and the heat from his breathy laugh slithered against my skin. "You're a fool, Danika. Do you have any idea what could have happened had Amarantha found you?" He closed his eyes, seemingly gathering his composure. "How did you not think someone would notice you were gone? You should thank the Cauldron Lucien's delightful brothers weren't watching you."

"What do you care?" I seethed getting in his face and bearing my teeth. Rhysand's temper rose as giant membranous wings flared behind him.

"What do I care?" he breathed, wrath twisting his features, "What do I care?" His head snapped to the corner I'd just come from before he looked at my face again.

His wings vanished as quickly as they had appeared and suddenly his lips crashed onto mine. His tongue swept into my mouth and I was seeing red with anger.

I would had killed him. I would have torn him apart had I not heard the soft clank of footsteps marching toward us.

A figure came into my peripheral vision and I only caught a small glance of fiery red hair, though I didn't dare to look at Amarantha or Rhysand's whole ruse would be ruined—even as terrible as it was. His kiss was controlling. All consuming.

The High Lord casually pulled away from me with a flick of his tongue along my bottom lip, and I snuck a glance down at myself noticing that the paint along my body had been smeared with magic. I glanced up, noticing that Tamlin was with the High Queen with his typical face of stone.

Rhysand gave the two a lazy, self-indulgent smile and bwed at his waist. Something sparked in the High Queens eyes as she looked at him.

Amarantha's whore, they'd called him.

"I knew it was a matter of time," she said, placing a graceful hand on Tamlin's arm, "You humans are all the same, aren't you."

I internally cringed. This was the most awkward situation I'd ever been in. I could only imagine how this looked. How he'd made it look.

Amarantha turned around, back in the direction of the party. Following them, Rhysand grabbed my arm dragging me back to the throne room.

"I'm tired of you for tonight," He gestured towards the exit, "Go back to your cell."

I was fuming as the guards escorted me through the halls and into the dark dungeons. I didn't know what it was about Rhysand, or how he managed to push all of my buttons at the same time. he was just truly infuriating.

I was quickly locked back in my cell, but it wasn't thought of Rhysand that took over, it was the fact that I had never gotten to see my sister for the last time.

─── · 。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

I didn't know how much time had passed—hours maybe when I suddenly heard footsteps inside my cell before Rhysand stepped out of a dark shadow in the corner. I stared at him in disbelief at the sheer audacity of that.

So my cell was open to just anyone now? And here I was thinking I was at least placed in the VIP section of the dungeons.

I quickly wiped my palm across the absolutely terrible drawing I'd done on the dusty surface of my cell in my boredom.

My thoughts seemed to turn against me as they immediately turned to the feeling of Rhysands lips against mine and I was dreadfully reminded of our last encounter. I would have sent him tumbling to the ground for doing for his actions right then and there had he not already looked dishevled enough.

His blue-black hair was out of place instead of its usually organized manor and his shirt was unbuttoned at the top. Running a stressed out hand through his messy hair as he slumped against the wall across from me he almost folded into himself.

"What do you want?" I asked, leaning against the cold wall behind me, as well.

"A moment of peace and quiet," he snapped as he massaged his temples.

I raised a brow at him. If he was going to be rude he could leave. "From what?" I asked, curious as to why he was in my cell at what I believed to be the dead of night.

Rhysand sighed, "From this mess." he shook his head, "that damned bitch is running me ragged." He went on, dropping his hands from his temples and placing them neatly in his lap. "You hate me. Imagine how you'd feel if I made you serve me in my bedroom. I'm High Lord of the Night Court—not her harlot."

As much as I hated to have something in common with Rhysand, I knew where he was coming from. And I couldn't help but wonder—if only for a moment—if maybe we could form an understanding with each other for a little while.

Was i truly willing to take that gamble? To make myself vulnerable for even a millisecond?

"I do know how you feel." My traitorous mouth spoke quietly before my mind could decide. Rhysand's head popped up at that. "I've never been in the exact position you have, but I know how it feels to serve the people you hate in ways you wish you didn't have to." that was as far as i'd go. As much as I'd open up.

Rhysand cocked his head, studying me in a new light. "Why are you telling me this?" he asked.

"I could ask you the same thing."

He sighed, leaning his head back against the wall. "Because I'm tired and lonely, and you're the only person I can talk to without putting myself at risk." He let out a soft laugh, "How absurd: a High Lord of Prythian and a—"

"If you're going to insult me I think you can find the door just fine." I closed my eyes allowing the cool stone at my back to center me.

"But I'm so good at it,"

"And I'm better than you," I countered, "Now, are you in here to torment me?" I shuffled in my seat, getting comfortable, "Or to get all touchy feely with your emotions?"

He sighed, giving in, "One wrong move tomorrow, Danika, and we're all doomed."

The thought struck a chord of fear in me for my sister. I was scared—no, I was terrified of the out come of tomorrow. I had tried not to think about it as much as I could.

"And if Feyre fails," he spoke more to himself than me, "then Amarantha will rule forever."

There were such limited options, I hadn't dared to think about any alternatives besides winning. If neither of us completed our trials, if Feyre didn't find the answer to the riddle, then Prythian would be driven to the groud by an evil ruler and its people would be doomed.

"And what's your plan?" I asked him, "If we win, how do you plan to take back what Amarantha has stolen?"

He narrowed his eyebrows in thought, "Amarantha's biggest weapon is that she keeps our powers contained. But she can't access them, not wholly—though she can control us through them. Its why I've never been able to shatter her mind—why shes not dead already. The moment you and your sister break Amarantha's curse, Tamlin's wrath will be so great that no force in the world will keep him from splattering her on the walls." he mused, "Why do you think I'm doing this?" he asked, waving a hand in the air.

"Because you're a master manipulator with a big ego." I replied as I shrugged.

He laughed softly, "True, but I'm also a pragmatist. Working Tamlin into a senseless fury is the best weapon we have against her. Seeing you both enter a fools bargain with Amarantha was one thing, but when Tamlin saw the tattoo on your arm and watched as your sister was almost beaten...oh, you should have been born with my abilities, if only to have felt the rage that seeped from him."

I would have honestly payed good money to see that. Tamlin was funny when he was mad, sometimes his claws would come out and one time I even got him to go all furry and run around the house playing fetch like a tiny little dog—I think it may have been a dream, but it was still the most entertaining thing I'd seen in a long time. Watching a tiny dog with Tamlins head bounce around a garden searching for a small ball while it barked in Tamlins voice.

"And If Tamlin decides to go on a painting spree and splatters you against the wall too?" I questioned Rhysand, breaking out of my hopes for Tamlin.

"Perhaps he'll try—but I have a feeling he'll kill Amarantha first. Thats what it all boils down to, anyway: even your servitude to me can be blamed on her. So he'll kill her tomorrow, and i'll be free before he can start a fight with me that will reduce our once-sacred mountain to rubble." he picked at his nails, "And I have a few other cards to play."

"Like what?" I questioned as I raised my brows in a silent question.

"What fun would it be if I revealed all my moves before I had a chance to play them?"

I rolled my eyes before I paused. "Why did Amarantha target you?" my curiosity took over, "Why make you her whore?"

"Beyond the obvious?" he gestured to his perfect face. When I still looked at him in question he loosed a sigh, "My father killed Tamlin's father—and his brothers."

It was so hard not to smile. It was cruel to take pleasure in the death of Tamlins family, and yet when have I been anything but nasty? why break my streak now?

"So, here we are," he said wearily, "with the fate of our immortal world in the hands of two humans." his laugh was unpleasant as he hung his head, cupping his forehead with a hand, "What a mess."

I sighed, watching Rhysand have his small nervous breakdown, "Can I give you my input now?"

Rhysand quirked a brow, "Input?"

"You've come here to rant and somehow ended up telling me about your plans to take back power. I'm going to give you my opinion. It's always good to get a little constructive criticism." I crossed my arms in protest as he laughed in my face.

"And what input would you suggest? You're a human, what could you possible add?"

I gave him a venomous smile, "Do you truly think that this is the first murder I've helped plan? The first coup I've staged? The first war I've won?" I laughed, "I swear you Faeries and your vanity will be the death of me." I sighed.

Rhysand shook his head at me, asking more seriously this time, "And what would you suggest I do?"

I was mildly shocked at the level of seriousness in the statement, "Well, for starters I most definitely wouldn't base my whole plan off of a dog. Tamlin's fickle and unpredictable, you may have known him longer but time can cloud judgement." I stared off into the wall as I thought, "Your entire plan is based solely off what ifs. I don't know the people in this court, but the one thing I'm certain of is that you need plan B. A way to end Amarantha without relying on Tamlins actions."

Rhysand nodded very slowly as he likely analyzed what I said in one way or another before he stood, walking towards the door, still focused on something in his mind.

There was one more question that kept running through my brain, "Wait," I said before he could turn to shadow again. "When you healed me...you didn't need to bargain with me. You could have demanded I stay at your court every day of the year and I would have agreed." Rhysand half turned, his dark hair falling over his eyes, "Every week and I would have said yes." I suppose it wasn't really a question more of a statement I wished he would answer.

A half smile appeared on his sensuous lips, "I know."

He vanished.

─── · 。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

A/N; Long chapter for ya. Lots of Rhysie