Amren slid into the seat across from me, right as Cassian returned, a bottle in each hand, and cringed. Amren said to my sister, “You’re a real piece of work.”
Nesta’s eyes flicked up. Amren idly swirled a goblet of blood, watching her like a cat with a new, interesting toy.
Nesta only said, “Why do your eyes glow?”
Little curiosity—just a blunt need for explanation.
And no fear. None.
Amren angled her head. “You know, none of these busybodies have ever asked me that.”
Those busybodies were trying not to look too concerned. As was I.
Nesta only waited.
Amren sighed, her dark bob swaying. “They glow because it was the one part of me the containment spell could not quite get right. The one glimpse into what lurks beneath.”
“And what is beneath?”
None of the others spoke. Or even moved. Lucien, still by the window, had turned the color of fresh paper.
Amren traced a finger along the rim of her goblet, her red-tinted nail gleaming as bright as the blood inside. “They never dared ask me that, either.”
“Why.”
“Because it is not polite to ask—and they are afraid.”
Amren held Nesta’s stare, and my sister did not balk. Did not flinch.
“We are the same, you and I,” Amren said.
I wasn’t sure I was breathing. Through the bond, I wasn’t sure Rhys was, either.
“Not in flesh, not in the thing that prowls beneath our skin and bones …” Amren’s remarkable eyes narrowed. “But … I see the kernel, girl.” Amren nodded, more to herself than anyone. “You did not fit—the mold that they shoved you into. The path you were born upon and forced to walk. You tried, and yet you did not, could not, fit. And then the path changed.” A little nod. “I know—what it is to be that way. I remember it, long ago as it was.”
Nesta had mastered the Fae’s preternatural stillness far more quickly than I had. And she sat there for a few heartbeats, simply staring at the strange, delicate female across from her, weighing the words, the power that radiated from Amren … And then Nesta merely said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Amren’s red lips parted in a wide, serpentine smile. “When you erupt, girl, make sure it is felt across worlds.”
A shiver slithered down my skin.
But Rhys drawled, “Amren, it seems, has been taking drama lessons at the theater down the street from her house.”
She shot him a glare. “I mean it, Rhysand—”
“I’m sure you do,” he said, claiming the seat to my right. “But I’d prefer to eat something before you make us lose our appetites.”
His broad hand warmed my knee as he clasped it beneath the table, giving me a reassuring squeeze.
Cassian took the seat on Amren’s left, Azriel beside him, Mor grabbing the seat opposite him, leaving Lucien …
Lucien frowned at the remaining place setting at the head of the table, then at the blank, barren spot across from Nesta. “I—shouldn’t you sit at the head?”
Rhys raised an eyebrow. “I don’t care where you sit. I only care about eating something right”—he snapped his fingers—“now.”
The food, prepared by cooks I made a point to go meet in the belly of the House, appeared across the table in platters and spreads and bowls. Roast meats, various sauces and gravies, rice and bread, steamed vegetables fresh from the surrounding farms … I nearly sighed at the smells curling around me.
Lucien slid into his seat, looking for all the world like he was perching atop a pincushion.
I leaned past Nesta to explain to Lucien, “You get used to it—the informality.”
“You say that, Feyre darling, like it’s a bad thing,” Rhys said, helping himself to a platter of pan-fried trout before passing it to me.
I rolled my eyes, sliding a few crispy pieces onto my plate. “It took me by surprise that first dinner we all had, just so you know.”
“Oh, I know.” Rhys grinned.
Cassian sniggered.
“Honestly,” I said to Lucien, who wordlessly stacked a pile of buttery green beans onto his plate but didn’t touch it, perhaps marveling at the simple fare, so at odds with the overwrought dishes of Spring, “Azriel is the only polite one.” A few cries of outrage from Mor and Cassian, but a ghost of a smile danced on the shadowsinger’s mouth as he dipped his head and hauled a platter of roast beets sprinkled with goat cheese toward himself. “Don’t even try to pretend that it’s not true.”
“Of course it’s true,” Mor said with a loud sigh, “but you needn’t make us sound like heathens.”
“I would have thought you’d find that term to be a compliment, Mor,” Rhys said mildly.
Nesta was watching the volley of words as if it were a sporting match, eyes darting between us. She didn’t reach for any food, so I took the liberty of dumping spoonfuls of various things onto her plate.
She watched that, too.
And when I paused, moving on to further fill my own plate, Nesta said, “I understand—what you meant about the food.”
It took me a moment to recall—to remember that particular conversation back at our father’s estate, when she and I had been at each other’s throats over the differences between human and Fae food. It was the same in terms of what was served, but it just … tasted better above the wall.
“Is that a compliment?”
Nesta didn’t return my smile as she speared some asparagus with her fork and dug in.
And I figured it was as good a time as any as I said to Cassian, “What time are we back in the training ring tomorrow?”
To his credit, Cassian didn’t so much as glance at Nesta as he replied with a lazy smile, “I’d say dawn, but since I’m feeling rather grateful that you’re back in one piece, I’ll let you sleep in. Let’s meet at seven.”
“I’d hardly call that sleeping in,” I said.
“For an Illyrian, it is,” Mor muttered.
Cassian’s wings rustled. “Daylight is a precious resource.”
“We live in the Night Court,” Mor countered.
Cassian only grimaced at Rhys and Azriel. “I told you that the moment we started letting females into our group, they’d be nothing but trouble.”