A Court of Lost Stars

Feyre eventually collected herself enough to join the rest of the house at the dining table. She slid into a seat next to Rhys, who immediately snaked his arm around her waist and pulled her closer to his side.

Everyone sat there except Cassian, who had just returned a few minutes before and was washing up from the Illyrian training session.

From her seat, she looked into the sitting room, where Nova was curled up on the couch with her face pressed against the cushions. Even in sleep, her shoulders shook occasionally, her breath catching from the tears she'd shed.

Nova had cried herself to sleep.

"I know it's hard," Rhys murmured against her temple, "but it was the right thing to do."

Azriel had already recounted the events that day to those who'd missed it.

With a contemplative glance at Nova, Nesta swirled her wine glass. "How did she do?"

"Nesta." Feyre snapped at her. She was already frustrated from the day and didn't need whatever antics her sister was up to.

Rolling her eyes, Nesta shook her head. "You know as well as I do that war could be on our doorstep any time. I don't care what Madja says- if she can't escape, she will die. You already know that."

"I agree," Amren said, sipping her goblet of blood.

Feyre rubbed her temples as Cassian sat beside Mor, changing the subject, "How did the meeting go?"

Cringing, Feyre looked over at Rhys.

"They suspect what we might be hiding." He murmured solemnly, looking around the table. "Rumors were spreading about the possibility of a pregnancy when Feyre didn't join us those few meetings. I have a theory," a soft growl under his breath, "that no one had suspicions aside from Tamlin, and that's why he requested another meeting so soon after the first."

Rhys rubbed his jaw and looked at Nova's, who shivered as a warm wind drifted through. 

"I don't know how much longer we have of keeping her a secret," he said as he walked toward her, picking up a blanket. He gently draped it over her body, stroked some hair off her forehead, walked back to the table, and frowned. "She is our greatest weakness," he swallowed and let out a humorless chuckle, "she can be used against us as nothing else can. We fall to our knees because she cries over a key." 

When Rhys sat down and waved his hand, dinner appeared before them. His eyes flashed to Nova.

"Should we wake her?"

Feyre shook her head and sighed softly. "Let her sleep it off. She had a busy day being a menace." She pressed her palms to her eyes and snorted as Rhys laughed. 

Opening her eyes, even Azriel was grinning.

"Do you want to know how she did?" Cas raised a brow and smirked.

Feyre glanced at Nesta, who listened attentively. "Okay." She nodded, looking at Cas. "I am curious. How did she do?"

Smirking, Azriel glanced over at Cassian. "She cleared the obstacles with more agility than any of the others. Granted, she didn't have wings to weigh her down."

"I wondered about that," Mor said, "shouldn't she have her wings by now?"

Azriel chimed in then, "The short flight from the pole to the ground was a struggle. She was…feral being up in the air. We had to walk the whole way back because I couldn't fly with her without risking dropping her."

They ate silently for a moment, contemplating before Feyre sighed softly.

"I just don't know what to do. Her behaviors have been escalating. It's not hanging off ceiling rafters anymore, catching grapes. It's destroying people's property, stealing from others, running off, and disturbing people. She disrupted a training session," Feyre shook her head and took a long swig of wing, "I never want to be her cage, but what else can we do?"

"I know it isn't my place," Lucien began, his metal eye whirring as everyone looked over at him, "but I had a thought about the behaviors."

Rhys nodded slowly, listening. "Go on."

"She's lived in a forest most of her life—climbing trees, swimming through lakes. Not to say she's in a cage, but she has more limits. Walls, to us, mean safety and shelter; maybe they don't mean the same to her, at least not always. Maybe the behaviors are worsening because she has so much energy to use that she can't spend. When she's angry or frustrated, maybe that's when she needs to expend the most energy."

Cassian nodded slowly, leaning back in his chair, "That makes a lot of sense. When I'm pissed, I go to the training circle. Where does she go?"

"Where can she go?" Mor asked. "If she can't use blades, do you just let her run? Swim?"

Rhys rubbed her jaw, and Feyre could see the thoughts turning over in his head before his eyes lit up, and he looked over at her with a wide grin.

"What are you thinking?" Feyre asked, matching his smile.

Rhys nodded and nodded to Lucien. "He has a valid idea. We give her something to expend the energy she's not been using, hoping it will make her less…destructive. We make her an obstacle course of her own."

"We could make that," Cas suddenly smirked, "even make it similar to the course at the camp, where she has to collect an object at the end."

"Oh, she'd love that." Feyre grinned and nodded over at Lucien. "You can help with the design?"

The tips of Lucien's ears reddened as he nodded.

"Great," Cassian clapped and rubbed his hands together, "we'll start the construction tomorrow."