A Court of Light and Fire (ACOTAR)

Chapter Six

⚠️TW: mentions of nightmares; descriptions of vomiting⚠️

The sun had long drifted to sleep when Celeste found herself hunched over the toilet's rim, the splash of her bile meeting the water inside only causing her stomach to rile more. Every ounce of liquid either spilled from her stomach, stung from her eyes or reeked from the curtain of hair soaked with sweat as it spilled over her face. No amount of bathing could erase that now too-familiar stench from her memory.

Her wings hadn't been present at the time of the nightmare, thankfully, otherwise her own sheets would have replaced the drain of the toilet bowl. The shame would have been more horrendous than the bile itself if she had to approach the wraiths about that mess herself.

They had never seemed to fuss over the time she had missed the bowl, or when they had found her sheets soaked with urine. The twins' eyes had only glistened with understanding and sympathy - the real comfort the girl had needed at the time. They had helped Celeste change from her soaked nightclothes in her shaken, half-present state numerous times. The stains had somehow been wiped clean in the blink of an eye, as though they had never existed at all.

She could never be more thankful for the females.

Now, she sat alone on the cool tiles of the bathroom, night seeping in to splay against her back as the sound of her sister's screams in the cottage that night filled the air, the clench of the fingers around her arms and waist and hips that had pulled her from her mattress in the pitch darkness and-

She retched into the toilet twice more, the tears finally breaking loose from her eyes as she let her hands be stung by the cold rim of the bowl.

She was safe, she told herself. They had survived and they were protected by Rhysand and his unbreakable wards.

But Feyre wasn't safe. Feyre was trapped in enemy territory with that backstabbing-

Soft footsteps sounded down the hall as she vomited into the toilet's bowl, again and again and again. By the third time she had attached herself to the ceramic rim, the soft knocking had turned into the creaking of a handle at her bedroom door. When Celeste flushed and her eyes drifted from the liquid remnants of her stomach...

She could see the shadow under the door of a figure kneeling against its other side.

'Are you alright, sweetheart?' The voice was soft like honey, the sound of a female who had comforted Celeste when she hadn't realised company was all she needed to keep the thoughts at bay.

She closed her eyes to focus on her breathing, each inhale more steadying than the last. 'I'm okay,' she mumbled quietly - as much effort as she could muster in her current state. But knowing Mor sat just outside that door, that there was a physical barrier between Celeste and the rest of the world she felt so lost in...

It settled that small part of Celeste that still wanted to be cradled when the night's grew too cold. The part that still craved her mother's touch, holding her close to her chest, hands running through her hair as she was rocked side to side when the world seemed so much bigger than the small girl sitting by the fire.

The way she had seen her mother do for Nesta for so many times over the years, but had never done for Celeste even once outside of her imagination.

And Mor's voice...

The gentleness in it was enough for Celeste to press her own back against the door, right where she knew Mor's remained opposite, as she allowed the quiet comfort to guide Celeste's tears down her cheeks and she let her heart finally cracked in two on the bathroom floor, just for a moment on the cold winter night in Velaris.

'I was your age when my night terrors first began.'

~~~~
A/N:

Wow, three chapters in one day?! I hope you've all enjoyed this cute interaction between Mor and Celeste! Mor would definitely be the older sister she needed as a child but never had🥹

Have a great day/night, and thanks for reading! Catch you in the next chapter!

Charlotte☺️🤍