Chapter Text
Rhoswen
Music flowed into the open window from the streets below, children laughed as if they had never felt pain and citizans, lesser and high fae alike danced in the streets to celebrate what had just been anounced. I, Lady Rhoswen: daughter to the Lord and Lady of the Night Court, was to be officially announced as their successor in a week's time. I, of course, had known that it was coming; it had been all my mother and father talked about since I had turned eighteen. Right at that moment Cassian, Mor and Azriel were all undoubtedly planing the ceremony alongside my parents. It was meant to be a joyous time and yet I felt like I was drowning in a wave of anxiety and fear.
Amren, I knew, would not be participating in the party planning. It was one of the reasons I had always liked Amren; she never made a fuss and was perfectly content to leave me in my own little corner so long as I left her to hers. That wasn't to say Amren had never shown an interest in the me, as a child Ihad spent a lot of time in her company and even now I knew I was one of the few people Amren seemed to enjoy being around for more than a few moments.
I stared down at the people below my window, watched them dance in the starlight and listened to their laughter float up along side the music. It seemed wrong somehow, that even as the people I loved were happy and celebrating, all I could feel was the tightness in my chest.
You are not worthy, a voice seemed to repeat over and over, what have you ever done to deserve their love, their devotion? It was a question I had asked myself many times since my mother and father told me what they planned to do. I had been deliberating over it for weeks and yet I had no answer because it was true, I had never done anything that deserved the kind of adoration they all seemed to have for me. I was not my mother whom had given up her life, her humanity and everything she had ever held dear as a human to save the people she cared about, I was no cursebreakrer. Nor was I my father, whom had sold himself and his dignity to keep his people safe, had lost his life to stop a mad man from destroying the world he loved. True, my father had come back and lived to see his people again andto see my birth, but it didn't change the fact that he had sacrificed everything. I had sacrificed nothing. To be born into privilage was a privilage of its own and I did not deserve it.
"Rhos, sweetheart, are you okay?" It was my mother. I turned to face her with a smile on my face that I had been perfecting for the last few weeks, she was devastating his her gown made of both dark and light, stars that looked like they could be real glowing on the blank, black canvas of her silk gown. She had, as she always did, her hair half up, two threads of braids that twisted to come together at the centre to fall in one braid down the rest of her golden hair. I didn't have sunlit hair like my mother's, instead I had inherited my fathers darker curls that never seemed to make it past my shoulders even though it hadn't been cut since I was fifteen. I had her eyes instead, exactly the same right down to the colour and shape, I'd also gotten the shape of her lips. No one could say whether or not the shape of my face was more like my mother or my father, though they were all certain my nose was all my father's doing.
"I was just watching the people, they seem to all be having a good time." I replied, it wasn't a lie.
"They're happy and they're excited. Everyone is very proud of you, no one more so than your father and I?" My mother came closer and placed on hand on my shoulder as she brushed the curls back from my face. I knew she was telling the truth, my mother had always been proud of me no matter what I did. I turned away from her curious eyes and knew that she had seen the shadows dancing across my features.
There was a knock on my door and, without even waiting for an answer, my father winnowed into the room. It was a running joke of his, knocking and then winnowing in, it was his own brand of dad humour I supposed.
"So this is where my favourite girls have run off to." My father didn't approach the way my mother did, instead he settled himself onto the chair to my vanity. His eyes, as always, were focused on my mother though they darted to me every few moments. It had been that way for as long as I could remember and it always took my breath away, the love between them was something I had always wanted. They had never made me feel like I was least impotant yet still somehow managed to be all about eachother; it was inspiring.
"I thought you were entertaining our guests." My mother narrowed her eyes at my father but the tell tale tilt of her lips told me she wasn't annoyed.
"I was, but Mor suggested we have an eighteen layer cake, so Cassian jumped in on that and after that there was just no control. So I decided to come find my girls." My father just sat there, leaning lazily on the back of the chair.
I lowered my eyes to the floor, of course it was no use because of all the people in the world, these two knew me better than anyone. I could hear noise coming from downstairs, it wasn't hard to identifiy which ones belonged to aunti Mor and uncle Cassian. For a moment I focused on that, the voices of my family, the ones I loved. I didn't really have many friends my age, a few of the children of the high lords of the courts and of course my cousins. Liana, my uncle Lucien and Aunt Elain's daughter was the one i considered myself closest to since her family was always visiting the Night Court. Aunt Nesta and uncle Cassian's son, Volk was more introverted and I saw little of him but whenever we were together he was always kind.
"Are... Are you sure this is a good idea?" My voice was quiet as I asked the question but I knew they had heard me. Both of them paused as if in perfect unison and looked at me, I couldn't understand the look that appeared on their faces.
"Rhos, where is this coming from? Of course this is a good idea. You are our daughter and you are the future High Lady of the Night Court." My mother took my face between her hands but I pulled away, I didn't want their comfort because they didn'y understand. Pulling away, I walked across the room and stopped by the door. I wanted to be able to have a quick escape if I decided I needed one.
"That's my point, I shouldn't be High Lady just because I'm your daughter. I havent," I released a sigh, "Haven't done anything to earn this position." I hung my head and raked a hand through my hair. The music that had been beautiful and settling before was now irritating and jumbling my thoughts. Shadows began to seep around the edges of the room, crawling like insects and dripping down the walls like blood as my irritation and frustration rose. My abilities were another thing that I had inherited from both parents; I could manipulate the darkness and use it to my own advantages like my father and even possessed some of my mother's abilities to take on another's powers, though that one was to be used only when necessary. It all became too much, with a final look at my parents I shook my head and raced from the room as quickly as I could, barely hearing my mother's protests.
I found myself in the gardens far away from the town house, right in the centre of the city. The trees there glowed with fireflies like the sky glowed with stars. No one else was there; too busy with celebrating someone who hadn't earned their celebration. There was a tension in the air, a feeling of power that shouldn't be there, couldn't be there because as far as I could see there was no one else in the gardens. In the corner of my eye I could see the lake in the centre shimmering, the moon casting a glow over the water and making it shine far brighter than any jewel I had seen. Approaching the lake, I let the serenity of the gardens sooth me. This was the first place I remembered, how old was I? I didn't know, or if I did I couldn't recall. My mother brought me here whenever I had a nightmare or was feeling sad and my father brought me here every time I felt like there was something I couldn't do. This place had always brought me peace, but tonight it just wasn't working.
"I'd be careful love, a woman shouldn't be walking the streets alone so late at night." The voice that curled around my ears in the dark forced me to whirl around; deep and husky, sweet like honey on my ears. The man who stood before me was devestating, his eyes were a bright and shining hazel colour that to me looked like gold thread winding its way around a pine forest. His hair fell just slightly over his eyes and was the colour of the leaves as it turned from spring to autum. He was tall too, not as tall as my father or my uncles but still much taller than me, I could see defined muscle beneath the fabric of his shirt his jaw was sharp but not so much so that it was too much for him to still be attractive. His lips tempted me like nothing I had ever experienced before, full and lush.
The man before me was gorgeous and mysterious... and my mate.