He Can Read Cassian Like A Book, ( Always Has, There Was Little Need For Rhys To Ever Take A Glimpse

he can read cassian like a book, ( always has, there was little need for rhys to ever take a glimpse into his mind ) taking in the fear he tries to play off with laughter. he sometimes forgets: after everything he put them through in his absence, the pain & worry that came during that time ... he needs to be more careful now. leaving his court in the dark is no longer an option. " apologies. i got wrapped up in a rather — heated conversation with one of the war camp leaders. " both hands raise to show no harm was done, at least to him, before moving to give a reassuring squeeze to cass' shoulder, grounding him. " i'm fine. "

@rhysie liked ᶠᵒʳ ᵃ starter with 𝑐𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑎𝑛.

𝐢𝐭'𝐬  𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝  𝐭𝐨  𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡  𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧  𝐢𝐭  𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐬  𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞  his  heart  is  in  his  throat     ;     but  he  manages  to  get  the  sound  out.     it's  hoarse,     sounding  as  rough  as  he  felt.     his  brows  pinch  together,      contradicting  the  smile  that  curled  his  lips     &     showed  canines.     "  i  should  have  known  better.  "     they've  both  come  back  from  far  more  perilous  missions.     but  he  gets  in  his  head,     even  now,     blood  rushing  in  his  ears     &     his  massive  body  tense,     itching  for  action.     "  you  worried  me.     you  weren't  responding-  "

@draconikia : kisses rhys cheek and pats him. pretty highlord.

fingers tousle through cassian's hair, messing up onyx strands as he leans into his touch. he plays off the comment with a mere shrug, lips turning into a small smirk. " it appears the lord of bloodshed has gone soft, hm? "

the smell of blood is all around, bodies laying at his feet, scattered across the field. metal on metal clinks, cassian at the fore front, syphons blasting through the endless sea of hybern's men. rhys can feel his own magic draining, every lash of shadows becoming more & more tiresome. there's no time to think. he quickly draws his sword, saving whatever he has left for the worst that's still to come. ensanguined hands grip the hilt, slicing through the wall of fae storming him without hesitation. one by one, they fall — a mastered dance of death.

his gaze only rips away from his targets to glance to the area where feyre had been. where the bulk of hybern's army is now pushing in. & suddenly, his vision is momentarily blackened, his body seizing in sheer pain. a soldier took the opportunity to lodge a knife of ash dripping in faebane into his side, skewering flesh & sinew. rhysand barely has time to react, pure adrenaline taking over, as he rips the blade from himself. his body twists to use whatever strength he has left to shred the fae into ribbons. with a heave, he takes to the skies, the panic finally settling in as he scans the battlefield for his mate.

where are you?

it's sent into a void, echoing back to him. their bond gone. he doesn't allow himself to think the worst, tells himself it's just the faebane — even as he soars over where she once was ... where she was supposed to be.

feyre.

he tries again, only to be met with darkness on the other side. rage runs over his whole body, consuming his dread, as his wings fan furiously against the whipping winds. even with his powers exhausted, fleeting by the second, he contemplates raining hellfire onto the whole field, turning it into nothing but red mist. it isn't until her screams meet his ears, that relief finds him. he rips himself from the sky, landing where it had came from. frantically, he scans his surroundings: pure bloodshed & carnage. but amongst it all, there is feyre. his heart pounds, as he runs towards her, engulfing her in his arms. before he can speak, he summons whatever magic he has left to winnow them back to camp, to safety.

" what happened — " his voice breaks, fear finally catching up to him. he only pulls away from her to look her over, eyes catching on her wounded shoulder. crimson stained fingers meet her cheeks, grounding him, even as panic still lingers in his gaze. " i'm fine. i'm fine — what happened? are you okay? "

@rhysie said: (aftermath): after a battle/war, sender and receiver reunite thinking the other was dead.

it all happened at once — an ash arrow pierced my shoulder, embedded with faebane and nullifying my powers, just as the massive cloud of darkness across the clearing disappeared and the bond went taut. RHYS??? i tried screaming down the bond, only to be met with deafening silence. the blood draining from my face was not because of my throbbing shoulder, but the pure panic and dread welling up inside of me. i stared across the clearing, waiting — no, praying to see another wave of darkness engulf the sky and rain hell down on our enemies, but nothing ever erupted.

no, no, no. it couldn’t be. no.

paralyzed by crippling fear, i was barely able to dodge the next arrow flying towards me. a thunderous cry, i didn’t recognize as my own, ripped through me as i used my own bow to shoot my attacker down. breaking off the end of the arrow buried in my shoulder, i took off running as fast as i could towards the other side of the clearing — faster than i ever had before, too fast for anyone to catch me. past bloodied illyrians and hybern’s army alike. i needed him, we all did. there was no life for me without him. nothing else mattered if he — no, i wouldn’t allow myself to entertain that thought.

“ RHYS??? ” i screamed aloud this time, my heart thundering and face paling with desperation as i neared the edge of the clearing. my head began spinning and eyes started welling with tears as i searched frantically. no, no, no. the pit in my stomach and ache in my heart deepened, as a small part of me started to give up. i couldn’t find anyone i recognized amongst the hideous bloodshed. i fell to my knees — feeling the pain in my shoulder for the first time, that was still minuscule compared to the gaping wound that would be left by his absence. i waited for one of hybern’s soldiers to take advantage of my vulnerability and strike me down — please, it’d be less agonizing than this, but no one ever approached. only a lone, tall figure ran towards me, his stride still quick and powerful — a sob wracking through me as i recognized him through my flood of tears. he’s alive. he’s alive. scrambling to my feet, i crashed into him with force — my arms clinging to his neck, hands combing through his thick hair and cupping his cheek, making sure he was really there. “ i thought — ” i still couldn’t bare to say it out loud.

he knows all too well what she's going through — despite how asteria carries herself, rhysand could see right through the mask she adorned, straight down to the pain that lingers beneath it. it's a reflection of the same one he'd worn after returning back from velaris, pretending he was okay for the sake of his family, all the while he was holding himself together with just a thread. ( that bond, tying him to feyre, had been his lifeline. pulling him to shore when he'd felt like he was drowning. )

even now, night terrors still find him, shaking him awake until he is trembling. flashes of amarantha, the echoing crack of feyre's neck ... he hasn't had the courage to ask for the details of asteria's imprisonment, not until she's ready. but he knows that facade is unsustainable — that whatever horrors she had been through would eventually catch up to her, just as they had for him.

that worry is exactly what made him jolt awake, the sound of her nightmares heavy in his head. he knew exactly where to find her, his mirror in so many ways ... the same place he'd go to seek comfort, in the stars & night sky.

he hides how his chest caves in, swallows down the anger that boils up seeing her so hopeless. he would tear apart their world, leave it in a disarray of nothing but red mist, if it had meant returning what was stolen from her. that rage, he knows, is useless now. buried underneath a cool calm, searching for any words instead to ease her pain.

" who you were ... she's not gone, asteria. it may take some time, but piece by piece, you will find her again. " he breathes, moves to stand next to her & lean his back against the rail, gaze lowering onto the ground. " after my time away, i tried to shut everyone out. i pretended like everything was okay. to spare everyone of the guilt, yes — but i also thought that maybe, doing that, i could convince myself that it were true, too. " his brows furrow, taken back to that time that seems so long ago by now. " keeping everything bottled in ... it didn't help. it'll only consume you. "

she painted herself with strength. walked with her head high and that glimmer in her eyes that was known to dwell in the depths of her iris's much like the night skies above. the terrors of being imprisoned by hybern . . . an onlooker would never be the wiser. but that , that was her grandest skill. covering the scars both physical and mental , grasping onto the sliver of inner strength she still wielded as tight as she could , all to portray that she was okay. if not for herself , but for her friends within the inner circle. and most of all , for her brother.

rhysand , from what she had been told by way of cassian and mor , he had been through hells of which even asteria herself could not fathom. under the mountain , the war , tamlin . . . just merely thinking of what it must have been like for him made her heart shatter. it was why asteria took it upon herself to act as if she was okay. because of that joy that radiated through him when they were reunited. because of that smile that grew on his face when he saw hers. who would she be to take that away from him after all else he had lost ?

but secrets had a way of revealing themselves one way or another. no matter your willpower , no matter ones careful steps to keep it buried. and in the case of asteria , it was the nightmares that had sold her out. most she could reel in. use her pillow or a lie to cover the truth. but the most recent was . . . it was too real. and it was why she now found herself outside on the balcony , looking over the vast city of velaris at the side of the only family she had left while the silence of the night washed over them.

rhysand ( @rhysie ) spoke to asteria : ❛  i can’t promise you it’ll get better. but i can promise you i’ll be here with you  ❜

they were the first words uttered from either of them. words that caused her own arms to pull the robe tighter around her waist while the remnants of tears dried under her eyes. ❛   so what do i do ?   ❜ void of the cheerful tone she carried , there is a distance behind each word. ❛   my wings , my mind , who i was . . .   ❜

that's when her eyes moved to his , eyes of violet meeting one another with striking parallel. ❛   i know it won't go away but , what do i do now ? how do i be me when who i am is gone rhys ?   ❜

@feydarling : " you are... so infuriating. you know that, right? "

only an hour of meandering through this party, & it had already grown dull. the thought of warming up to the same lifeless bigwigs for another second became unbearable — until he spotted her, a sharp contrast to the rest of the crowd, holding herself with uncertainty. as if she didn't belong. he waits until she sneaks out to the terrace, before pouncing. stalking over to her, circling her as if she were prey. it turned out not to be a mistake, with her sharp tongue & total disregard for who he is. finally, he had found some amusement for the night.

rhysand's tongue clicks, head tilting as a wicked smirk appears onto feline features. " so i've been told. a few times, actually. " her bite intrigues him, drawing him straight to her, leaving him wanting more. he leans a side onto the rail of the balcony, gaze shamelessly running over the other. " i'm thinking i should fire my entire security team. impressive, that you snuck past them — " he needs no confession to piece together that this was not her usual scene, dusting off his sleeves before adding on. " but next time, i would recommend blending in a tad bit better. you stick out like a sore thumb. "

@luminour : ‘ what did you imagine as you heard the song ? ’

the melody echoes in his head, igniting memories of what seems to be a different lifetime by now: the sound of his mother's wings against the wind, as they soared over the lit up skyline. one of the countless nights she'd caught him sneaking out, scolding him only to join & soar along with him seconds later. it comes to life so vividly, engulfing him completely — how invincible he had felt. so young, so naive still ... it isn't until she speaks that he's thrown back into reality, grief crushing him as if it were still fresh. stars die out in his eyes only for a moment, the only indication he allows himself to display. " a time of peace. a long time ago. " he shoves away the thought with a smile, hands sliding into his pockets as he leans against the archway, observing the other. " you are quite the talent, though i'm sure you don't need me to tell you that. "