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divinemare · 10 months

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⊹₊ ⋆ 𝔠𝔬𝔩𝔡 𝔰𝔱𝔞𝔯𝔩𝔦𝔤𝔥𝔱𝔰 ⋆₊ ⊹

┊⁀➷ nyx archeron x oc

┊part nine

☁︎·̩͙✧

“You look…beautiful, dear,” her mother forced a smile while fixing up her hair, but Demetria said nothing.

She knew her mother was doing all this in hopes she would take information out of her, in hopes to understand why was she taking this decision, why, even tho she hadn’t slept in weeks, her eyes looked dull and her skin much paler than normal, she still decided to marry the male responsible for it.

Demetria looked at herself in the mirror. She did not looked beautiful, she looked dead. Emotionless. She didn’t just looked like it, she felt like it as well.

Everything had turned dull with the passing of the days, from the aching pain in her chest at the absence of something she still didn’t understand, to the tiredness that consumed her day and night.

She stared at the flowers in her head and felt a tremendous urge to tear them up and destroy them, to trample them underfoot, to get rid of them and their stupid bright colours. She wanted to take off her clothes, the ones that had been made for her in a combination of Spring and Winter styles, and burn them to ashes. She hated them, hated their colours, their layers and their meaning. Yet Demetria only stood up from her vanity and walked over to where her shoes waited.

Viviane watched her daughter with pain in her eyes, she wished then she could ask Feyre to read her mind, to tell her what was wrong with her sweet girl, but she wouldn’t, she knew Demetria wouldn’t forgive the invasion in her mind. But still, she was a desperate mother, and everyday she saw her daughter crumble a little bit more, she got more and more desperate.

“Demetria, my beautiful snow flake, please, I’m begging you to tell me what’s wrong,” she approached her white haired daughter.

When Demetria raised her head and saw the tears gleaming in her mother’s beautiful eyes, she wanted to scream and hug her. But she had only empty words to respond with.

“Would you trust me when I say that I’m doing this for a reason?”

“And is that reason enough to make you look so sad?”

Now that made her tear up. It was, it really was, but still, she felt so…lonely.

Demetria swallowed her tears up and nodded. Not capable of answering out loud, as she knew she would break down if she did so.

“Oh, my brave girl,” Viviane approached her daughter, and without Demetria expecting it, her mother embraced her in a hug.

Her heart crashed against her aching chest with the force of a thousand unspoken words. She didn’t dare move, afraid she would break down if she did so.

“Just don’t shut us completely down, your father is stressed to death, and your brother…” Viviane pulled away enough to cup her face in her hands, and Demetria had to swallow her tears. “Your brother misses you, he’s your twin, he feels your distress.”

“I don’t want to get him involved, not for now, at least.”

“Then get me involved.” That voice she hadn’t heard in a month made all her hair stand on end and her eyes to shot towards the door, opened with shock and confusion.

“Darling?” Viviane took her daughters chin in her fingers to turn her towards her, looking confused by her sudden change.

“I’m here, and I’m not leaving until I speak with you.”

Her heart pounded in her chest so hard she thought she was having a heart attack.

Her mother furrowed her eyebrows, waiting for a response that Demetria wasn’t able to deliver at the moment.

“Now, Demetria.”

She swallowed hard and looked back at the door. Her mother sighed, and when Demetria turned to look at her, she saw how the female smiled slightly.

“Go, he’s most definitely not leaving without having a word.”

“How…?”

“Please, you really thought Feyre and I didn’t already know? I’m your mother, my beautiful snow flake. Now go, go,” Viviane pushed her daughter towards the door slightly, giving Demetria no chance but to walk out of her room.

She followed the tug of energy that somehow told her exactly where Nyx was. She didn’t knew how, but…she just knew. Knew what path to follow, knew how many steps to take. Just knew how to find him.

The beating of her heart became so irregular as she reached the terrace on the east side of the place she could perfectly hear it in her ears and feel it pounding in her throat as she opened the windows, the night blending with overwhelming perfection with the male standing outside. His wings where spread like two great impotent shadows. Demetria noticed, there, that the stars seemed to shine more brightly in his presence, that his face was hard and molded into an expression of what appeared to be rage and helplessness and relief and...she really had no idea what else, she could never read Nyx's expressions completely. Funny, for someone who could read a person's soul with a look.

“What are you doing here?” Nyx smiled with bittersweet, putting his hands in his pockets.

“Not even a hello? Now that’s rude, sweetheart,” even tho his mocking smirk was on place, it didn’t reach his eyes.

“Cut the bullshit. What. Are. You. Doing. Here,” Demetria approached with her arms folded, she barely could tolerate looking at her family, but looking at him now…she truly felt like a snow mountain a touch away from crumbling.

“I told you, I want to talk to you,” the fake smirk immediately vanished as if it had never been there from Nyx’s face, and only pure, forced calmness to cover up exploding emotions remained.

“I don’t have time for this, Nyx, I need to go,” she turned around, ready to leave her heart in that balcony while her sanity was still intact.

“Where? To your engagement party?” Demetria stoped dead in her tracks.

Obviously he should’ve known by now, but still…something so unpleasant it made her want to throw up twisted in her stomach.

“You’re not seriously planning on marrying him, are you?” The disbelief in his voice made Demetria scoff and finally turn around to face him.

When had he gotten so close?

She swallowed the beats of her own treacherous heart and looked at him with the same disbelief he was looking at her. He paused for a second, finally acknowledging her clothing, and Demetria could only say he looked positively ten times more enraged and even disgusted by the way both Winter and Spring styles didn’t match each other at all. And she hated she felt the exact same way about it.

“Maybe I am, so what.”

“Oh, like fucking hell you are,” she had never, in the whole century she’d been knowing him, seen him so enraged like he was looking right now.

That just made her more angry, that just made her want to explode harder.

“What? Now you’re going to tell me who am I to marry and who am I to not?”

“Yes, exactly.”

Demetria scoffed again, looking at him as if waiting the signal that this was a joke, but it wasn’t, not with the male looking so exasperated as he did.

Now she was fucking pissed too.

“Oh, fuck you Nyx, fuck you!” She tried to get away, but he didn’t allow it as he grabbed her by her arms and made them both turn around so she’ll be trapped between the stone railing and him.

They looked at each other with such an intense rage and almost snapping gritted teeth that the heat running through her body at the proximity of his was just as ridiculous at the erratic pounding of their hearts. Because Demetria could hear his, too, and she was sure he heard hers as well.

“You can curse me everything you want, sweetheart, but you’re still not going to marry that piece of shit.”

“Why not? Huh? As if you fucking cared!” She trashed against his grip, but he only held her harder and closer.

“I do fucking care! I do! And because maybe you haven’t grasped it yet, or maybe you’re just ignoring it, but this?” He looked between the two of them. “We?”

Demetria’s mouth fell so dry she almost gasped, but she couldn’t allow it, she couldn’t allow him to come any closer, she couldn’t allow this to go any further.

“There’s no we, Nyx.”

“There is a we! There has always been a we! Do not pretend otherwise, for fucking Mother’s sake, Demetria!”

She had no other words left in her to fight, she wasn’t even sure there was any desire left to fight at all, but yet she snarled at him, with all the anger she had been accumulating the last couple of weeks, with all the impotence she had been feeling and all the despair she couldn’t contain anymore.

“I hate you, Nyx Archeron! I fucking hate you!”

“Dem…” He soften his grip enough for her to free herself and start punching his chest, tears finally falling down her cheeks.

“I. Hate. You!” She emphasized every word with a punch in his chest.

But he did not move, he stayed there, allowing her to burst all her emotions in a fist of rage and tears.

“Dem…”

“Fuck you and your ‘let’s do nothing, together’,” one angry, desolated punch. “Fuck you and your ‘sweetheart’ nonsense,” and another. “Fuck you and your ‘that’s my girl’ bullshit,” and another. “Fuck you and your unspoken words,” and another. “And fuck you for leaving me when I needed you!”

“Well then fuck you as well!” He snapped, his night-sky blue eyes full of a fire she knew all too well, the same fire burning in her chest, the same fire making her skin hot, the same fire holding their rage together. “Fuck you and your stupid believe that you have to do everything on your own. Fuck you and your need to control everything around you. Fuck you and that stupid dress you’re wearing because it’s nothing like you, and it makes me so fucking mad to think you’re wearing it for him. Fuck you and the way you make me so incredibly confused I cannot sleep because I cannot stop thinking about you. Fuck you and the way you make my heart feel like a useless little thing when it seems to not be able to contain itself around you,” he got so close to her she had to grip the railing so hard her hands began to hurt with the rough stone. “And fuck you, Demetria, because I cannot believe that in all the people in this Mother damned world, the Cauldron made me fall so stupidly and irrevocably in love with you, only to then break my fucking heart making you my mate too.”

He was so angry yet so…desperately hopeful it made Demetria held her breath. The tears were now falling silently, but she did not react to that word. Mate. She had already known it. Deep down, she had already felt it.

Nyx Archeron, the reckless, stupid, oh-so-charming Night Prince was her mate.

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divinemare · 6 months

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Elliot (OC): I know you don't like to talk about your feelings so I brought something.

Elliot: *pulls out a stick*

Elliot: It's a feeling stick. Whoever holds it, talks about their feelings.

Demetria (OC): *breaks the stick*

Elliot: Funnily enough, this is not the first time this happened.

Elliot: *pulls out a smaller stick*

Elliot: I also have it in travel size.

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divinemare · 6 months

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⊹₊ ⋆ 𝔠𝔬𝔩𝔡 𝔰𝔱𝔞𝔯𝔩𝔦𝔤𝔥𝔱𝔰 ⋆₊ ⊹

┊⁀➷ nyx archeron x oc

┊part ten

part nine

☁︎·̩͙✧

“I have to go.”

“No, no you don’t,” he held onto her hand harder, refusing to let her go.

“I need to do this, please,” her eyes filled with tears, forcing against his desperate grip.

“Then let me help you.”

“You want to help? Fine, then I need you to trust me.”

“I do, more than anyone in this world,” he exclaimed with exasperation.

“Then let. me. go,” as much as she tried to not let her voice break, it was inevitable at the end of her sentence.

“Fine, go. But I want you to hear me out very well. I will not let you carry all of the burden on your own, I will not let you fall, I will be there when you need me to catch you, even if you drive me away, even if you scream at me to go, I will. not. leave. you,” then, without being able to stop it, a single tear fell down her cheek.

“Promise?” Her voice was a whisper, and his white grin flashed alongside the night sky stars, doing its best attempt to hide the pain in his eyes.

“Promise.”

Demetria awoke with the absence of something so heavy in her chest she had to clutch it in her hands. Her dreams had taken her back to seven moons ago, as it had done for all that week since her arrival at the Spring Court. A consolation or a punishment, she had not yet decided which one it was.

Three soft knocks on the door made her sigh and close her eyes for a second to brace herself. She muttered a “come in”, and did not looked up as the maids flooded her room for yet another awful morning.

They dressed her up in Spring Court style, with an olive green loosed dress that fell with layers of movement to the floor, uncovered shoulders, and white flowers adorning the fabric of the corset.

It was pretty, yet it was not her.

When her hair was being tied on a braid, two more knocks on the door made Demetria stop disassociating and look at the newcomer.

Selah stood at her door with an impeccable posture.

As soon as the maids saw their princess, they curtsied and left the room to both females, when the door was closed, Selah sighed and relaxed her shoulders a bit, coming closer to the vanity where Demetria sat.

“You look awfully tired,” the blonde female said.

“Well, that’s maybe because I am awfully tired,” Demetria sighed, finally being able to show the absolute misery she was in with only Selah present.

“My family tends to have that endearing effect,” the female sighed while falling tiredly down on Demetria’s bed.

Since her arrival to the Spring Court, Demetria and Selah had found relief in each others confidence. Selah had never had a friend before, someone to trust in, not that they were exactly friends yet, but they were getting somewhere. And Demetria felt so utterly desperate all the time that it felt nice to be able to have that small talk, fractions of time where she could let herself look as exhausted as she felt when she was only with Selah, since she had nothing to hide to the Spring Court Princess.

“Please tell me they’re coming today, I cannot have another day listening to the priestesses suggestions for wedding dresses, those things are awful and I cannot even breath in them.”

The blonde female laughed slightly, and Demetria grunted her discomfort.

“They do look awful, I must say,” Demetria rolled her eyes, and Selah ceased her amusement and changed her expression into one more serious. “But don’t worry, they are.”

Something in Demetria’s chest tightened. Abraxas’ evil buddies were coming today to go on a “hunting trip”, and Demetria and Selah needed to use this visit to their advantage to be able to learn everything they could about what they were planning for the Winter and Night Court.

Three soft knocks in the door made both females stand tall and their hearts to race faster. When Demetria gave the call, a maid entered the room.

“Apologies for the interruption, my Ladies, but there’s a male looking for you, Lady Demetria,” both female’s relaxed their tension then, but Demetria frowned deeply in confusion.

Could it be…

No, no it couldn’t, he wasn’t that stupid, or maybe he was…but she had asked him to give her some time, to let her do what she had to do, to wait for her signal…but then again, when had Nyx Archeron done what she said?

Never in a 100 years. Literally.

Demetria swallowed hard and forced a smile, looking sideways and Selah before gracefully rushing out of her bedchamber and walking downstairs towards the courtyard of the Manor, her heart racing so fast and so hard she was afraid everyone in that house could hear it.

Once there, she stoped for a moment before taking a look at the male waiting for her, to steady herself, to get ready, to…

“There you are, it’s been some time since I saw those awfully bad hidden baggy eyes,” her heart gave both a leap of relieve and one of slight disappointment when Elliot’s neck-long wavy chestnut hair walked towards her.

Demetria smiled —truly smiled—, for the first time in days, and quickly ran to throw her arms around the male’s neck.

She drank in his sweet vanilla smell and sank into the relief of his familiar hug. An overwhelming feeling settling on her heart as he sighed in relief while tightening the embrace a little more.

“What are you doing here?” She pulled away from the hug to look the male in the eye, still not believing herself.

“Well, the oficial excuse is that, as emissary-in-training, father sent me to watch and learn some political matters.”

“And the unofficial?” Elliot sighed, pulling her towards him again.

“I needed to give you a hug and some moral support, and,” he pulled away from her again and smacked her arm.

“Auch! What was that for?” Demetria complained, rubbing the spot that had been hit.

“I needed to punch you for not telling me anything, and for whatever batshit crazy plan you have going on,” he looked around with a frown. Luckily, they were alone for the moment.

“There’s no plan,” the blatant lie was so bad she smacked herself mentally for it.

“Dem, honey, I know I might be clueless sometimes, but I’m not that clueless.”

She sighed, looking away from his russet eyes and backing just a little step, putting up her walls.

“You should go,” her voice was a rough whisper that betrayed all her efforts to appear ok.

Elliot sighed and lowered his head for a moment, when he raised it again, Demetria saw a seriousness in his eyes she had never seen before in the male.

“You know, I’ve visited your brother and my cousins these days, to see if anyone could answer me what, in the name of the Mother, was going on with you, but you know what I founded instead,” Demetria didn’t wanted to know the answer to that, she really, really didn’t wanted to, but Elliot was going to say it anyway, so she swallowed hard and lifted her chin ever so slightly. “Your brother is completely destroyed, he’s beyond pissed, I’ve never seen Blaze like this before, he always pushes me away, as you well know, but for the first time he sat with me and opened his heart; he misses you greatly, and he feels awfully bad not knowing what to do to help you,” tears had already started falling from her eyes without Demetria even noticing, but she knew exactly just how heartbroken Blaze was feeling right now, she felt it as well, with the unique connection they had as twins. “And my cousins…I couldn’t even see Nyx, Asterin told me he hadn’t come out of his room, that nobody has been able to approach him without the possibility of getting their heads bitten off. Asterin herself feels sad, worried beyond words, so does Kardam, all of us do, really, my sisters, the little ones, Mother, even Darya is concerned,” now Demetria couldn’t even look at him in the eye, as well as she could not hold back the little sob that escaped her. “Dem, we all love you, you are our family, and this family does not turn their backs on each other.”

Demetria did not look up for a long moment, where there was only silence between them. Elliot did not say anything more, and the only ocasional sound was the platinums gasping breathing.

It took her some time to get herself together, and only when tears had stoped falling down her cheeks and she was sure she could talk without her voice breaking did she clean her tears with the back of her hands and looked up at Elliot with a stern face, despite the redness of her eyes and nose and cheeks.

“Then there is something you can help me with.”

✧₊˚.

Demetria was ready to act her part on this whole plan. She was dressed like a dream; a long baby blue dress that hugged her waist perfectly and exposed her collar bone, white and blue flowers adorned her half tied hair, and her lips were painted of a subtle reddish color.

She was standing over the railing in the terrace, looking at the horizon, her heart beating heavily in her chest with the anticipation, but her exterior kept calm and unmoved.

She was more than ready, she’d been so since the day she met with Selah in the woods of the Winter Court.

“Did not know I would find you here,” the voice she’d been waiting for finally arrived, and while her insides twisted with disgust and anger, she kept her face from reacting to such feelings.

“Felt the necessity of taking some air, it’s quite overwhelming inside,” she turned around to look at Abraxa’s face with an emotionless expression, the male advanced towards her, his blond hair catching the light of the sun.

“Sounds like you’re not having fun here.”

Fucking prick. Of course she wasn’t having fun here, no one who lived with him could ever have fun.

“No, I am not,” Abraxas laughed bitterly and shook his head in disappointment.

Oh, because it was so hard to believe she couldn’t possibly be not even a little bit interested in his charms.

“But I would want to,” that was the part where she had to swallow the gulp of disgust at her own words and make herself sound as honest as she could.

Abraxas looked up at her again, this time with a wariness that did not hide itself from Demetria’s attention.

“You would?” He definitely didn’t believe her, so she had to level up her acting a little bit more.

“I would. I’m tired of feeling tired, sad, alone. I’ve accepted this is the fate I shall have, I just…I would want to make it a little bit less awful,” she lowered her eyes for a more innocent look, and it seemed to work perfectly as Demetria noticed how the male’s shoulders and face started to relax a little.

“I would, too. You know, Demetria, as bad as you believe me to be, I have only ever wanted to have the chance to make you happy, to have you by my side, if you accept this marriage, I know I can, and you’ll be a great Lady of this Court,” his chest flared with pride for his own words.

Lady. Not General, not even High Lady. Only a Lady. A puppet, a pawn, an adornment for him to brag about.

Demetria had to swallow her disgust and her fury again, and instead forced a tight lipped smile without being able to look at him for a moment, if she did, she might puke on him.

“Then we should start again, don’t you think?” She finally got herself to look at him, and saw as Abraxas’ smile extended with egocentricity and achievement, making her want to punch it off his stupid face.

“I do. And I’m glad you have finally come to your senses, Demetria.”

The only thing she had come to is to the conclusion that Abraxas repulsed her more than she had thought, and that now, more than ever, she was ready to throw herself into the wolf’s den for the sake of her family. And she woul rip that wolf’s head off when the right time came.

“Yes, so am I.”

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divinemare · 2 months

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Nyx: Wait you like me? For my personality?

Demetria (OC): I know, I was surprised too.

#cold starlights #acotar #a court of thorns and roses #acosf #acomaf #acowar #acotar fanfic #acotar fanfiction #acotar oc #acotarocsincorrectquotes #nyx archeron fanfic #nyx archeron fic #demetria and nyx #nyx fanfic #nyx fic #nyx acotar #nyx archeron #acotar new gen #acotar incorrect quotes

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divinemare · 2 months

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Elliot (OC): You're not my friend anymore.

Nyx: I was your friend?

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divinemare · 2 months

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⊹₊ ⋆ 𝔠𝔬𝔩𝔡 𝔰𝔱𝔞𝔯𝔩𝔦𝔤𝔥𝔱𝔰 ⋆₊ ⊹

┊⁀➷ nyx archeron x oc

┊part eleven

part ten

little note: omg we’re coming close to the end! i think there’s gonna be 3 more parts. i’m sorry if this one feels very small, but i’m saving the best for the end!

☁︎·̩͙✧

Time was running out for Demetria and Selah, and both females were growing increasingly desperate about it. Specially the one with the awful marriage arrangement putting the robe tightly on her neck.

The company of Elliot, as incredible as it might sound, had been live-saving for her. For almost a week, the male had done everything he could to stay in the Spring Court with her. The familiarity of the company the only reassurance she had.

Until it was in inevitable for him to leave, and now, she found herself all alone again.

“Never.”

Well, not so alone.

Nyx had been in her head day and night. Quite literally. He took every opportunity he could to send images of home through with his daementi powers. Saying small sentences, sometimes even only a word, to remind her that she, in fact, was not, and never would be alone. To remind her of the people that were waiting for her back home. Remind her that she had now a mate to come back to, a mate that was waiting for her right now, that had been waiting for her all her life. A mate that had always been right beside her, even if they had tried to get away from each other every time they could.

Now distance hurt, more than anything.

✧₊˚.

Nyx was losing his mind.

He remembered a time when he was a little kid when Demetria, pissed because he had played her a prank, broke his favorite toy, which had been a very special gift from his uncle Azriel. He had been so angry he started chasing her with a blast of fire until their mothers intervened and grounded them both. He thought he would never want to chase someone with a blast of fire as much as he had wanted with her back then, as stupid and childish as it sounded, but he had been wrong. Very, very wrong. He now wanted to chase Abraxas with a blast of fire and stomp on his ashes more than anything he had ever wanted.

He was in desperate need of a distraction, something to take his mind off of how much he missed Demetria’s touch, and how primarily angry it made him to think that Abraxas now believed himself owner of her touch, owner of her.

For the first time in days, Nyx gathered the willpower to get out of his room, and while he went down the stairs, hushed whispers called his attention.

He couldn’t make what was being said behind his father’s studio doors, but he did recognized the desperate sigh of frustration of his little sister, and immediately turned the knob without knocking first.

“Is everything alright?” His surprise only intensified when he saw his parents and sister reunited around the table with nervous faces.

He gave a step into the room, and immediately noticed the way his mother slightly tensed.

“Son, we should go out for a fly, it’s been a long time since we did,” his father tried to put the most convincing smile he could, but Nyx was not buying the attempt of distraction, on the contrary, it made him even more curious.

“What are you all trying to hide?”

“Nyx, baby, we didn’t wanted to hide anything from you,” Feyre gave a step towards her son, allowing him to have a look at the oak table and the four envelopes in it.

High Lady Feyre. High Lord Rhysand. Nyx. Asterin.

“What’s that?” Quickly enough, Nyx was able to grab the envelope with his name before anyone could stop him, and opened it with a growing bad feeling on his chest.

It was a fucking wedding invitation. Demetria’s fucking wedding invitation.

“Nyx…” he heard his mother’s distant voice, but couldn’t seem to react to the worry in it.

“Son,” when Rhysand came closer and put a hand on Nyx’s shoulder, the young male realized he was wrapped in angry clouds of darkness, night poured from him like something threatening to swallow him whole.

The parchment in his hands was nothing but a crumble in his fist, his heart was racing so fast he knew his family could hear it, Nyx was trying hard to breath deeply, but he just couldn’t.

“Nyx…” a soft, soothing voice entered his mind, waking up some reason in him. “Nyx…” Demetria called for him again.

In his anger, he hadn’t realized that Demetria could probably feel his outburst of emotions through the bond, as weak as it still was, since she hadn’t yet accepted it officially, they knew they were connected, they had always been, somehow.

Her voice, the picture of her gorgeous eyes on his mind, and the ghost of the feeling of her hands caressing his cheek brought him finally back.

The darkness around him scattered away, and his face composed again as he stared at his parents worried eyes.

“If you don’t mind, dad, I would like to go on that flight by myself,” Nyx managed to speak in a calm voice.

Rhysand said nothing, only nodded with understanding to his son and took his mate’s hand to keep her from stoping Nyx from storming out of the studio.

Feyre might not understand fully how her son was feeling, but Rhys did. He sighed heavily ones the door was closed, remembering how darkness had too swallowed him centuries ago when his own mate was about to get married to another man.

With one look, he reminded that to his High Lady, and Feyre too sighed in understanding.

✧₊˚.

Nyx had needed to get away from everything to clear his mind, so naturally he found himself flying towards the cliff where Demetria last saved him from stupidity.

Only to find the terribly unpleasant surprise of his cousin Elliot waiting there. How the fuck had he gotten there in the first place?

“Thank the Mother, my ass was beginning to feel numb waiting for you here,” the snowflakes in the male’s brown shoulder-length hair fell as he stood up from a rock, gritting his teeth because of the cold.

“And why on earth would you be waiting for me? Here, specifically?” Nyx crossed his arms, lifting a dark eyebrow with hidden annoyance.

“Because Dem told me to. She said you would come up here once you found out about the invitations, and, unsurprisingly, she was right.”

Hearing Demetria’s name made his heart beat a little faster, and a tickling sensation to rise up in his body. Nyx uncrossed his arms and gave a step closer to his cousin, his face stern and demanding.

“Explain.”

��Yeah, see, I don’t do well under pressure, so you’ll have to change all that soon-to-be-lord-of-darkness-and-death tone. Because it makes me very nervous,” with a swift movement of his hand, Elliot brushed his hair passed his shoulder, while Nyx had to really, really clench his jaw in search of some patience.

“Elliot…” his cousin’s name came out like a warning with clenched teeth.

Nyx was not usually of the angry type to lose his patience in an explosive way, his sister usually was in charge of that, while he was most collected and calm and preferred to treat everything in life as a joke and nothing really seriously. But those past few weeks had altered him completely, and anger was now the only thing he seemed to be feeling.

“Yeah, ok,” the youngest of the males rolled his eyes and gave a big sigh, his russet eyes turning a little bit more serious than Nyx would’ve wanted. “Dem said you’ll be here, she sent me to wait for you because she knew you were going to lose it, and by the looks of it, cousin, you are losing it.”

“Go to the point, Elliot,” Nyx was having trouble not to clench his jaw, but kept it in him as best as he could.

“She has a plan.”

Now those were some words that distracted the anger.

“What?” He uncrossed his arms and blinked several times, a racing adrenaline feeling starting to kick in.

“She has a plan. A really good one for that matter. And she needs your help.”

Nyx took a deep breath in, chin lifting up while his heart felt as if it was about to burst out of his chest.

“What does she need me to do.”

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divinemare · 10 months

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⊹₊ ⋆ 𝔠𝔬𝔩𝔡 𝔰𝔱𝔞𝔯𝔩𝔦𝔤𝔥𝔱𝔰 ⋆₊ ⊹

┊⁀➷ nyx x oc

┊part eight

part seven

☁︎·̩͙✧

Nerves consumed her throughout the night, not allowing her even a flicker of rest. She kept replaying the conversation with Selah over and over in her head.

Even as she tried to think of her alternatives, or maybe tell someone, come up with a new plan, something that didn't involve taking the deal, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't come up with a single thing that would help her break free of this disastrous plan.

So, after way too much thinking, she got out of bed and wrote a note. A simple 'Deal'. Then the little paper disappeared.

Demetria bit her nails as she waited for confirmation, pacing impatiently until the paper returned minutes later.

'Welcome to the family’. She read.

✧₊˚.

The next morning, they were bidding farewell to their guests, and Demetria felt a terrible dread rise in her chest as she walked through the corridors of the ice palace.

Tomorrow was the High Lady of the Night's birthday, and though she was dying to accept Asterin's invitation and accompany them to Velaris, now more than ever it would be impossible.

"I'm going to miss you so much," Asterin said as they embraced. "Are you sure you can't come?" They parted, and Demetria felt a stabbing pain in her heart, but she disguised it well enough with a rueful smile and an apologetic look. "I can't, I'm sorry, I wish I could."

She broke away from Asterin to hug Kardam, the male was silent, but just as Demetria was about to pull away, he hugged her tightly and whispered in her ear.

"Be careful, Dem."

She felt fear rise in her body at those words. Kardam was a very cryptic male, maybe he meant something else that wasn't exactly what she was thinking, but...

Demetria pulled away and faked a smile that came up much more tense than she had wanted, and felt it tremble on her lips, but she didn't say anything else either.

She said goodbye to everyone, Hollyver, Elliot, Darya and the younglings, but each hug, each goodbye, hurt more than the last. In a couple of days they would all look at her differently, and the thought of that made her heart ache.

She walked away from everyone, her heart too tight in her chest and a lump in her throat that prevented her from breathing.

A hand grabbed her wrist and tugged so fast she didn't have time to react. But she didn't need to, she knew exactly who the electric, burning touch belonged to.

"We need to talk," Nyx said once they were out of sight of the others.

Demetria sighed. He'd been the first person she'd thought of when she'd sent that terrible note. Maybe, just maybe, Nyx could be her ally in all of this. After all, he was the heir to the Night Court, his court was being threatened as well. Her brother would be completely enraged if she told him everything, Kardam and Asterin would want to get involved, and that would put them in danger. Nyx, however... if anyone understood the good of making stupid decisions, it was him. She could trust him, she knew he would understand.

"Yes, yes, we have to."

"About the other night-"

"I need to tell you-"

They said at the same time.

"What about the other-?"

"What do you need-?"

Once again, they spoke in sink. Nyx tilted his head towards her to allow her to continue.

There was something that had been bothering her since that night, something she had wanted to apologize for, and she took this moment to do so.

"Nyx, if the other night is about me using my powers on you, I'm truly sorry, I didn't mean to do that, it just happened. I didn't see anything concrete, really, I think all the emotions clouded my mind. I promise I won't do it again."

Nyx's face contorted with emotions and confusion, blinking several times.

"Or did you want to talk about something else?" She asked, arching an eyebrow at his lack of words.

Then, his face suddenly changed. He stood completely still, cold, with a calculated calm that confused Demetria, as if he was masking a much greater feeling with that same look he used to give her when they weren't so friendly.

He turned away from her, as if her touch was poisonous, which only confused her all the more.

"No, nothing, that was it."

"Nyx?"

"I have to go, I just came to say goodbye."

"Okay, but I need to tell you something, it's very important."

"Goodbye, Demetria," and then... he left.

Demetria stood there for a while, staring at the spot where Nyx had disappeared with a frown, puzzled and too confused.

Nyx hadn't cared what she had to say, he just hadn't cared. And now she was alone.

Totally and utterly alone.

✧₊˚.

His knuckles were so bloody at this point, drops of red were falling plummeting to the floor. It had been three days since he'd left the Winter Court, and from the first day, he'd wanted to go back and apologise for being a jerk, but the sheer disappointment that Demetria hadn't felt what he felt... Well, it kept him training until his body was so sore, Asterin had to use her magic to heal it.

That third day was no different, his breathing was already labored. His muscles were trembling and he was completely drenched in sweat. But everything was better than thinking about her, everything was better than hearing her voice in his head, everything was better than feeling her disappointment when he backed away from her in his own chest, everything was better than feeling that cold wall made of ice spikes in his head and not being able to do anything to cross it.

"You have exactly 30 seconds to start explaining yourself, Nyx Archeron, or I'm going to break your face," Blaze's voice made him freeze and turn around with a frown on his face.

He hadn't expected his best friend at all.

"Blaze, what are you...?"

"Start. Explaining," the male gritted his teeth, in the century they had known each other, Nyx had never seen him so heated.

"I don't understand what-"

"Demetria, Nyx! What the hell happened with Demetria!”

Nyx felt his blood run cold and his breath completely leave his lungs. He had avoided her name completely all that time, and now for her twin to be standing in front of him, so furiously screaming her name. Shit, the Mother really did have strange ways of acting.

"Blaze, I can explain."

"Yeah, that's what I'm waiting for, a fucking explanation. Why did my sister, after apparently having her heart broken by someone, decide to marry fucking Abraxas?"

Nyx had never heard his heart break, never felt the air get painfully stuck in his lungs and the need to open his chest with his bare hands to take out his heart before it kept making feel like it was. Until now.

Demetria was going to what?

“Wait a second, what?”

“She’s going to marry him, Nyx, she accepted the damn deal!” Blaze shout, and again, that terrible pain pinched his heart.

Now a complete wave of wild emotions lashed though him. He tried to hit into that barrier of ice, hit and hit for her to hear him, but there was no response.

“I didn’t…I didn’t know,” Blaze looked surprised, what told him that his family had to know already, and none of them had said a thing.

He normally kept his emotions at bay, had learned from the best High Fae in Prythian to control the wild rushes of rough power cursing through his veins. But at that moment, it all felt like he was not going to be able to keep everything in him under control. He had never felt the need to explode so badly. He felt every kernel of power punch into his walls, into his barriers, begging to burst in a frenzy of emotions.

“I’m sorry, Blaze, I really don’t know what was I thinking, I couldn’t…I…” He couldn’t even find the words to explain.

Blaze was his best friend, Demetria’s twin brother, and he had been hiding it all from him.

“You think I’m mad you’re in love with my sister?” The silver-haired snapped, making him frown.

“Then what are you mad at?”

“I’m mad at you for not telling me! I’m mad at you for not telling her!”

“I tried!” He finally snapped, all the rush of feelings swirling up his body like a wild tornado.

“Did you really?”

He fell silent, not knowing what to say. He hadn’t said it, but…

“I-“

“Yeah, exactly what I thought,” Blaze sighed and grabbed the bridge of his nose, then got closer to him, a look of worry in his winter blue eyes. “Nyx, of course I’m not fucking mad that you love my sister, don’t be such a ridiculous asshole and use me as an excuse for being a coward.”

Nyx rolled his eyes and huffed a breath. “Well thank you, dear best friend.”

“As your best friend I’m in the legal obligation to tell you you were a coward,” the silver-haired put his hands on his hips, making him look way too much like his twin sister when she was scolding him.

“I know! Ok? I know, I just…I though she had seen it, that she had…” Again, the words got caught up in his throat in an impossibly painful knot.

“That she had felt the the mating bond?” Blaze finished for him in a soft, much more calm voice than before.

Nyx shot his head up with an incredulous frown. “How did you…” When Blaze rose an eyebrow as if saying ‘you really thought I didn’t knew that already?’ Nyx shook his head and sighed deeply. “Never mind. Yeah, that. But apparently she thinks it was her powers and not…that.”

That had been what made him back away, he had been so out of words, so pathetically hopeful Demetria would have felt as he had. And then he had ran away from it, from his feelings, and from her.

“‘That’ has a name, Nyx, you got to say it,” Blaze said with a sigh, but Nyx lowered his head without being able to look into him.

“The…” He closed his eyes, then sighed, feeling the lump in his throat burn more than he cared to admit. “The mating bond,” he finally gathered his courage to said it out loud, his chest sinking in heavily at the final realization. “Demetria is…she’s my mate,” a sigh escaped him mid sentence, his voice shaky and almost unrecognizable.

He had become a whirlwind of emotions and regrets, he had spent a hundred years in pure oblivion, having her right in front of him, fighting her off, driving her away, being too full of himself he never stoped to think of what he had right in front. Demetria had been there all those decades, saving him from his own stupidity, he hadn’t realice just how much he loved to hear her laugh, how much he loved to see her put her hands on her hips when she was scolding him, how her ears turned red when she was lying, how her eyes squirmed when she was analyzing him, how she always had an answer for almost everything, and when she did not; she went on and learned it. How she was so terribly frustratingly beautiful and deadly all at once, how she was full of empathy and love for those around her. He hadn’t appreciated enough the little involuntary smiles and bites of her lip when she was too concentrated reading a book, or how she loved to wear beautiful clothes that had always unknowingly stolen his breath. How he couldn’t see a snowflake without instantly thinking of her, how she was just so cold and hot and powerful and sweet and…so her, he hadn’t appreciated that enough, her being her, her being Demetria.

“Yeah, now I owe your sister some biiig money,” Blaze interrupted his trail of melancholic thoughts with a low whistle, making Nyx rise his head and lift and eyebrow. “What? Oh, don’t look at me like that, we all betted on you being mates.”

“I can’t believe…you know what, yeah, I can totally believe that,” he shook his head, a little smile spreading at thinking just how much money Asterin had made from that bet, because she sure as hell had bet on them.

“What are you gonna do now, then,” his friend asked after a moment of silence.

“What am I gonna do? What am I supposed to do? She’s marrying someone else,” being shot poisonous arrows would hurt less than those words out loud did, he cringed at the thought of Demetria at Abraxas’ side, and a wave of hot rage traveled through his toes to his head.

“Yeah, and so was your mother, have you learned nothing from history, pal? Girl who’s about to marry a prick from the Spring Cour=bad. A mysterious good-looking Night Court male who opposes to said marriage and conveniently happens to be her mate=good! Now go get your happy ending too!” Blaze’s face, in other circumstances, would have been hilarious; brows furrowed and accusing look.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Nyx shook his head, heading off to clean his sweat with a towel, in reality, just finding an excuse to get away of Blaze’s scrutinizing gaze.

“Oh my…is this a Night Court male thing? You’re all trying to have a last-moment moral or what?”

“It’s just…she’s planning something.”

He had been thinking about it, he knew Demetria all too well to think she was doing all this just for spite, she would never, in a millennia, marry a male like Abraxas just because, leaving her court, her home, and her dreams for a weak, selfish and fool male. Hell no. There had to be something else, something hidden in all that. He just knew it.

It just had to be.

“Of course she’s planning something! To ruin her life!”

“No it’s not…it’s not that. Why would your sister, of all people, willingly choose to marry the male she hates the most?” He turned around to look at the silver haired again, eyebrows furrowed together.

“I’m sorry to break it to you my friend, but you’re the male she hates the most, and she did not agreed to marry you, in fact, she heavily rejected-”

“Yeah, ok, I got the point. Thank you,” he rolled his eyes, turning back away from his mocking friend.

“But you’re right, I thought so too. I questioned her this morning about it but she just…shut me out completely, that’s why I came here to talk to you, Demetria never shuts me out like that. She’s shutting everyone out, in fact. My mother, my father, even my aunt. No one has been able to really talk to her.”

“And you think she’ll listen to me? Of all people?”

“Oh hell no, she’s going to tell you to go fuck yourself, that’s for sure. But at least, you’ll be able to…I don’t know, maybe know what’s going on, help her in some way. She’s going through a bad time, Nyx, I can see it, she hasn’t slept in days, she doesn’t look like herself. You’ll at least make her explode and scream, get some feeling out of her. You’ll make her feel something, Nyx, I know you will.”

That was what scared him the most, that not only he had that power, but she as well. She had the power to make him feel everything at once. And if he had barely been able to control his feelings today, he didn’t wanted to start imagining what would be like when he actually had her in front of him, when he heard her say she was going to marry Abraxas. Fuck no, that will actually make him snap.

But, seeing Blaze’s worried eyes, and imagining Demetria’s state, specially after he had been so coward he hadn’t let her speak, let her tell him what was wrong and just ran away, well, he gave a shit if he ended up killing that son of a bitch if necessary.

Demetria was his mate, and like hell he was going to let her go again.

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divinemare · 1 year

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⊹₊ ⋆ 𝔠𝔬𝔩𝔡 𝔰𝔱𝔞𝔯𝔩𝔦𝔤𝔥𝔱𝔰 ⋆₊ ⊹

┊⁀➷ nyx x oc

┊ part seven

part six

☁︎·̩͙✧

The next morning, Demetria awoke to a new sensation, one she couldn't quite place, but one that was rather... warm and cozy in her chest. She'd spent the entire night talking, dancing, and kissing Nyx as they'd watched the northern lights. It had been the strangest, yet most comforting experience of her entire life. Not once before had she thought it would be possible to have that kind of interaction with the Prince of the Night without threading each other to death if only they breathed, let alone wanting to be kissed and touched by him.

Her lips felt it then, as she remembered the feeling of his lips on hers, how they fit so perfectly and felt so out of this world, how his hands roamed her body in search of even greater proximity than possible and how they could be so loving, sweet and soft, but also hard, sensual and full of lust.

She cursed herself a couple of times before getting out of bed. She didn't know what the hell she had done last night, what kind of enchantment had taken hold of her, but she could feel it still dominating her. They had parted when it was all too obvious that they had to get back to the party before anyone noticed they were both gone and they haven't spoken since, a last glance and a sly smile was all they exchanged as both families returned to the castles for some rest before the next day of celebration took place.

Just as she emerged from the bath in her dressing gown, three knocks on her door brought Demetria’s thoughts back to reality. When she gave permission, a servant entered her room.

Malika was unlike any other servant, by far her favorite and one of her true friends. The female was part High Fae and part Ice Troll; she had pointed ears and the normally larger, sleeker features and body of a High Fae, but her skin was a cold blue and her upper teeth were slightly too large for her mouth, what should be white in her eyes was almost completely black, were it not for the deep sky blue of her irises. She was also much taller than a normal High Fae. Malika had taken care of her since she was ten, and with her rather shy and sweet personality, it hadn't been hard to befriend her.

"I'm surprised to see you here," was the first thing the blue-skinned female said, a playful smile on her lips, as if she knew something Demetria was unaware of.

"In my room, you mean?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

Malika approached as she sat at the dressing table, her hair wet and in need of shaping. "I saw you out last night with the night boy," the air in her lungs suddenly vanished at the female’s words, and despite her attempts to hide the change in her body, Malika noticed it at once, her rather cheerful smile intensifying. "I thought you couldn't stand him".

"And I can't," she replied more quickly and defensively than she intended. It was partly true. She couldn't stand the way he made her feel, not knowing what exactly the feeling was left her out of control over it and she didn't like that. Demetria couldn't stand his cheeky grin and his rather obnoxious behaviour, he was still a pain in the ass, it was just that she felt weird about it and found herself unable to stop thinking about him. She felt different, she didn't know how, but the feeling was... there.

"If you say so, milady," she looked at the female through the mirror, but said nothing. Malika had known her since she was a child, knew she was lying, but still she didn't bring it up again, much to Demetria's pleasure.

Once Malika had finished with her, she escorted Demetria to the royal dining room, where her family and guests were already waiting for breakfast. When she entered, Nyx was sited between Elliot and her brother, the three males engaged in conversation, but at her entrance, Nyx raised his eyes at her, a sly, way too personal smirk slipped from her lips, and Demetria got that old and too well known desire to punch it out of his face. She simply ignored it, and smiled to the others present.

"There you are darling, we've been waiting for you, come on, your mother is starving and you know how she gets," Kallias instantly earned a glare from his mate at his comment, to which he simply responded with a blown kiss.

Demetria tried not to think too much about what happened last night, or the fact that Nyx Archeron was sited right in front and she could feel his eyes linger upon her far too often, but she found it much more difficult than she expected, and much more difficult than she liked to admit, even to herself.

Breakfast passed in soft and amid conversation, not to much of her tho, she just stared at her food and now and then commented something, still trapped in her own thoughts. That, until Asterin changed abruptly the subject, earning a kick from her.

"So, we're not talking about my brother and Dem dancing last night, or the fact that my dear cousins just lost a bet with me, or.... Ouch!"

After breakfast, Demetria approached the High Lady of the Night Court with a box in her hands that had been carefully wrapped by her, Feyre was talking with her godmother and her aunt when she went up to them.

“Oh, darling, what’s that?” The High Lady asked, leaving the conversation with the other females to walk away with the youngest.

"A gift, I thought, since I won't be able to be around for your birthday this year, I'd give you an early happy birthday present right now," she smiled sweetly, handing over the beautifully decorated box.

“Oh, Demetria,” Feyre pulled the young female towards her for an embrace, and Demetria returned it with with appreciation.

In her century of life, Demetria had known many powerful females, she herself was the daughter of one, but Feyre Archeron had always been at the top of her list, always so sweet, always so welcoming, always so motherly and loving and full of joy, but also fierce and protective and powerful, she had been the first High Lady of all Prythian and had rightfully earned her place.

"Thank you very much, my dear, you shouldn't have bothered," the older female said with a big smile, pulling out of the embrace.

"Oh, it's nothing, really, just something I found in the woods and figured you'd like."

Feyre smiled enthusiastically before opening her gift, gaping then at the beautiful watercolours.

Malika had long ago taught her that flower petals were great for making watercolors, and that the most amazing and beautiful colors could be obtained by the unique color of the flower, she had never really considered the knowledge useful, until she had seen some of the prettiest flowers that only bloomed at the Winter Court and remembered a painting Feyre had given her on her last birthday. It had been strikingly beautiful, and when Demetria saw the flowers blooming, she thought it might make a good birthday present.

“They are absolutely beautiful, thank you, Demetria,” the female squeezed her hand before retrieving back to the other females.

✧₊˚.

Nyx had watched the whole interaction between Demetria and his mother with an involuntary smile. Blaze had been talking about something, Elliot had laughed and acted stupidly smitten as he was, but Nyx hadn't paid them the slightest bit of attention.

"Oh my-, go away, please, before I throw up my breakfast," Asterin urged her brother, Nyx hadn't realised that it had been so obvious that even his sister and Kardam were scowling at him.

"Uhm, yeah, I'll be back in a minute, Blaze," without waiting for the male's response, he stood up and walked towards Demetria, who didn't notice him approaching at all.

"Well, looks like it's just you and me, then," Elliot said, resting his chin on his hand and looking at the white-haired male.

"Darya, it's your turn," Blaze said to the female at the other side of the table.

"What? But it was my turn last night!" She argued.

"Ok, you two have to decide, because I may have a heart for both of you, but not a body, or, well, actually I could have my body-"

"Oh my Mother, someone cut out his tongue, please!" Hollyver stopped the words that were about to come out of her brother's mouth with a snarl and a horrified expression.

"You know, Holly, just because you don't have anyone to love in your life doesn't mean you have to take out your frustration on my love life."

"Oh, you're going to regret that, you bastard!" Before Elliot could react, Hollyver launched for him.

Nyx stopped hearing the utter chaos behind him as soon as he was close enough to Demetria to smell her scent. It was undoubtedly what had driven him most mad for decades, the unique and all-too-precise scent of honey and winter. He remembered, then, an occasion when Viviane had given his mother and aunts some beautiful snowdrop flowers, which only bloomed at the Winter Court and happened to be Demetria's favourite flowers —as he had discovered thanks to Asterin—, and which also smelled just like Demetria: of honey and winter. He had been so enraged by the smell that had invaded not only his home, but also the House Wind and his aunt Elain's house, and that house was filled with delicious smelling flowers. There was no escape, wherever he went, he smelled Snowdrops, he smelled her. It had driven him so mad that he had thrown the flowers from his house into the Sidra. His father, for some reason, had lied for him when his mother had found out that the flowers were gone, saying it had been his fault, that he had accidentally knocked over the vase and the flowers had been ruined.

To this day, he was still haunted by that smell whenever it was winter in his court or he was close enough to her to smell it, he just couldn't seem to escape it wherever he went, apparently.

"You were very quiet at breakfast, I still can't decide if it was because you were too tired from last night or because you were ignoring me," at the sound of his voice, Demetria had startled and jumped slightly.

She turned to look at him, and Nyx felt his heart drop into his hands when he saw Demetria’s flushed cheeks and her beautifully unique eyes looking up at him at last. If he hadn't seen the look in her eyes when he walked into the dining room and she saw him, he would have sworn he'd dreamed everything that had happened last night. Now, with her so close to him, he was finally one hundred percent sure that it hadn't been a dream. His heart leapt in his chest so hard he could have sworn the organ almost jumped out of his chest.

"You- I- What are you doing?" She whispered in a low, anxious voice, as if someone were to eavesdrop their conversation.

"Nothing, what are you doing? Are you trying to run away from me?"

"I wasn't...!" When she realized she was raising her voice too much, she sighed and closed her eyes to calm herself, a gesture Nyx knew all too well, as she almost always used it to calm herself because of him. He smiled sideways but tried to hide it when Demetria opened her eyes again. "I wasn't running away, least of all from you," she folded her arms indignantly, and Nyx couldn't help an amused chuckle as he too folded his arms and leaned against the wall, shielding her flushed ears from the views of everyone inside.

"Did you know that your ears turn red when you lie? It's very subtle, I must admit, and of course I can't see it with all that beautiful white hair covering them, but," before Demetria could protest, he moved so close to her that she didn't have time to react as he pushed her hair aside to take a look at her ears. They were, indeed, flushed.

They stood like that in silence for a minute, Nyx pulling one side of her hair to her ear so that the pink of it remained visible, his hands lingering too close to her neck, and he stared into her beautiful, mesmerising eyes with no intention of ever looking away. How had he not noticed it before? That when she was mad or frustrated, her eyebrows furrowed ever so slightly?

"Will you stop this, Nyx?" Demetria pushed his hand away, and Nyx couldn't help but smile as he licked his lips and furrowed his eyebrows in such incredulity as he leaned back against the wall.

"Stop what?"

"That," she pointed his body up and down with her hands.

"What what?"

"For the Mother, please... no, I get it now, you just want to frustrate me, don't you?" She snorted, rolling her eyes, Nyx just cocked his head, amusement written all over his face. "Of course you do, that's what you always do, you just want to annoy me, and make me mad, and-"

What Demetria hadn't taken into account was that Nyx had already learned the perfect way to shut her up, and now that he knew it, he wasn't about to let that knowledge slide.

And so her words were cut off so unexpectedly by his hand on her cheek and his body forcing hers against the wall, they were now hidden from prying eyes, and it gave him the freedom to be as close to her as he wanted.

"Stop what exactly, Dem? What?" He whispered the last word in her ear and, just like the night before, he heard her heartbeat increase until it matched his own. A symphony so perfect it made him gasp internally, but a symphony Demetria didn't seem to hear at all.

"What do you want from me, Nyx?"

Her voice sounded so serious that it snapped him out of the enchantment their synchronized heart had plunged him into.

Nyx sighed and rested his head on her shoulder, if only for a split second, until he regained some of his self-control. He looked into her beautiful eyes, which were looking at him with such frustration and confusion. Damn the mother, even their feelings were in a ridiculous sync, because he felt just as frustrated and confused.

"I want you to hear it," he replied desperately.

"You want me to hear what?" She asked back, growing increasingly frustrated.

"Hear it, Demetria, just. hear. it."

They got into a horrible silence, in which she scowled at him, trying to search for some more rational answer, only to find pure despair and frustration in him as well.

Nyx waited, and waited, and waited for something, anything, any sign she could give that she could hear too. But nothing came, nothing at all.

So his heart slowly lowered its beat, and the excitement in it descended into a painful emptiness, he lowered his head slightly, defeated, and took a step away from her before it was all too much.

Without a word, he wanted to get as far away from her as he could, so he turned around, walking down the hallway, until,

"I heard it," he had never stopped as abruptly as he did then. "I heard it but...", at her lack of words, he turned around slowly, fearing disappointment again. "But I don't know what it means."

He released the air he hadn't been able to breathe, and so he took one step, then another, closer to her, her delicious scent again invading his nostrils with intensity.

"Yeah, me neither."

"Then what?" He took another step closer.

"Then what what?" She rolled her eyes, and he again felt the need to smile.

"Then, what are we going to do?"

"Nothing," he took the last step he needed for them to be so close that she had to tilt her head slightly to look him in the eye.

"Nothing?" She repeated, incredulous.

"Yeah, nothing, nothing at all. Just once, Dem, don't do anything, don’t try to control it, don’t try to understand it, just do nothing, just listen to it," Nyx took Demetria’s chin under his fingers and stroke the skin under his thumb.

"I don't know how to do that," she admitted in a mere whisper. Nyx smiled, not taking his eyes from hers.

"I know.”

"Then what?"

"Nothing," they spoke in whispers now, their faces mere inches apart.

"Ok, then, nothing."

And so they stayed there for a while, doing nothing, and just hearing it.

✧₊˚.

Seraphina had begged her to go see the puppies, Demetria hadn't been able to refuse the girl, so she had taken the younglings, with Asterin, Elliot and Kardam, out of the castle and to the stables. Hollyver and Darya had decided to "leave it for next time", which really meant they were too hungover and went back to bed.

Beyond the horses, there was also the place where they kept the family wolves, all of whom, frankly, belonged more to Demetria than anyone else. She had trained most of them since birth, the pack now looked up to her as the alpha.

"Come on, tell us everything!" pleaded Asterin for the fifth time.

"I've already told you; we danced, he was his usual prick self, and that's it, what more is there to tell?" She dared not look at them, thinking that, especially Kardam, would instantly realise her lie if she looked up. Instead, she focused on the puppies playing with Seraphina, Inara and Asra.

"Oh, you're not fooling us, I know there's something else you're not saying."

"Honestly, I hadn't even realised you'd danced, I was busy being dragged around by someone," Elliot complained, pointing out his disbelief too obviously to Asterin, who merely shrugged, too eager to hear her story to pay him any attention. "I thought you were bitter enemies."

"Oh, my obvious and stupidly naive cousin, of course they’re not-"

"We are! I mean, not enemies, but not friends or allies or anything resembling any kind of relationship," she rolled her eyes, wanting to end the conversation there and grateful for Elliot's obliviousness.

It didn't feel right to lie to her friends, even if it was a small omission of the truth. But she still couldn't tell them what she didn't understand. First she had to find out what the hell had happened, yesterday night and today, and what was going to happen, before she could tell them. After all, if things didn't end well —which was a very likely possibility— she didn't want to have the reminder of them that something had happened at all.

Besides, she didn't want to spend the last day she had with her friends talking about such complicated and frustrating things, she would leave that for later, for the one person she needed to have that conversation with.

Mother, how she now missed the days when the most difficult thing with Nyx was to try not to hate him.

✧₊˚.

Demetria walked through the forest with her heart in her mouth, the hood of her cloak pulled back to hide her face, her breathing was rapid, if anyone found her sneaking out at such hours....

"There you are, I thought you weren't coming."

She stopped in her tracks, but did not look up. They were far from her court, on the border between the Middle and the Winter Court, she didn't know what was more dangerous, the fact that she had done all this behind the backs of her entire family and court, or the place they were in.

Demetria gathered her thoughts and calmed her fears, raising her head and staring at the owner of the voice, her expression sharp as ice, as she pulled her hood down.

"Yes, well, it seems we're both full of surprises, how did you get out of your court?" She raised an eyebrow suspiciously, her eyes itching to use her power to probe into the true intentions behind this encounter, but she held back, waited for whatever was about to be said.

"That's a story for another day, I'm afraid, we don't have much time."

"Then get to the point. Now. Before I find out for myself."

"Accept the deal."

Demetria rolled her eyes and huffed incredulous at what she had just heard. When she snapped out of her astonishment, she burst out laughing, the whole thing had been nothing more than a sad attempt of a joke. A true waste of her time and energy.

"Yeah, no. If you were that bored, you could have said so in your note instead of wasting my time," she was about to turn her back on the cloaked figure and walk away.

"Wait! Just... wait, listen to me," the voice sounded desperate now, pleading.

Demetria considered it for a second, before her curiosity made her give in and turn away as she clenched her jaw.

"Speak. Now, and be very clear."

"Take the deal. Marry that son of a bitch, or at least pretend you will."

"That doesn't sound very clear to me. Why, for the fucking Cauldron's sake, would I do that?"

"Because you can help me save my court, you can help me take that motherfucker down once and for all."

For a moment she stared at the figure in confusion, pulling her eyebrows together and analyzing every word that was said.

"Put an end to what, exactly? Tamlin?"

"Please, he's nothing more than a dog that barks but can't actually bite, it’s his horrible son who takes on his worst traits, but multiplied. He's the one plotting behind your back, plotting even behind Tamlin's back, he's tired of his father not taking steps to hunt you down and marry you to him, or kill you so you're not a threat to his plans."

"He plans..." Her face fell as she comprehended each word and tied her own conclusions, her face pale much worse than natural. "He plans to kill his father, ascend to High Lord."

That would be bad, to say the least. Abraxas was anything but a leader, he would lead the courts into civil wars, he would feud with every High Lord who disagreed with him and, being the manipulative bitch that he was, he would probably twist the narrative of her powers to gain the support of those he could manipulate into fearing her.

The cloaked figure nodded, then spoke again."He wants to destroy you and your court for the humiliation you have subjected him to, and..."

"And what?" Getting no answer, Demetria took a step closer, gritting her teeth. “And what?”

"And... he wants to destroy the Night Court, turn other courts against all of you, get revenge for what Feyre and Rhysand did to Tamlin. Ridiculous, isn't it? He wants to kill his father, blame the High Lady and the High Lord for it, and then use it all as an excuse to start a Mother damned war all over again."

"That's... that's not possible," she tried to laugh it all off, refusing to see what was in front of her. "He'd be a new High Lord, too young, they won't take him seriously, let alone knowing what Tamlin himself did in the past."

But when again there was no answer to that, Demetria felt her heart give a flutter at the hole in the plot that still remained to be filled.

"What aren't you telling me?" She asked, startled by the silent answer.

"He already has the support of Eris's nephew, who would gladly put a knife through his cousin's heart to get to the throne."

She knew Rein, he was an absolute imbecile like his father, and just as bitter about not having been the one to gain power. He was very influential in the Autumn Court, those who had been his father's supporters were now his, the court could be divided if he could get just enough to win even more support. Exposing her secret would be a perfect way, for example.

"Just... just him?"

"No, not just him. I don't know how, but he contacted the Prince of Vallahan, you know very well they didn't accept any peace deal long ago after the war with Hybern, peace is not an option, certainly especially not now. And, he's also getting support from Dawn, probably, if he plays his cards right, if you or the Night Court make a mistake."

Demetria took a step back, her mouth suddenly so dry that she had to swallow twice and lick her lips to moisten them again.

That would put three of the seven Courts against them, not to mention a whole other kingdom, and, even if they had secured the support from Amren and her daughter, therefor of Varian, he was merely a Prince, not the High Lord, and Tarquin had daughter, if she too was convinced…

"Demetria they... they know about your secret, they all know about it.”

She dared not blink, she dared not breathe, she could not think straight. How was it possible, how had all this happened?

After several minutes of feeling her heart in her throat, she swallowed hard and finally got up the courage to look up and speak, her voice firmer than her legs felt.

"Why are you telling me this?" She asked, more wary of the whole situation, of this help.

"Because we can help each other, if we work together. I will help you avoid a war against your court and that of your friends, and, you will help me become the next High Lady of the Spring Court after we both kill my horrible brother."

Demetria stared into Selah's green eyes when her cloak fell off her head and noticed a spark she had never seen in the female's always dull and drab eyes. Demetria didn't have to read her soul to know that the firstborn of the Spring Court was ready to take her throne, to whatever ends.

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