𝔸 ℂ𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝕊𝕥𝕒𝕣𝕤 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝔽𝕝𝕒𝕞𝕖 (ACOTAR FANFIC)

Sixty-One

I woke up in darkness.

    My head throbbed in slow pulses, and I lay on the floor for a long period of time as I waited for my head to clear of the fog that seemed to encase it. I braced my palm on the floor, pushing myself up, something that should have been so easy and yet it took me nearly two minutes to get into a sitting position leaning against the cold stone wall. My body ached, and every movement lit fire in every muscle I could feel. Even moving my eyes around the room felt straining.

    My eyes were still closed, I wasn't sure I could open them from how swollen with tears they felt. My memory was foggy and I only vaguely remembered the events that lead to this level of discomfort.

    There were flashes; old memories, glittering violet eyes, long red hair, salty tears, stone doors, a throne. My second task had come, and that was all my clouded brain could seem to process at that moment.

    My mind felt like it was overloaded with things like something had torn it apart and it was slowly trying to heal itself.

    I had a feeling this had something to do with Rhysand, I'd only ever felt like this once before when I had a run-in with another Daemati and was got into a little...quarrel. After that I could barely even remember my name for a week, it took months to heal from it. My family had been told I was out of town with the tavern I worked at for a function.

    I raised my left hand into my vision, looking at the cat-eye that now occupied my palm. I wondered if the High Lord could see me from it.

    The fog seemed to dissipate only by a fraction and I remembered what my second task was. My stupid second task. How was it even a trial? There was nothing I could do to prove myself in it besides try not to die.

    I groaned as my room began moving before my eyes. Spinning by the door. I closed my eyes trying to rid myself of the dizzy spell that had taken over my sight.

    "Still weeping?" A dark voice broke me out of my trance, and I realized I wasn't dizzy at all.

    Rhysand.

I had cried at my trial. Cried. Mortified was too lose a term for what I felt.

    I slowly opened my still teary eyes, two sole tears escaped from my eyes. My vision blurred, and the High Lord of the Night Court very slowly came into focus.

    "Get out, you prick," I grumbled as I tried to push down the pain that laced my body with every minuscule movement I made—the pain that he created.

Rhysand knelt in front of me, his boots scuffling against the gravel rocks of my cell floor. He grabbed my wrists holding them in front of me with his warm hands. The movement sent sparks through my veins but I managed to hold in my cry of pain.

    The High Lord leaned in his face mere inches from mine. I must have gone insane. Must have suffered some kind of brain injury. Must have gone crazy because I didn't pull away. Didn't try.

    I watched his star-flecked violet eyes light up with mischief. I did nothing as his mouth collided with my right cheek and he licked away the tear that had escaped. Then id the same with my left cheek.

    Just like that. I snapped back into reality faster than lightning.

    And I promptly slapped the High Lord in the face.

    His head whipped to the side but his mouth never caved from the lazy smile he wore. He chuckled and I wiped my cheeks with my hands, barely registering the ache in my muscles as I realized he'd just licked me.

    Rhysand smirked, sitting down against the wall across from me, "I figured that would clear things up a little."

    "Disgusting." I scoffed as I continued to wipe my cheeks, "You really are like a dog."

    He rolled his eyes, "Was it disgusting?" he asked as he quirked a brow and pointed to his palm, the exact place that now held an eye on my own. "Beneath all your pride and stubbornness, I could have sworn I detected something entirely different. Interesting."

    I seethed, "Are you not the one who clawed up my mind?" I told him as I shook my head, "I wasn't in my right head."

    "As usual, your gratitude is overwhelming."

    "Gratitude. Gratitude?" I raged, "Rhysand if you don't get out of my cell in the next five seconds I'm going to strangle you."

    Rhysand laughed as he got to his feet approaching the door, "I'll spare you your duties tomorrow," he shrugged, "but the night after, I expect you to be looking your finest." he gave me an absolutely feline grin. He vanished into shadow before I could curse at him.

    I scowled at the eye in my palm, shooting those same curses into it and praying that he heard every single one.

He was absolutely, undeniably, infuriating.

─── · 。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

A/N: I'm being so productive today. I just wanted everyone to know that.