A Court of Lost Stars

Two weeks passed, and Nova and the word 'no' quickly became a newly learned favorite. They all sat in the house of wind, aside from Mor and Amren, who had a prior commitment, and Nova, who was wandering the house.

It had gotten a little easier each day for Feyre to let some of the stress of her safety go. Today, however, her stomach twisted as she stared at Nesta.

"We won't have a choice," Feyre sighed, "they've called a meeting, and Rhys and I have to show up together. We can't be seen as ununited, and we can't take Nova with us. Could you imagine her at a meeting for all the courts? She's not ready for that, and we're not ready for anyone to know about her yet. Her safety can be used against us, Nesta."

Nesta was quiet, and though she agreed, she nodded to Cassian and Azriel. "Why not them? She's rather fond of her preferred uncles."

Rolling his eyes, Rhy sighed. "They're training new Fae in the camps today. Many have lost touch in our absence and need a wake-up call."

"Lucien and I will be here," Elain said; the sound of something ripping nearby distracted her before she continued, "We'll keep her company and keep her out of trouble."

Feyre nodded, pursing her lips, "She can be…a handful."

"It'll be fine," Elain smiled softly, "I can show her my gardens and teach her a thing or two about weeding."

With a slow, deep breath, Feyre agreed and slowly rose. "The last time we left her, she was very antsy…"

"She'll be fine," Elain reassured her and looked at Lucien, who nodded with a small smile.

"We'll keep her safe."

Feyre finally nodded and looked over at Rhys. "Ready?"

He smirked and offered his hand. They could winnow seperately, but to show up together made a better impression. 

Quickly, Feyre looked at Elain. "Oh, don't let her eat the weeds…"

"Feyre." Elain pursed her lips and gave her a knowing look.

"You're right. I know, you're right. I'm just overthinking it… should we tell her we're leaving? She's understanding more we say each day."

Rhys frowned. "I fear it might make it worse for her."

With a soft sigh, she nodded. She'd been afraid of that. 

"Okay," she said before she could change her mind and took his arm, "let's go."

Feyre and Rhysand disappeared, and then rrriiiipppp.

"What is that?" Lucien asked looking around, his breakfast half eaten.

Cassian and Azriel exchanged a wide-eyed glance just as Nesta came to the same realization.

"Oh…no!" On her feet instantly, she stormed across the floor and into the library, where the floor was littered with ripped pages from the books she'd taken from the shelves. 

Nova sat in the center of the mess, looking up as Nesta barged in, and grinned. She held up the book to show her what she'd done, but Nesta's icy glare and flared nostrils quickly had Nova lowering the book back to her lap.

"Nesta…" Cassian wrapped an arm around her waist and carefully tugged her backward. "She's still learning."

"She knows exactly what she's doing!" Nesta snapped at him, glaring at Nova, now scowled back.

Nova pinched the top of another page…

"Don't. You. Dare." Nesta fumed, and Nova ripped.

Azriel cringed as he lowered himself to Nova, took the book from her hands, and shook his head. 

"Stop." He said, his voice calm but firm, much like the voice Rhys used with her.

"No." Nova retorted.

Cassian pulled Nesta from the library to calm down as Azriel made Nova clean the mess up.

"The books will be replaced," Cas said sternly, "I know it's frustrating, but she's-"

"Yes, she's still learning," Nesta snarled, "you forget that I am not patient."

Elain sighed softly, "Nesta, please…" 

After a moment of glowering at Cas, she turned to Elain.

"If she's staying here, keep her out of my things and out of my way. You were so keen she could stay here, then she's your responsibility." With that, Nesta stormed out, slamming the door as she left.

Elain frowned and pursed her lips, "I know it seems awful, but…I think there's much more to it than what she says."

"I know," Cassian murmured before Elain moved to the library, where she helped Nova and Az clean the floor and salvage some of the books.

Azriel glanced up and smiled softly at Elain. "We'll be back soon. Are you sure you'll be alright?"

"Lucien will be here," Elain smiled, "we'll be just fine. Won't we, Nova?"

Nova grinned at Elain and returned to putting pieces of shredded paper into the waste bin.

Nodding, Az stood and walked out.

Elain smiled softly, watching Nova a moment longer. "I'll make us some tea." She disappeared out the door, and Nova only realized she was alone when the door closed softly behind her.

Looking around, she smiled and stood to her feet quickly. She skipped to the book shelf and reached for another with the pure intention to shred the pages within, but movement through the window caught her eye.

Tilting her head to the side, she watched Azriel and Cassian disappear into the forest beyond. She frowned, and after a moment of watching, she dashed into the sitting area.

The empty sitting area.

Nova turned in a slow circle, but no one was there. She gasped softly before staring at the door that would lead her toward the woods—the same door Az and Cas had left through. Nova grinned and jogged forward before slipping through the door and sprinting into the forest.

A few minutes later, Elain emerged from the kitchen doors and into the library.

"Nova, I know you don't care for sweets, but I thought you might like some…honey." She looked around, seeing she was no longer cleaning the scraps off the floor. Elain turned on her heel and quickly went into the sitting area, praying she'd gone to sit at the table or lounge on the couch.

"Nova!" Elain called out as Lucien descended the stairs, holding a tiny knitted fox.

"What's wrong?"

"I can't find her," Elain blurted in a panic, "I turned my back for a second. I just went to get tea and honey for her, and I can't find her." 

Quickly, Lucien set the fox down and took her shoulder.

"Elain, breathe. We'll find her. Remember how Feyre said she likes to hide sometimes? You search the house, I'll search the gardens. We will find her."

Elain nodded vigorously as tears fell, and she quickly began her search, calling her name.

Though, Nova heard nothing of their frantic search as Nova followed Azriel and Cassian's scent along the rugged path. She occasionally stopped to put something in her pocket—a fallen acorn, a twig with a caterpillar, and so on.

After walking for a long time, Nova stepped into a clearing, but it was far from isolated. It was the Illyrian Training Camp. She skipped through the grass toward the warriors all lined in a row. 

They had broad wings, too, but they didn't smell like Cassian or Azriel. Looking around, she watched as one soldier after the other dashed through a sophisticated obstacle course. There were long jumps and rock walls, balance beams at least twenty feet up, and masses of barbed wire riddled the ground, surrounded by pools of thick mud.

"You will move through the obstacle course," Cassian's voice boomed over the wind's whistle.

Nova suddenly grinned and looked around the bodies, seeing Cassian and Azriel standing at the front. She started to move toward them, but a massive wing inadvertently blocked her way. 

Nova curled her lip in irritation.

"You will then retrieve the key from the top of the pole," Cassian continued and smirked. "The first one to get the key gets access to the bathing room first."

A collective hum of approval.

"Without flying," Cassian added, and their snickers died down. "You fly, you lose. You sleep in your filth."

Nova moved around the wing, and something in the sky shimmered under the sunlight. She gasped softly as she stared at the key dangling from the pole, which stood taller than the balance beams.

"Go!" Cassian shouted, and the first warrior took off into the obstacle course at a full sprint.

Watching him move, Nova frowned, but when he reached the pole and began trying to climb up, she put her hands to her mouth. 

He was going to take the shiny thing!

After a few minutes of the soldier trying and failing to climb the pole, Nova released a soft breath of relief. 

"Next!" Cas smirked, and the warrior grunted back to the end of the line.

Another charged forward, and Nova stiffened before she suddenly took off after him. The training exercise for the warriors turned into a race against time for her.

"Mother above…" Cassian said as he and Azriel stared at the scene with wide eyes.

Nova nimbly climbed up the swinging rope and landed on the netting above. She crawled across, surpassing the Illyrian, who stared after her in shock.

"Hey! Be careful, you can't be up here!" The trainee reached for her, but Nova snapped her teeth on the tip of his wing, making him lose his balance and fall backward.

Azriel watched with mouth agape as Cassian put his hands to his forehead.

"Rhys is going to kill us," Cas said.

"Feyre is going to kill us," Az corrected.

Nova was moving too quickly, jumping and climbing with record speed before dashing toward the pole. Instinctively, Azriel lunged forward to grab her before she could start the climb up, but she jumped and landed on his shoulders. 

Using them as a booster, she sprang forward and latched onto the pole. There was nothing to climb with, no handles or studs, but using her calloused feet, she found enough purchase to climb up—all the way to the top.

Grinning, Nova grabbed the shiny brass key and sat down precariously on the flat top that could be no greater than six inches in diameter.

"Nova!" Cassian called from the ground.

Nova looked down at Cas and Az. She grinned, holding the key up before hugging it to her chest.

Cassian's voice came louder. "Nova!!"

She looked down again from her height of forty feet and tilted her head.

"Get. Down. Here. Now!"

Cas and Az stared up at her, arms crossed over their chests. Their faces were etched in worried scowls.

"Nova-" Cassian began again.

"No!" Nova shouted back down at them. 

Nova swung her bare feet, happily examining her new treasure, when Cassian called again.

"Nova, get down here or so help me…"

Nova giggled and said, "Heh, no."

Turning to Az, Cas sighed. "Get her down; I'll reorder them." He rubbed his forehead and stalked off in frustration.

Azriel looked up at Nova, who still swung her bare feet while not listening to a word they said. He pursed his lips into a grim line and stretched his wings out before flying up to her.

Nova grinned at him when they were level, but his features remained unwavering…unhappy.

Her grin slowly fell when she saw he wasn't smiling at her.

"Nova." Azriel sighed with disappointment before pulling her into his arms, but Nova turned into a shrieking mess as he started to fly her away. She writhed and pulled and kicked, doing everything she could to get out of his arms.

Azriel gritted his teeth and landed in a soft patch of grass a few hundred feet from the obstacle course. He set her on her feet but didn't loosen his grip on her arms as she struggled.

"Nova, look at me," Azriel ordered. He waited until she'd calmed enough to look at him before slowly releasing his grip. "Let's go."

Azriel, afraid he might drop her, didn't fly Nova home. They walked the whole way back to the House of Wind. He didn't stop her as she stuffed her pockets with items from the forest floor.

When the house came into view, Nova took off at a spring, grinning from ear to ear as she slid in through the back door.

Elain, her eyes red-rimmed, standing before Rhys and Feyre hyperventilating.

"Lucien is still out looking," Elain trembled as Feyre ran her fingers through her hair in silent panic- Rhys clenched his jaw, "I'm so sor-"

Everyone turned to see Nova standing in the doorway as Azriel walked up behind her with a hard stare.

Nova grinned at the sight of Rhys and Feyre and started toward them, hands already in her pocket to show them the shiny thing, but when she saw their faces twisted into scowls, Nova stopped in her tracks.

Her smile fell as they stared at her.

Slowly, Nova began backing up to retreat back outside, but she backed right up against Azriel, who stood firmly in the doorway.

"We found Nova at the training camp," Azriel explained, voice low, "she ran the obstacle course, climbed the pole, and sat on top with the key. When she was told to come down, she laughed and said 'no.' I finally had to fly up to get before she could fall."

Rhys, his voice hard, asked, "anything else?"

"She bit one of the trainee's wings."

Elain took a shuddering breath, tear stains on her cheeks as she shakily walked toward the door. "I'll let Lucien know she's back."

Silence filled the house as Elain left.

"Does she still have the key?" Feyre asked. It took everything within her being to control her voice.

Azriel nodded and silently dipped out of the house, leaving Nova to her parents. Without hesitation, Feyre moved forward and put her hand out, her eyes molten.

"Give me the key."

Nova glanced at Rhys, who didn't falter in his unwavering gaze.

"Now," Feyre demanded, but Nova turned her body away. Clenching her jaw, Feyre reached into her pocket, but Nova grabbed her wrist and snatched the key, clinging to it with all the strength in her fingers. 

"No!" Nova cried out, but Feyre pried the key from her fingers. What felt like a dagger to her heart almost sent Feyre over the edge as Nova fell to the ground and began sobbing.

Feyre had never heard her cry like that, not even when they'd first brought her to Velaris. When they'd had to treat her leg, she'd screamed and thrashed, but this, the way she cried now, sounded like pure grief.

Turning, Feyre walked to Rhys and put the key in his hand. 

"I need a minute." She said, voice wavering as she avoided his uneasy, violet eyes.

 Feyre walked down the hall to the bathroom, where she locked the door and cried.