Chapter 4
Eris seemed on high alert constantly as he slowly led Aquila back to a smaller house deeper into the woods, surrounded by the glowing forest it seemed almost alight with sun rays peeking through the canopy. Aquila thought she might never see anything as beautiful again, she was always rather particular to nature compared to the rippling expanse of building she saw whilst in Velaris, or above it she supposed.
A stifled croak from the old hinges was her announcement of entry into the cottage. A warm fire was bubbling in the hearth which overlooked the rest of the room. A plush sofa was situated opposite the hearth covered with blankets and pillows. Aquila decided she liked this cottage more than any opulent decadence that could be shown in other courts or main palaces. Eris sat himself in a plush armchair next to the sofa where Aquila decided to perch herself, the plush fabrics easing her worn out legs into their folds and she pulled a soft red blanket over herself despite the warmth pouring out of the hearth.
Eris eyed the curled up goddess and his eyes fell over her wings before settling upon her face, “So, what have I done to earn the favour of a goddess willing to help me depose my father?”
Aquila regarded the male before her for a moment before responding, “You have done little, it is rather what your father has done to earn my ire and deem him unfit for the bargain.”
Eris’ eyes widened slightly at the mention of a bargain, “What bargain?”
Aquila sighed but brushed off the blanket and rose to her feet before turning around and pulling silver strands to the side to expose her back in the backless dress, “These tattoos symbolise each court and my bargain with their High Ruler. In exchange for my magic, you call it the magic of the land, being increased for them, they must protect and uphold the lives of their civilians.”
Eris ran a hand down his face as his eyes flicked across each tattoo displayed on her back, “Makes sense, I did think it odd that there was no way for us to depose an unfit ruler without heavy loss of life.”
Aquila looked down at her hands and picked at loose skin on them, seemingly lost in thought at what she had missed for 15 000 years in which she had been gone from this world, unable to do right by the people she had sworn to protect and uplift the happiness of. Eris seemingly had sensed where Aquila’s thoughts slipped too and instead tried to change the tone of the conversation, “What do I need to do to prepare for all of this?”
Aquila looked up, knocked out of her daze, “I will get your mother to safety, you make sure your brothers and anyone else is safe. I want to do this cleanly and efficiently.”
Eris nodded solemnly, “You’ll take her to Helion?”
“You know about them?” asked Aquila, eyebrows in her hairline.
“Of course, I have supported and protected my mother with claws and teeth. Take her to him, let her finally be happy, safe and loved.” responded Eris.
Aquila nodded and smiled at the male before with a newfound respect. He may appear cruel on the outside but Aquila saw through it all, had been it all before. She could not - would not - dwell on the past any longer, those people had their time in her life and would no longer have a hold on her. She allowed the fear of what those people did to wash over her, if she was going to do this then she would rather do it scared than not do it at all. She was already more scared than she would like to be, but she vowed to be braver than she expected to be.
Eris rose to his feet and stuck out a hand, “To our future endeavours.”
Aquila grasped his hand, “To our future success.”
He smiled, one that could sway any female he could ever want, not that that was what she had wanted for herself, love was not something to be permitted for a goddess. Slipping her hand into the crook of his well muscled arm, she looked up at him to return the smile, “Let’s make our move.”
“Lets.” Eris responded.
-=********=-
The follow up meeting came quicker than Nesta could have ever expected, she feared what this might mean for the goddess, not even granting herself the selfish desire of thinking what it could mean for her own freedom if they had managed to drag the goddess back into Velaris.
Instead of letting herself dwell on the abject horrors of staying in this place for longer than she had to, she steeled her emotions, carefully locking them in the cage where she kept them hidden from everyone who dared snarl at them. Walking down the corridor towards the dining room in the House of the Wind which was more a meeting room for the entire Inner Circle rather than any house that she had truly been gifted. The darkness at the end of the tunnel signaled the meeting which she was already late for, not that anyone truly noticed as she took her seat between Azriel and Cassian.
Azriel gave her a small nod as she entered whilst Cassian rested a hand on her thigh as she took her seat, his presence helping her further steel her face and emotions into the statue that she was raised to be, to never voice an opinion or challenge the status quo.
Rhysand nodded towards Azriel, “So you found her?”
“She is in Autumn.” replied the shadowsinger.
Mor scoffed, “Maybe finally granting justice against Eris.”
Feyre, Cassian and Rhysand hummed their approval at the thought that the goddess of justice was dealing her namesake to the heir of the Autumn Court forgetting that he was both their ally and a seemingly better alternative to Beron who ruled with an iron fist. Again, Nesta reminded herself that they would rather she was seen and not heard in these situations.
Cassian added in, “Do you think Azriel could convince her, with whatever she shall be doing over there?”
Azriel shrugged, “I have no idea. We don’t know her values or morals or even what drives her to do all of this.”
“Justice, I’d assume.” Rhysand added, one arm around Feyre’s chair who was nodding in agreement with her mate.
“How do we convince her justice can be served here in Velaris? What would be the driving factor to drop whatever she is doing now and come here?” Azriel quizzed his High Lord.
“We are the Court of Dreams, we are the hope for the Night Court. Surely she can see all of this and wants to help the priestesses in the library or the citizens of Velaris, help more people to get here.” Rhysand retorted.
Nesta saw a disagreement rising before anyone knew what was happening and started to pick at the loose skin on her fingers in her lap.
Feyre added to what her mate said, “She could help with rebuilding, if she is a goddess maybe there is something to be helped there, or healing.”
The High Lord of Night smiled down at his mate, “Exactly, there are many reasons for her to come help right here in Velaris.”
Even though Nesta was proven wrong on the front of the disagreement, it didn’t help to halt her apprehension that was making its life journey at removing every piece of loose skin in her nail beds.
Azriel nodded, accepting the implied order, “I will watch her from the shadows and see if there is sometime in which I can speak to her.”
Rhysand gave him a curt nod before waving a tattooed hand across the table causing endless plates of food to appear atop the table, to which everyone started to fill their plates. Nesta, however, took little and simply pushed it around her plate aimlessly, an appetite seeming like too big of a requirement at the fear and apprehension that was settling within her stomach, the job of keeping food down too far fetched.
The Inner Circle meeting quickly descended into a family affair despite little changing in terms of people present. Nesta wondered if this was truly how ruling parties should govern their people, simply over a family dinner, it seemed counter-productive and like little was truly being done for the women of Illyria or the Court of Nightmares. Again, she reminded herself to never voice these opinions lest she want to bring the wrath of the Inner Circle upon herself.
Dinner was a lively affair as usual, of which Nesta refrained from partaking in and instead chose to stare intently at her plate like it may offer the answer to key questions she was asking herself every time she closed her eyes. As quickly as it had started the food was simply gone again, taken to wherever the House chose to do the washing up and cleaning. Others rose and headed to a sitting room to continue drinking wine, Nesta dragging her feet to say goodbye to Azriel before he headed into the heart of Autumn to chase a loose goddess.
“I will not be gone long.” He said, smiling down at her.
She smiled back, this one truly reaching her eyes as she regarded the male before her, “Just… stay safe please. Return in one piece and no less intact.”
Azriel nodded, giving her a quick kiss atop the crown of head before shadows encased him, escaping to another court where he would not have to sit through tireless dinners with a family that didn’t care for her presence or absence. Heaving a sigh, Nesta headed into her personal library, not wanting to watch Cassian and Mor get too drunk to have a thought of sense between themselves.
-=********=-
Eris had brought Aquila to a side door of a looming palace which looked like it should be warm and inviting under any other circumstance, like it knew her intentions and was protecting its current keeper. The red haired male knocked on the door twice and a few seconds later it was opened, on the other side stood a beautiful red haired lady: his mother.
Aquila smiled at her warmly, trying to appear as non-threatening as possible, “My lady, I am here to take you to safety.”
The lady looked at her son and then back at Aquila before asking, “You will keep him safe?”
The goddess placed a hand over her heart before replying, “You have my word, he will be safe.”
The declaration satisfied the immediate concerns of the Lady of Autumn who then took Aquila’s arm and kissed her son on the cheek to say goodbye. Eris didn’t have time to respond before Aquila winnnowed the pair out and into a glowing city. A dark skinned male wearing a white toga and golden armband approached them, when he recognised the female on Aquila’s arm he halted.
“Medea? Is that you?” he asked in a hushed whisper as if a louder question might make the person in front of him disappear. The female in question looked at Aquila who nodded in approval and said,
“You are safe here Medea, Beron will be gone soon. You are free and your sons are safe.”
Needing no more confirmation, Medea rushed towards Helion who caught her in his arms and spun her. Suddenly remembering there was another in their company caused Helion to turn back to Aquila and ask, “Why is she here?”
“She needed to be brought to safety while Eris is made High Lord of Autumn.” replied Aquila simply.
Helion looked slightly shocked before steeling his emotions, “What of Beron?”
Aquila’s gaze darkened at the mention of the male, “I deem him unsuitable as High Lord and therefore will remove him.”
Just before Aquila could leave to return to Autumn and do what she came there to do, Helion had one final question for her: “Who are you?”
She flashed him a radiant smile before responding, “I’m a goddess, darling.”
Then she was gone, winnnowed back into the lush lands of Autumn where Eris awaited his new crown and Beron unknowingly was about to walk to his demise. Eris, who had been leaning against the wall, suddenly pushed off the wall to check on the safety of his mother. Aquila reassured him that all was well and she would be safe until this was over and then she would be free to do as she pleased, as all of Autumn would please.
With that, Eris opened the door as the corner of his lips curled upwards, “Ladies first.”
A mocking curtesy and another radiant smile led them into the corridor and towards the High Lord himself, for now at least. It only took a short walk to the throne room where Beron was awaiting the report from his son. Two guards were watching the entrance to the throne room, dressed in dark orange tunics and beige trousers that complimented each other well. They pushed open the wooden double doors and let the pair into the throne room.
Beron looked just like Eris but only a middle-aged version, with shorter red hair and aged cruelty marking deep grooves across his face. A golden crown sat atop his head, looking like golden branches twining together to form the basis and ruby’s glistened in the light dancing across the room from multiple torches adorned on the walls. His hazel eyes across glanced across his son before settling on Aquila and her two pairs of wings, seemingly out of place within the Autumn Court.
“Eris, who have you brought here today?” asked Beron sternly.
Aquila stood forward, neglecting to curtesy in his presence, “I am Aquila. Goddess of Justice. Today I shall judge you, High Lord Beron Vanserra of the Autumn Court. Will you face me like the male you claim to be, or cower in the presence of justice herself?”