Reborn

Stress

I open my eyes, hearing more noise from below. I must have fallen asleep once I finished the book. Annoyingly it of course ended in a cliff hanger. I groggily rise up from my uncomfortable position on the bed, realising I'm tangled in a blanket that I don't remember having on. Someone must have come up and put it on me after I had fallen asleep, my book no longer on my bed but placed on my dresser. I smile, secretly hoping it was Az when I hear a faint knock at the door.

I walk over to the door, running my fingers through my tangled hair to try and look a little better than as if I had just woken up. I open the door up a little, to check who it was and was surprised to see my brother looking down at me, a small smirk plastered on his face. "Evening sleepy head," he jokes, "I came to see if you were awake, we have some food left over for you in the kitchen if you want it." I hadn't expected him back yet.

I open the door wider and send him a small smile, Rhys moving back a little to let me out. He lets out a small chuckle and moves his hands to my face, rearranging my hair and rubbing what could only be crumpled sleep marks off of my face as much as he could. I smile up at him and give out a small chuckle of my own. "Thanks." He smiles at me in response.

We walk down the stairs and through to the small kitchen where the others all seem to be, even Elaine, Nesta and Lucien. I smile over to him, "How was Tamlin?" I ask him, remembering that I had left them together at the Spring Court, despite being happy I wasn't there I wanted Tamlin to be better than when I had first met him there.

"Better than I've seen him in a long time." He replies, glancing over at Feyre briefly.

I continue over to the small table where I sit alone, the others all standing around. I look up to Rhys as he places a plate of food in front of me and raise my eyebrow at him in question. He lets out a sigh. "So we have some 'news' of sorts." I nod, waiting for him to continue. "The Courts are disagreeing with one another about Fae and High Fae, about who needs to pay for the destruction. Hybern aren't going to, and other Courts aren't going to pay." He rubs a hand over his face. "I'm not sure what to do. I'm not sure what we can do." I give him a sympathetic look, ignoring the food going cold on my plate until Az comes over and nudges my arm slightly, gesturing with his eyes toward the plate. I smile at him and roll my eyes, picking up my cutlery and dramatically taking a bite, staring at him the entire time. I raise my eyebrows once I swallow the food and smirk up at him when I see him roll his eyes in response and blush slightly.

"We can't afford - no Court can afford to help repair other Courts. Especially if they are struggling to even pay to help their own. I know the financial part about all of this is important but we have to remember that people lost people, they lost their children and their parents, their siblings and their friends. The High Lords are forgetting that." I argue. "Money isn't going to replace that. The High Lords live in palaces, most of which were unharmed. I think they can figure it out."

"She's right." Lucien steps in. "Though I'm sure the main one complaining is my father" he sneers, "Tamlin's Court is struggling but more with the loss aspect than the monetary aspect. The whole High Fae and Fae status is another thing completely, but money isn't the problem there."

"If we can keep the Night Court afloat and Tamlin can repair the severe damage in the Spring Court then that's one issue dealt with, with evidence to back it up, to get them off of your back." Mor finishes.

Rhys looks at us all in slight relief, obviously happy to have part of a solution. The issue with the 'titles' of our kind however is a little more difficult to resolve. Az nudges me again and raises his brow, as if challenging me about eating. I glare at him playfully and continue to eat while the others continue to discuss things until my plate is empty. When it is I purposely cough, as if to gain his attention, though I knew I never lost it, and stand, walking over to the sink to rinse the empty plate.

"Well don't you two seem 'chummy'" Cassian jokes loudly, making me realise that the conversation had stopped and all eyes were on us. I glare over at him and ignore his statement knowing that once Cassian gets going you can't shut him up. Elaine walks out of the room, Lucien on her tail as Cassian grabs Nesta's arm to keep her from following too.

I raise a brow at them and look back up to Cassian, a smirk forming on my face as I raise my eyebrows, "You two look 'chummy'" cocking my head to the side and blinking up at him innocently. He tilts his head back and booms out a laugh as the others snicker at my apt response.

"There's another meeting of the High Lords coming up, this time of course it's in the Autumn Court. Lucien will come with us and this time, Pixie, so will you." Rhys says, though it sounds a bit more like he's asking me than telling me.

I nod, and move to stand next to Az, not wanting to sit down again as everyone else remains standing, but making sure my wings don't brush his own. Sensitive Illyrian wings.

"When do we go?" I ask, Azriel's hand moves to slide to my upper back, lazily drawing patterns with his fingers as the shadows pulse around us.

"Tomorrow." Feyre responds.

"Well okay then. I need to go get my beauty sleep."

We all look over to Cassian and shake our heads. "You'll need a lot more than sleep." Azriel comments dryly.