A Court of Light and Fire (ACOTAR)

Chapter One

Celeste refused to let the stinging in her eyes fall as she stood before the King. Her gaze of steel fixed on the marble beneath his boots, the pristine reflection of a crooked eyebrow clear on the floor.

She didn't dare breathe too loudly. She was keen to every inhale she took, every blink she made, well aware of the extent of their fae abilities, the power the king held over the room.

Even against her pride, she was not stupid enough to question that primal intuition.

But when the guards loosened their grip on her tightly wound locks as they chuckled at the second sister being dragged to the tub, she did dare to lift her gaze only a few centimetres to meet the High Lord and his soldiers, wounded and bloodied on the ground. Elain, squirming and seething against the stone now soaked with all sorts of fluids.

She let that stinging slip into a quiet flame as she analysed the room with her hunter's eye, the quiver of her lip arching into a smirk at the opening the guards had provided her.

For once, she was grateful for the condescending grip held on her.

It gave her the chance to fight back.

She let a small whimper loose, pathetic and meek in the eyes of the King as she allowed her silver-lined doe eyes to glisten with her pleading. Let them think her weak and feeble; let them think she would allow their plan to unfold without a hint of revenge.

The less they suspected, the easier it would be to realise her plan.

The sloshing of the Cauldron was a sound she would never forget - not for any extent of centuries she would now have to endure. The sight of her sister of flame and steel and pure grit, barely conscious on the ground before her only had her perfectly piercing screams of agony more believable than she'd ever managed to act out before.

Especially when it wasn't fully an act this time.

But just as quickly as Nesta had slipped in and out of that wretched metal, Celeste had slipped off the chains at her ankles, with that rare, unsuspecting seed of swiftness she had honed all these years for a moment just like this one.

With the loose grips on her arms, it wouldn't have been difficult to run. To scramble to escape that room through the still-open doors behind her, right before they shoved her into the cauldron. But seeing Elain unconscious on the marble, Nesta retching the black liquid onto the ground, Feyre kneeling by her bloodied and bruised mate's side...

What would it be to live a life that didn't have them in it?

So, Celeste willed her forehead to tremble, her breathing to quicken as she allowed the first few tears to drop free. As she let her whaling simmer into choked pants of air as the chuckling guards hauled her to her feet and dragged her closer to the rim of the depthless bowl.

She let her rage shine through only for a flicker as her eyes met the King of Hybern's, the quick upturn of her lips and glimmer in her eyes brief enough for only the King to see; sly enough to be deemed a mere tick of terror as she was hauled closer to the beast in the centre of the room.

The king's throat bobbed again, just as it had so subtly moved before Nesta was forced in.

Good.

He should be afraid of the Archeron's power, even before they turned Fae.

Celeste drowned out Nesta's screaming as the youngest sister was forced into the Cauldron. Feyre's cries as she met Celeste's eyes and mouthed I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry over and over and over at the girl she had tried so hard to protect all these years. As the shredded warrior let out a groan of anguish and fruitless effort as his knees shifted on the ground, urging his unmoving body towards the eldest sister.

As she honed in fully on the King of Hybern, large doe eyes returning as she was lifted higher, higher, higher, her muscled legs dangling over the edge of the abyss-

And let loose a burst of laughter, her gut clenching as she wheezed in a breath, another.

'You,' she laughed as the cold began grazing up her heels, her calves, her thighs, 'have no idea what you've gotten yourself into.'

Any remaining hint of the petrified young girl vanished in that moment, the intricately woven layers of reality and perception now entirely dissipating before the crowd. If she were to be thrown into this new life, this new life would need to be the one that adapted for her arrival. It would not be the other way around when she lit this world - this wretched King - alight.

She would not be afraid of the man sitting on his feeble throne, the murky depths of whatever lay in the tub rising up her torso. She was not going down without a fight of her own - perhaps not publicly written now, but just as well executed as the show the King had wished to perform. A battle of wits, of strategy, one the king did not know he was a pawn in, but was fated to face her vengeful win in all the same.

She wasn't blind to the strength the Cauldron would provide her, the release of years of pent up tension it may yield for herself and her family. She knew the risks - it wasn't hard to deduct that from the situation. But looking at her family, seeing her murky reflection peering up at her from the black water... she wasn't afraid of the changes the endless pit might bring into her life.

Even as the darkness began to swallow her whole.

~~~~~

A/N

Thank you all for reading the first chapter of Celeste's story! I am so excited to finally be sharing it with other ACOTAR lovers☺️

I have always loved the idea of there being a fourth, younger Archeron sister in the family - hence, this fanfiction was born! I hope you all love Celeste and her journey as much as I have loved putting it to page🤍

I will be updating with new chapters every Thursday! If you know others who may enjoy this work, it would mean the world if you shared it with them!

For more updates about my writing projects (including news about my upcoming short story, novels and fanfiction!) follow my Instagram & Wattpad, @charlotte_romeo_  and AO3 @ charlotte_romeo!

Thanks again for reading! Charlotte🤍💫