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ravencoloredroses · 9 months

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All That Matters

Nyx x Reader (Eris’ daughter)

Summary: Nyx and Eris’ daughter have known each other their whole lives. With a new alliance forming between the Autumn Court and the Night Court, their hatred towards each other will be challenged as they are forced to grow closer.

Word Count: 6,445

Warning: Swearing

A/N: request by anonymous: “Nyx and Eris' daughter!!!! Idk why but the idea of it is just so exciting for me. Since there dads are friendly (kinda) high lords they've known and seen each other around alot but are enemies to lovers” I love these characters so much! I might make another story with them… something like romeo and juliet maybe??

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The last time my father wanted to see me in his office was when I was being sent away to boarding school. I’m not as naive as I was back then, but I know that whatever he has to tell me, I will have little to no say in. That's how it’s always been and always will be.

Being the only daughter to the High Lord of the Autumn Court, I’m widely considered a spoiled brat who gets everything she asks for, which isn’t necessarily false. But people don’t realize, or don’t even want to realize, that every decision is made for me. What I wear, what I eat, how I talk, how much I talk, what events I go to and who I’m allowed to be seen with.

My older brother is the heir, the golden child, he can do whatever he wants, whenever he wants without anyone questioning anything. It pisses me off and there’s not a damn thing I can do about it.

I take a few deep breaths to try and calm my nerves, emphasis on try, then push open the office door. My father has an unreadable expression on his face as he tells me to take a seat.

“Good morning sweetheart, how did you sleep?”

He’s stalling

“Good morning father, it was alright.”

I take note of his stiff posture, the stacks of documents on his desk and the mountain of crumpled pieces of paper in the garbage can. This can’t be good.

“As you know, it is my responsibility to ensure the safety of our people here in Autumn and sometimes that responsibility falls onto you. Alliances are an important part in ensuring our people are safe, especially in times of war.

“I’ve spoken with my advisers on this matter, but the final decision is mine to make and I’ve decided an alliance with the Night Court is in our best interest.”

I’m not quite sure what any of this has to do with me and my confusion must show on my face because my father elaborates.

“Rhysand, Feyre and I have come to an agreement that you will marry their son Nyx, before the week is out.”

“W-what? Father, you can’t be serious.” This has to be a joke, there is no way he’s actually suggesting I marry that Night Court piece of shit.

Nyx is slightly older than I am, meaning we’ve seen each other at almost every event for our entire lives. He’s never been nice to me, not once. Even when we were really little he was a bully, the type of kid to ‘fall’ off the swing set and then go crying to mommy blaming you for it.

As an adult he’s not any better, walking around like he’s better than everyone and has girls practically falling at his feet when he just looks at them. I don’t blame them though, when you look in his eyes it’s like you’re deep diving in the ocean and will never run out of air. I’ve never seen anything like it and if he ever looked at me the way he does some of them, I don’t even know what I would do.

But he only looks at me with eyes of disgust and hatred, which is fine by me, the feeling is mutual. He might be the most attractive male I’ve ever seen, but that doesn’t change the fact that he’s one of the worst people I’ve ever had the displeasure of meeting. And now I’m marrying him.

“I know it’s out of the blue and a little rushed, but this has to be done, it’s already been decided.”

Right. It’s not like I’m gonna be spending the rest of my immortal life with him, so why does it matter what I think?

“Nyx is okay with this?” He shrugs his shoulders.

“You will be moving to the Night Court with him and when Rhysand and Feyre pass on, you will be expected to rule alongside Nyx and produce an heir.”

There’s nothing I can say or do that will make any of this better, so I just put my head down and shut up. I can, and will, cry my eyes out later.

“Yes, father.”

“Perfect. Now, go and enjoy your day, the weather looks lovely.”

This day is going to be anything but enjoyable. As I make my way back up to my room I pass a couple members of our staff, they must be able to tell that I wish to be left alone because they don’t even make eye contact with me. I’m appreciative of that, I don’t think I could handle sympathy looks right now.

Closing and locking my door behind me, I collapse on the ground and let my tears fall, holding my hand over my mouth to control the noise. I sit like this for hours, at least it feels like hours, and when my tears have finally dried up, I head over to my bathroom. I avoid looking at myself in the mirror, turn the faucet on and start to undress.

Normally, a bath with my favorite soaps will soothe me, but this time it does absolutely nothing. I wait for my fingertips to prune to get out of the tub, then change into my nightgown and head to bed; I just need this day to be over.

“You look lovely, dear.” My stylist asks me to twirl so they can view my whole look. I have to admit, I do look lovely, but none of that matters right now, today is the day where I lose whatever remains of my freedom.

“Can I have a minute with my sister?” My brother slips into the room and I give a small nod to my staff.

“Did you know?” I’ve been curious about this since my father told me, he always talks to my brother first.

“I did.” He looks down, ashamed. “Nyx is a good male, he won’t harm you.”

“You can’t possibly promise me that.” He closes the distance between us and grabs my hand.

“You are my favorite sister, if he even pulls a hair out from your head I will knock a few of his teeth out.”

I roll my eyes. “I’m your only sister and you won’t even be living with me anymore, how will you know if he harms me?”

He cracks a smile and releases my hands. “I have my ways dear sis, I have my ways. If you need to, look at me in the audience, I’ll be in the front row.” He winks and walks back out the door, which is soon opened again by a staff member.

“It’s time, my lady.”

I’m handed a bouquet and suddenly I’m walking towards the altar on a flowered path. I round the corner and I feel about 1,000 pairs of eyes on me so I look down and focus on not falling. I make the mistake of looking up and see Nyx standing there waiting for me. His eyes run over my body and I swear there was a smile on his face, but it’s quickly replaced with a blank stare when we make eye contact.

He extends a hand to help me up the small staircase while a member of my ‘bridal party’ takes my bouquet and fixes my dress. I’m mad at myself for the way my heart beats faster because I know it’s just an act for him to appear like a gentleman. I stare down at our joined hands and zone out for a while until I hear Nyx’s deep voice say “I do.” My eyes jump up to meet his and I realize everyone is waiting for me.

“I do.”

“You may now kiss the bride.”

Fuck. I forgot about this part. Nyx pulls me close and presses his lips to mine. I try not to think about how soft they are or how long this is lasting, but it’s pretty damn hard to do that as his hand moves to the back of my neck and presses me closer.

Is this all for show too?

When he finally pulls away and faces us towards the audience, my eyes search out my brother. He’s watching me with somewhat of a proud expression. I notice Nyx’s family -my new family- looking at us with watchful eyes, that’s not surprising based on the little knowledge I have of these people. I’m surprised Rhysand agreed to this if I’m being honest. The Autumn and Night Courts have never gotten along, but once my grandfather died of ‘natural causes’, Rhysand and my dad became friendly with each other.

Nyx walks me back down the aisle without dropping my hand and then we head off to my new home, the Night Court.

It takes longer than I thought it would to get there, but it might have just been because it was dead silent the whole time. I thought that we would be living in the same house as the rest of Nyx’s family, but apparently we have our own place. Maybe it will be better this way, maybe this will give Nyx and I time to get along.

On the outside it looks like just a small cottage nestled into the mountains, but the inside is incredibly spacious and already filled with everything we will need. Newly renovated kitchen and bathroom, a cozy living room, an office and a bedroom with a walk-in closet and an attached bathroom. A bedroom. Singular.

“I’ll sleep on the couch.” He announces while walking past me into the bathroom. Well, that settles that I guess. I change out of my uncomfortable dress and into a large sweater and leggings, then begin to unpack my things. When Nyx re-emerges from the bathroom he has changed as well, trading his tuxedo for a simple cotton t-shirt and sweatpants. I meet him in the hallway and start to ask about what’s next, but he doesn’t let me.

“I don’t care what you do, so long as it doesn’t involve me. I will be gone all day and only return for sleep to appease my parents. Do whatever you want.” He walks out the front door and flys away. Isn’t your wedding supposed to be the happiest day of your life?

I noticed multiple bookshelves when we first arrived, but I didn’t get the chance to see what books were on it. I find one that looks good and sit down on the couch to begin reading.

I didn’t notice the sky getting dark, but as I finish my book my stomach growls and I realize I haven’t eaten since this morning. I go into the kitchen and find a can of chicken noodle soup in one of the cupboards. I grab a pot and start to warm it up. Once it’s at a good temperature, I grab a bowl to pour it in and sit down at the table to eat.

Just as I get up to wash my bowl, Nyx marches through the door. He walks right past me into the bathroom without even a glance. When he comes back out, he plops down on the couch. I sigh and start to get ready for bed. Is this what the rest of my life is gonna be like?

Three days. The same routine for three more days. It’s been almost a full week since our wedding and he’s completely avoiding me.

It’s around dusk when a loud knock sounds at my front door. I mark my place in my book and open the door to find my brother standing there.

“Hey! What are you-“

“Where is he?” He pushes right past me into the house.

“Nyx? He’s. He’s um.”

“You don’t know, do you?” He spins around to face me and I shake my head in embarrassment. “How long has it been since you’ve seen him?”

“Three days.”

“That fucking asshole. Who does he think he is? The fucking king?” He starts to pace around the room and keeps spitting out insults about Nyx.

“Why are you here, brother?” I ask to stop him.

“I told you I’d be checking up on you, I’ve been seeing you doing the same thing everyday. That male has no right to keep you here locked up while he goes out doing mother knows what!”

He’s right. I know he’s right, but why do I feel this urge of protectiveness towards Nyx? He’s probably just busy, right? He’s the heir so he has a bunch of important things to be doing. But all day?

“Don’t worry, I’ll go find him and put an end to this.” He doesn’t give me a chance to reply before he’s storming out the door and slamming it behind him.

It’s not until I’m about to go to bed that I hear the front door open. I sit on the bed and listen for footsteps. They stop outside the bedroom door, I hear a sigh and then a light knock.

“Come in.” I call out, Nyx slowly pushes the door open and steps inside. He looks like he just got punched in the face. His left cheek is already starting to bruise and his eyes are red and puffy. Has he been crying?

“Nyx! What happened?” I go to get up but he puts his hand out signially me to stay sitting.

“I’ll be okay, but-“ He takes a deep breath. “We need to talk.” No good conversation ever starts with that phrase.

“Oh- okay. About what?”

“I want to apologize.” He says as he sits down on the bed next to me. I was not expecting that. “I’m sorry for the way I’ve been acting. It’s not fair to you and it was wrong for me to treat you that way. I know you have no obligation to accept my apology, but I’d at least like to have the opportunity to start over. If that’s okay with you.” He takes a deep breath and looks up at me.

“Did I do something to make you hate me?”

“No!” He rakes his hand through his hair and sighs. “When we were kids, I was intimidated by you. You had everything I’ve ever wanted, independence, confidence and I hated you for that.” He looks up at me. “I treated you like shit to make myself feel better. It was dumb and I was an idiot and I’m so sorry. I know that this relationship was forced on both of us, but if you would allow me to, I’d like to actually give it a try. I’ve um- I’ve had feelings for you for a while, and for the longest time I tried to convince myself that it wasn’t true. But it is true and I feel like I ruined any chance that we had and I completely understand if you want nothing to do with me anymor-“

“Nyx.” I cut him off and slowly move my hands to grab his, giving him enough time to pull away if he wanted to. He doesn’t. “I accept your apology. I’m not going to lie, a lot of the things you did hurt me.” I take a deep breath. “But it’s nothing that we can’t work past and I feel like starting over is a great idea.”

I give his hand a slight squeeze and then let go. “Would you like me to grab the first aid kit?” His face has only gotten worse since he came in. He gives me a small nod, I go into the bathroom and come back to hand him the box.

“Thank you.” He whispers and I know he’s not just talking about the kit.

“You’re welcome.”

It’s around time for dinner when I finish putting all my stuff away. I haven’t seen Nyx since we've talked, but I think he’s in the office, so I gently knock on the door and wait for an answer. I hear soft footsteps approach and he slowly opens the door. “I was just wondering if you wanted to eat dinner… with me… soon?”

Nyx looks behind him at the clock on the wall and then steps out into the hallway with me. “Sure.”

I must have been staring at the kitchen for a while because Nyx moves into my vision.

“You’ve never cooked before, have you?”

I shake my head and look down at my hands. “No.” I only know how to heat things up. I’ve never cooked anything so I can already tell this is gonna be embarrassing.

“I can teach you. If you want.” I look up at him, shocked. “My mom, she taught me. It’s not as hard as it seems.” He walks over to one of the cabinets and pulls out a pot. “How do you feel about spaghetti?”

“I think that sounds great.” He gives me a small smile, places the pot on the stove and walks back over to me.

“Okay. Step one, you're going to have to pull your hair up.”I subconsciously reach back to touch my hair.

“Right. I- um. I don’t have a hair tie…” He gets up and walks into the bedroom, then comes back with a scrunchie in hand. I expect him to just hand it to me, but he twirls his finger asking me to turn around. His fingers graze the back of my neck as he picks up my hair and I hold in my shiver. He separates it into three sections and begins braiding. It doesn’t take long before he’s securing the end with the scrunchie and then steps back to view his work.

“T-Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” He coughs then steps around me and heads to the stove.

“Step two, boil water.” He picks up the pot, goes to the sink and turns on the faucet. When it’s full he carefully carries it over to the stove and turns on the burner. We stare at it for a while in awkward silence until I hear bubbles popping, which I assume means it’s boiling.

“Step three, noodles.” I remember seeing the box of spaghetti in the pantry when we first arrived, so I go grab it and hand it over to him. He grabs a handful and drops them in the water. “Now we wait.” He says as he puts the box back and grabs a jar of sauce.

It was actually really interesting to see how the noodles slowly fall into the water as they soften up. “How do we know when they are done?”

He looks over at me with a smile on his face and grabs a wooden spoon. “Like this.” He picks up a noodle and throws it at the wall. It falls straight to the ground. “Ah. Needs a couple more minutes.”

“Um… What did you just do?”

“If it sticks, it’s done.”

“Oooooh.”

He laughs. “What did you think I was doing?”

“I honestly have no fucking clue.” Now we’re both laughing and it feels amazing. “Can I try the next one?”

He nods and hands me the spoon. “Go for it.”

I fish around for one in the pot, then fling it onto the wall. It sticks.

“It worked!” I place the spoon back on the counter and turn to face Nyx.

“You didn’t believe me?” He asks, jokingly and grabs a strainer from the drawer behind me. “Can you turn the burner off?” While I do, he dumps out the water leaving just the spaghetti in the strainer. “Okay. Step four, sauce.”

I try to be helpful and open the jar, but I guess I’m not strong enough so Nyx comes over to help me.

“Here, let me.” He opens it on the first try, then pours it over the noodles. “Now we eat.”

I grab two bowls from the cabinet as we head over to the table to eat.

“Thank you for teaching me. I’ve always wanted to learn how to cook.”

“You’re welcome. Spaghetti is pretty easy, next time we can try something a little more difficult if you’d like.” I smile as we continue to eat in comfortable silence. When we’ve finished Nyx offers to do the dishes while I clean up the table. After we’re done we get ready for bed and I come into the bedroom, finding Nyx staring at the bed.

“You don’t have to, anymore.” He looks at me confused. “Sleep on the couch, I mean. The bed is pretty big, so we can share it.” He gives me a small nod and heads into the bathroom.

I’ve already changed into my nightgown by the time he comes back. “Um, because of my wings I have to sleep on my stomach. I hope that’s alright.” I look over to find that he’s shirtless, just wearing loose sweatpants that are basically falling off. My eyes trail over his defined abs and the v-line that leads down to his-. My eyes jump back up and I see that he’s smirking at me. I turn my head away and clear my throat.

“Ye-Yeah that’s fine.” I never thought about how Illyrians sleep, but it makes sense that they can’t sleep on their backs. He pulls back the covers to get in and I follow shortly after.

His wings are tucked in and it looks super uncomfortable. “You can let your wings rest. I won’t mind.” He looks up at me surprised, I give him a small smile and a nod. I lay down on my back and he flares his wings out as we both drift off to sleep.

“Goodnight.”

I wake up to the light shining in through the window and a heavy weight on top of me. I slowly open my eyes to find a huge wing laying over my chest, then I notice that I’m pinned underneath the body that wing is attached to. We’re Cuddling. Even if I wanted to push Nyx off of me I couldn’t, but for some reason I don’t even bother to try. His face is nuzzled into my neck and he’s wrapped an arm around my waist. He smells so fucking good.

I lay there wide awake for who knows how long before he starts to stir. He wakes with a yawn and hugs me closer. He must realize what he’s doing because he quickly jumps up, scaring the shit out of me.

“Oh- I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to-“ His face is bright red.

“It’s okay. I didn’t mind.” He gives me a nod and heads into the bathroom. I get up to fix the covers on the bed while I wait for him to finish. He comes out with sopping wet hair and a towel thrown loosely around his hips. I hurry into the bathroom before I can do something I’ll absolutely regret later.

I splash cold water on my face about twelve times before I actually begin getting ready.

When I come back out, Nyx is sitting on the bed holding a note. “What’s that?”

“It’s from my mom, she wants us to join them for dinner tonight.” He looks up at me and hands over the letter.

My dearest Nyx and Y/N,

I hope this isn’t too late of notice, but we would really love to see you both at our family dinner tonight. The table isn’t complete without you.

~F.

I sit down and give him the letter back. “We don’t have to go if you don’t want to. I can come up with an excuse, it's no big deal.”

“We can go.”

“Something like we have obligations elsewher- wait what did you say?”

I turn my body slightly to face him and lightly chuckle. “I said, we can go. It will be nice to meet your family.” I think. Actually wait on second thought... No, it’s gonna have to happen eventually, might as well get it over with.

“Okay, yeah. We can go. Um, I just feel like I should warn you.” Uh-oh. “My family is different from most, it can be overwhelming. Everyone has very watchful eyes, they will be tracking your every move, especially my uncle Azriel. He has… history with your father and will probably not like you at first. The same thing goes for my aunt Mor, so please don’t be offended if they don’t open up to you right away, it’s nothing personal.”

Nothing personal. I’ve heard stories of the hatred between the Autumn and Night courts, but I normally just have to deal with rude stares or nasty side comments. I’ve never eaten dinner with people who hate me.

He grabs my hand and looks over at me. “If you ever want to leave, just tell me and we'll go. No questions asked.” I nod and slightly smile. I wasn’t nervous before, but now I’m second guessing saying yes. “I promise nothing bad will happen.”

You can’t possibly promise me that.

“I have nothing to wear.” I say standing up.

“That box is addressed to you, from my mom.” He points to a box sitting on the floor that I never noticed. I place it on the bed, undo the ribbon and open the lid. Inside is the most stunning dress I’ve ever seen. Dark, navy blue suede with ¾ length sleeves. Night Court colors. Beneath a layer of tissue paper are matching heels, that thankfully aren’t too high.

Nyx leans over on the bed to peer into the box. “Oh I have something that matches that perfectly!” He runs over to the closet and returns with a suit the exact same shade.

“It’s perfect.” I look up to find him already staring at me.

“Let’s get ready, shall we?”

I brush out my curls to loosen them up a bit and move over to look in the mirror. The dress fits me perfectly, it accentuates my curves but still looks elegant. Unfortunately, even looking as good as I do does absolutely nothing to help my nerves. My hands are slightly shaking and I doubt there is anything I can do to stop it.

“Is there anything I can help with?” Nyx softly knocks on the door, his way of letting me know that I’m taking too long. One glance at the clock behind me says he’s right, we have to leave soon.

I turn around and head towards the door, Nyx has already opened it and is staring at me with an expression I can’t quite determine.

“You- You look beautiful.” His eyes roam over my figure in a way that seems far too intimate, but I love it anyway.

“Thank you. You don’t look too bad yourself.” I feel my cheeks getting hot, but that’s the least of my worries at the moment. I reach out to take his hand, but hesitate when I see that mine are still shaking. “Are you ready?” I just need to get this over with.

“As ready as I’ll ever be.” He extends his arm out for me to take and then winnows us off to his parents house.

“Remember, you want to leave and we leave. No questions asked.” Nyx assures me as we walk up the pathway. I give his arm a squeeze as my response because I’m saving all my energy for what’s to come.

He doesn’t knock on the door, just walks right in and the chatter that I heard from on the porch abruptly stops. Silence. Just the sound of my heels clicking on the tile.

Two dark figures round the corner, one shorter than the other but both exude power. I already know who they are before they come into the light.

“Mom, Dad, thank you for inviting us over.” Nyx lets go of my arm to give his parents a hug while I stand by myself awkwardly.

Rhysand breaks away first to greet me. “Y/N, welcome to our home. We’re so glad you could make it.” He gives my hand a slight shake and then escorts me towards what I presume to be the dining room. I’m greeted with seven unhappy faces, each one more angry than the first.

Four females, one who is doing her best to not meet my eyes, one who looks ready to chop my head off, one who looks like she has better places to be and the last one seems to be as terrified as I am. There are two winged males at the table as well, one with long hair who has a watchful gaze and the other who seems to be assessing all the ways he can kill me while these black things float around him. I already hate it here.

“Y/N, these are the members of our family. Mor, Nesta, Amren, Elain, Cassian and Azriel.” Feyre says behind me as I give a smile and take my seat between Nyx and Cassian with Azriel across from me.

“Alright. Now that we’re all here, let’s eat shall we?” Rhysand gives a small gesture towards the table and all the plates are filled with food. I don’t even bother to see what it is, I just need my hands to be doing something before I go crazy, so I begin to eat right away. Everyone else follows suit and it takes about 5 minutes before Feyre breaks the deafening silence. “Have you been enjoying the Night Court since your arrival?”

“I haven’t seen much of it, but what I have seen is beautiful.” I take a small sip of water.

“Oh that’s a pity! Nyx, why haven’t you taken Y/N out to see more?”

“We really haven’t had the time, Mom. We will soon though.” And the game of silence begins again. This time it’s broken by Nesta slamming down her silverware.

“So, Y/N. How is your father doing?”

“Nesta.” Rhysand warns.

“No, I want to know. Because he puts everyone through so much shit just so he can keep living the high life. So tell me, how is ‘Daddy Dearest’?”

I choke on my water slightly while I’m desperately trying to come up with an answer. “I’m not quite sure what you are referring to. My father is well respected in my Court.”

She scoffs. “He is, is he? You don’t even know what happened, do you? What he did to Mor?” Everyone is staring at me now and I have no idea how to respond. I’ve heard that my father and Mor were in a relationship when they were very young, but nothing more. I glance over at Nyx to try and catch his eye, but he’s looking down at his plate.

“I’m sorry, I haven’t been told much of my father’s past.”

I feel a brush of something swimming up my leg, my side, then wrapping around my throat and I suddenly can’t breathe. Azriel stares at me with so much hatred in his eyes, I’m surprised this didn’t happen sooner.

“All you Vanserra’s ever do is lie. You know exactly what your father did. Your father hurt Mor, left her for dead, you and your brother are the exact same as him, evil. Why did Nyx have a black eye the other day? Did you honestly think we wouldn’t find out?” Nesta stands up from her seat.

Tears are streaming down my cheeks as my hands grab at my throat, desperate for air. My vision starts to get blurry and then Azriel releases his shadows. I gasp for air and quickly stand up. “Can you excuse me, I need to go to the bathroom.” I run off crying.

Splashing cold water on my face does absolutely nothing for me. I slowly sink to the floor to sob and sob and sob. No one comes to check on me. No one believes me. Not even Nyx. Why hasn’t he said anything? Done anything? He knows that I wasn’t the one who hurt him, yet he stays silent.

Gods. I feel like the world's biggest idiot. I thought Nyx and I were getting along. He promised nothing bad would happen. I should have known better.

I notice a rather large window that I can easily fit through. So that’s exactly what I do, and then I’m running. I have no idea where I am, but I know where I need to go. Home.

I’m passing through some sort of market and nearly run into someone. I take a second to catch my breath. “Excuse me, sir. Could you please tell me how to get to the Autumn Court?”

The male points me in the direction I need and then I’m off again.

“Y/N!” I stop. I’ve been running through this forest alone for over 3 hours, who is calling out for me? “Y/N! It’s me!”

My brother. He runs right up to me and pulls me in for a hug. “What the fuck are you doing?!!” And that’s all it takes for me to break down again.

“I can’t do it anymore! I don’t care what alliance this marriage brings to father. I can’t be married to him, I just can't!”

“Shhhh. It’s okay. It’s gonna be okay. Take a deep breath.” He rubs a comforting hand up my back. “I’ll take you back home, okay?” I feel a slight gust of wind and look up to see that I’m in the home I share with Nyx.

“No! Why did you bring me back here? I can’t stay here! I need to go home, back to Autumn!” I start to panic.

“You can’t go back to Autumn. Father will find out and everything will only get worse.” He lightly pushes me down so I sit on the couch and then brings me a glass of water. “I need you to stay here. I will be back to check on you, but you must stay here.��

“I will, thank you.” I’m too tired to argue. Now I’m alone, again. I know Nyx will come home eventually, but I can’t even think about that right now, I just need to go to sleep. I triple check that the doors are locked, then grab every knife from the kitchen and barricade myself in the bedroom.

I wake up to the sound of pounding on the bedroom door. “Y/N! Y/N I know that you’re in there. Please, just come out and talk to me.”

“Go away!” The banging stops and then he’s standing in front of me. “What the fuck? You can’t just winnow in here?” He kneels down on the floor as I sit up.

“Please. I just need to talk with you.”

“I don’t think we have anything to talk about. You left me there! You left me there while he was choking me! I trusted you! What happened to ‘we leave whenever I wanted’? What about your promise that nothing bad would happen? Was that a lie too?” I take a deep breath and continue.

“Was everything a lie? Everything you said? How you were sorry, that you wanted to start over and your feelings for me? Everything was a lie!”

“What? No! No, I didn't lie about any of that!”

“Then why didn’t you help me? You sat there and watched me get choked and then never bothered to check on me.”

“I wanted to! But they wouldn’t let me. The minute you left, uncle Az pinned me to the chair with his shadows. I couldn’t get to you.”

Is he lying to me right now? “From the second we walked into that house, you acted like I didn’t exist! Why?”

“Because I was scared.”

“Scared? What could you possibly be scared of?”

“I was scared that my family would find out.”

“FIND OUT WHAT?!?” If he doesn’t get to the fucking point-

“THAT I LOVE YOU!”

“You- you what?”

“I love you. I have for a while, but I thought that you hated me. I figured the only way to be with you was to have an arrangement made, so I asked my dad to-“

He looks at me with wide eyes, he's said too much.

“You asked your dad to do what?” I ask slowly, scared for his answer. He takes in a deep sigh.

“I asked him to ask your dad about arranging a marriage between us. He’s the only one who knows, not even your father. I- I’m sorry. I should have told you.” I take a step back, this can’t be happening. “Y/N, please. Let me explain.”

“No.”

“Please. I understand that I-“

“Nyx. I don’t want you to explain. Just give me an answer to my question. Just one.”

“Anything, I’ll tell you anything.” He’s begging now.

“Do you love me?”

“W-what?”

“Do you love me? Truly love me?”

“Yes! Yes, I love you!” He stands up and faces me. I can’t explain it, but I believe him. Maybe all that running I just did is messing with my head. Him asking his father to arrange our marriage is fucked up and I hate him for it, but I love him too.

“Then kiss me.”

He hesitates for a second and then slowly moves closer to me, giving me enough time to change my mind. Then finally, he places a hand under my chin, closes the distance and he softly places his lips on mine.

His lips are so soft, so gentle, like he’s afraid I’m going to break. My hands find their way to his hair as the kiss deepens. I trail my tongue across his bottom lip causing him to moan and move his hands to my hips.

We break for air and just stare at each other. Our foreheads pressed together, breath mixing between us, eyes searching the others. “I love you, too.” I realize I never said it out loud and based on his reaction, he wasn’t expecting me to. “I don’t want to start over. I just want to keep moving forward.”

“That sounds perfect.” He caresses my cheek with his thumb and gives my forehead a kiss. “Would you like to go to bed?” I nod as my response and he lets me go to pull back the covers. I get in first while he gets undressed.

There is so much we still have to work out. So many difficult conversations we have to have. But as I lay here with my head on his chest listening to his steady heartbeat, I can’t help but smile. I’m looking forward to those conversations. Looking forward to finding out as much as I can about Nyx. Regardless of what his family thinks of me or what mine thinks of him. We’re going to be happy, and to me, that’s all that matters.

#a court of thorns and roses #acotar #azriel #cassian #feyre #mor #nesta #rhys #nyx #nyx x reader #high lord eris #eris vanserra #vanserra #Elain #night court #autumn court #sarah j maas

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divinemare · 1 year

Text

⊹₊ ⋆ 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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