A Court Of Fire And Pain

Deal

Chapter 7 Aelin:

I could still feel Feyre's lips against mine. I shuddered and wiped my mouth again. Next time I kissed anybody, it would be Rowan.

"So what is your country called? If we're going to make a portal I need to know where you are from."

"I'm from Prythian. What about you?"

"Erilea. So I know some words, and I'm guessing we just have to figure out the correct combination of them to create a portal."

Feyre looked confused. "Words?"

"To create a spell, you have to use Wyrdmarks, which are words in a magic language. What combination of words do you think would create a portal?"

I already had some ideas, but I wanted to see what she came up with first.

"Erm... I honestly have no idea. Do you know?"

Spoilsport. "I have some ideas. Some words are probably Open, then the symbol of where we want the portal to go. I have created portals to the afterlife before, and I just need to alter that a little." We should find a library and see if there were any books of Wyrdmarks. But when I looked out the window I saw it was getting dark, so things would probably be closing up.

So instead I asked, "what happened when you got here? Did you hear anything unusual?"

She paused, as if collecting her thoughts. "Yes. I crashed into the ground pretty hard and I saw some pieces of silver hair floating to the ground."

I stilled. Could it be- no, I wouldn't get my hopes up. But as Feyre continued, I became more and more certain.

"I heard a young boy crying, and then a man said, and I quote, 'Shut up baby! You, gold hair girl! Make the boy shut up, before I do something I'll regret.' The crying stopped, and then I passed out."

I stared at her. If they had hurt Sam... for I was certain the baby was Sam, the Gold hair girl was Lyria, and the strands of silver hair was from Nehemia.

"Are you okay?" Feyre sounded worried.

I nodded. "I'm certain you heard my children. I don't know how but when we ran through the portals we must have been transported to where each other's children were taken. You said the scent I had smelled was your son's. That was the scent I smelled when I landed here."

Feyre leaned closer to me. "Did you see him? Hear him?"

"I didn't see anyone, but I heard a man say, 'Boy! Quiet before I make you!' Then a boy spoke, saying, 'Sor-sorry," when I rounded the corner there was nobody there, but I saw a scrap of dark red fabric."

Feyre fell back against her chair. "You heard my son. He was wearing dark red nightclothes. I remember Rhys telling me about it." She seemed to harden her resolve. "Okay. I need to know everything about your children, and you about my son. If we're going to find them we need to know what they look like."

Ah. I would have to keep a lot of information to myself. She didn't need to know I was queen, or that I was Fae. I still had my hood low over my head, hiding my ears. I would have to tell her my children were Fae, but I could say it was my husband who was Fae, not me. I would tell her what she needed to know, but nothing more.

Feyre:

I couldn't wrap my head around it. I had heard her children while she had heard mine. But we needed to be able to recognize them, so I pulled my mind to the present.

"My son's name is Suriel. He has black hair and violet eyes. He's 6 years old, and Fae."

Celaena nodded. "Nehemia is my oldest child. She's 5 years old, and has turquoise eyes ringed with gold. She has silver hair and is Fae, which is passed on from my husband. Her scent is of fire and jasmine."

So her husband was Fae. Interesting.

"My second daughter is Lyria, who is the younger twin between the two of them. She has golden hair and green pine green eyes. Her scent is of wind and grass. She's Fae and..." Celaena hesitates here, like it pained her to speak. "And she's blind."

Oh.

"Pregnancies have always been hard in my family, so when I had twins, we all expected there to be something wrong. We were lucky it was just blindness."

"I'm sorry," I said softly. I could only imagine how hard it would be to never have your child lay eyes on you.

But Celaena's eyes snapped to mine and anger blazed there. "There is nothing to be sorry for. There is nothing wrong with Lyria. She is perfect the way she is, and I don't need pity from you."

I held my hand up in surrender, and was going to speak but she cut me off and continued as if nothing happened.

"My last child is Sam. He is a 1 year old Fae, and his scent is of boiled water, if that makes sense." I nodded, so she continued. "He has gold hair and green eyes ringed with gold."

I held my hand out to Celaena, who admired my tattoo. "I will work with you to bring your children back if you help me find mine. And I will never stop until everybody is safe. Deal?"

She reached her strangely unscared hand out and clasped mine.

She looked me square in the eye and said with such quiet fierceness I almost shuddered.

"Deal."