Despite the late hour, Kallias arrived a mere ten minutes later by Rhysand's request. Many had, it seemed, as Nova caught a glance of her uncles standing worriedly in the hall, along with Ana. She didn't look for Nesta.
Nova was able to sit up a little more in bed, though her back was beginning to ache with the strain of it, so Madja offered her a glass of something bubbly and similar to the shade of a plum.
Arching her brow at her, Madja smiled and said, "It won't make you sleep, just ease a bit of the ache."
Nova took it as her mother looked her over with worried eyes, "I feel fine." She tried to assure her, but she glanced at Kallias in question.
"I can no longer feel her energy of night," Rhysand murmured, "She can no longer manipulate fire or water. You don't think Helion would have…" He trailed off with a subsequent grimace.
Frowning, Kallias pulled his eyes from Nova to look at Rhys, "You think he may have taken from her? Would that be possible?"
"It was given," Feyre frowned, "To me, that is, by all of you. Still, even if it could be taken away, he'd surely only be capable of taking healing, but why would he? He's never had ill will toward us."
Madja frowned, "Her healing did slow tremendously after he left…"
With a nod of understanding, Kallias moved toward Nova and offered his pale hand to her, which she took. However, he immediately shook his head. "There is no power of mine within her."
Hand in his, Nova stared at the glittering white tattoo that decorated her arm, "The bond?" She glanced at her mother, then her father. "When the bond took place, it changed the physical appearance; why not the fabric of the magic?"
Kallias gently squeezed her hand and let go. "I wouldn't say it's out of the question, but why?"
It was her mother who asked, "Are you still able to use your other ability?"
With slight concentration and minimal effort, the sound slowly dissipated from the room. All was utterly silent, not even the sound of the fire in the hearth or the tick of the clock could be heard. Then, just as effortlessly, she took away sight, leaving everyone in a moment of eternal, soundless darkness.
All at once, everything came back, and Ana let out an audible gasp, though she wasn't the only one frazzled. Her father took a long, shaky breath. "Yes, I'd say that gift is perfectly intact." He managed a tight smile.
Feyre shuddered; that sensation was only like one other she'd ever felt.
Death.
Quiet in her room, Nova stayed up past the midnight chime of the old grandfather clock down the hall. She looked up, watching the closed door as the reverberations ceased in their continuous vibrations, stilling the palace once more. Staring at the door a moment longer, she looked down at the book in her lap and frowned at the words smeared across the page.
Blinking the sleep from her eyes, she dragged her finger across the page, but the ink merely trailed across and bled further into the page. Scowling at her dirty finger, she called out, "Madja? Would you mind bringing me a damp cloth? Something's not right with these pages." Nova stared at her fingers, pinching them together and pulling them apart as she watched the black, sticky substance string between her skin. Why was it sticky?
Nova glanced up and asked, "Madja?"
No answer. Strange.
She looked back down at her fingers and sucked in a sharp gasp. The black ink had shifted into a viscous maroon. Not just blood – old blood. Blood that had been spilled not long ago, but long enough, had congealed. Instinctively, Nova dragged her hand down the white bedding, but instead of a subtle smear, it turned into raking strokes of bright red.
Her heart leaped into her throat, stunting her breath as she threw the comforter off and rolled to the side of the bed before finding herself on her feet. Nothing hurt, no aches or pains or anything to indicate the injuries she'd been healing all these weeks.
"Madja?" She called out again and in a small voice, "Feyre?"
The blood that started as a smudge of ink in her book was now a pool of crimson that enveloped the entire bed, spreading like a slow, persistent disease until every last touch of white was consumed.
To her left, the pot above the fire began to boil over. Liquid climbed over the lip and dripped down, sizzling into the embers below. She dashed toward it, but why had Madja left something to cook here? The kitchen was surely a more suitable location for a stew.
Stopping at the edge, Nova stared into the contents, and Peter's severed head gaped back with wide eyes and mouth hanging wide in a permanent scream.
Nova lurched from her pillow as her heart slammed against her ribcage with such force, she was sure it would break free from her chest. A pair of hands held her arms in a tight grip, and she pushed with all her might, slamming her head forward to smash the head in front of her.
"Nova!" Emerie shouted, taking her face in her hands now, unmoving until her wild eyes settled on hers and murmured, "Deep breath."
Her eyes adjusted a moment later, and instead of the pot of Peter's remains, she was met with Emerie's unwavering stare. Finally, she managed to release the breath caught in her chest and closed her eyes, nodding.
"Shit…" Nova shivered from the sudden rush of cold.
"Do you need me to get your parents?"
"No," Nova opened her eyes again and swallowed, "I'm alright…" Though her voice trembled.
When she was gathered, Emerie sat back and frowned, "Maybe we shouldn't do any exercises today."
"I can do them." Nova didn't mean to come across angry, but she was. She hated how much control her thoughts had over her.
Finally, she met Emerie's worried eyes as she said, "Alright. Do you want to talk about it?"
"No."
She pursed her lips and nodded with a small smile, "Hm…when's the last time you meditated, Nova?"
Now Nova stared at the comforter, relieved at its snow-white appearance and not a drop of blood to be seen. "What exercise will we do first?"
With a small, sad smile, Emerie stood and walked to the bathroom. When she emerged, she held a light blue linen in her hand. "Can you move yourself to the chair next to the bed?"
Nova stared at the cloth in question but nodded and – very slowly – transitioned herself to the chair she'd been sitting in previously and settled back.
"Good," she offered her the cloth before lifting the comforter, letting it pillow out above them, and then settled it back on the bed flat and smooth. "Take the cloth and, while moving your body forward, wipe the cloth on the bedding forward and back as if you're cleaning it. Your focus isn't on using speed or strength, but rather on working movement into the parts of your body that have been still. You'll want to feel this part of your body sinching with each move." She said, touching the center of Nova's back, between her shoulder blades.
"You want me to pretend to clean a bed? With a cloth?"
Emerie smiled softly, "I'll check on you in a few minutes and bring you something to eat." She said, squeezed her shoulder, and left.
With a deep sigh that hurt to take in, Nova waited until the door closed, stared at the bed and the cloth, curled her lip with annoyance, and began her task as requested.
Hollis didn't participate in training Baylor; instead, he sat in the stands to the side with Nieve, Kole, and Kyra while Anzel, Azriel, and Cassian took on the stud with an attitude problem. He couldn't help but smile as he showed off his gums to Cassian and promptly shoved his backside in his face.
It turned out Ansel had begun his first year at the Illyrian camp with the war horses. He'd been the one who aided in training Leon. So, naturally, the War General requested his presence.
This lasted for a little less than an hour, allowing Ansel to become acquainted with him. They worked on a few different drills, testing his agility, and Hollis couldn't help but worry about the choice he'd made. Observing him, he didn't seem to look bad in the arena. He seemed quite capable. Perhaps he'd made a good choice after all. While Hollis watched Baylor diligently as requested by Cassian, he couldn't help but glance over as Kyra said a name he'd hoped never to hear again.
"Reign was a bitch. Where'd she even go?"
Nieve nodded, "She was sentenced to a life of servitude. Not the clean jobs in the palace," she smirked, "She's doing the things she always said she'd never 'stoop' to." She said, rolling her eyes.
Hollis caught Kole's eyes, and Kole quickly nudged Nieve to stop talking. "It's fine," Hollis said, turning his attention back to the arena, "What's done was done and that's that."
Frowning, Nieve scooted a little closer to him, "I'm sorry, Hollis. I didn't mean to sound insensitive."
Pursing his lips, he nodded, offered her a tight smile, and watched as Ansel began leading Baylor toward their group, flanked by the others.
"Do you have any questions, Hollis?" Ansel asked him directly.
"Not at the moment," Hollis nodded and stood, stepping down to the ground he reached for the reins,
Cassian's chuckle stopped him. "Ansel is going to take Baylor back and settle him in. You have some training to do."
"Oh," he nodded, "Alright."
"It's why Kyra joined us today."
Hollis glanced over his shoulder at her sly smirk. Raising worried brows, he turned to Cassian, "What will we be doing?"
"You are going to defend yourself."
Kole smirked, "Oh, this will be good."
Although Hollis glared at Kole, he kept his amused smirk in place and mouthed, "Good luck."
Hollis waited until Az and Cas had started walking to the center of the arena to flip him his middle finger, to which he only chuckled. Kole wasn't much bigger than himself, but he'd spent more time in the forest than Hollis had. He and Nieve had spent their days gathering wood that they would chop and bring to the village for the supply. It took a considerable effort to bring down an axe, let alone perform the task multiple times a day.
"You'll do fine," Kyra smiled as she walked with him toward. "If anything, be happy you're fighting me and not Ansel. He doesn't hold back and is way quicker than anyone gives him credit for."
"Thank you. I feel much better now."
Grinning, she stopped in the middle, same as Hollis, and directed their attention to Cassian.
"The goal is to get your opponent over the line and out of the circle," he said, gesturing to the white chalked circle surrounding them with the tip of his boot. It was at least ten feet in diameter, at least he had a little bit of space to work with. He could evade the best he could and…
"Go!" Cassian bellowed, and Kyra, without hesitation, charged Hollis. She collided into him, lifting and sprinting forward as if she were hauling a half-sack of oats, and tossed him forward.
Hollis landed on his back outside of the circle with a pained grunt. Sitting up, he rubbed the back of his head. How was he supposed to compete with that? Ears bright red, he dared a glance at Cassian and then Azriel, but neither laughed as he thought they might.
"Come on, let's go again." Kyra moved forward, grabbing his hand and pulling him up. "You need to ground yourself. Expect the impact and shift it in your favor. You never know what you might come up against, always be ready for the unexpected."
Nodding, he stepped back into the ring. It had been one thing entirely to defeat Zaylor, having used his power to do so. This would require more physical skill, endurance, and coordination. Much of which he lacked…or did he? Hadn't Bran said something about fighting on the ground could be similar to fighting on a horse if you approached it from the proper perspective?
This time, when Cassian signaled for them to go and Kyra charged, he shifted his weight to his right foot, swung around, and let her collide with his left leg. While it knocked him off balance, it did her as well, but she was too quick to regain her balance while he was still off kilter.
Hollis was pushed, tackled, slammed, and dragged out of the circle at least eight more times, and he wasn't sure what was bruised more, his body or his ego. Covered in dirt from head to toe, or, at least he hoped it was dirt, Hollis lay on his back with an exasperated sigh. He knew it would take time, but in the time it would take, he'd become the designated punching bag.
"Hey, you," Cas called out to the stands, "Yeah, you, come here!"
Hollis lifted his head just enough to see Kole bounding over, wearing his smug smirk while Nieve jogged after him.
Cassian then said, "Kyra, out of the ring. Kole. Take her place."
"Oh, this is going to be fun," Kole grinned as he stepped in, but Hollis just groaned.
Chuckling, Azriel walked to him, offered his hand, and helped him stand. "One more round, then we'll be done for the day."
One round, a thousand rounds, he'd do it. Unhappily, perhaps, but he'd do it. He stepped into the ring and brushed the caked dirt off his skinned hands as Kole approached.
"Come on, not scared, are you?" Kole asked and lunged forward, but…Hollis was…quicker, and Kole fell to the ground.
Surely, he'd meant to do that.
Kole got up and wiped off his pants. "Alright, fine. Now I'll be serious."
Az and Cas shared a subtle smirk.
This time, when Kole lunged, Hollis matched his movement, but lowered himself closer to the ground and let Kole topple over the other side of his back. While Kole tried to scramble to his feet, Hollis launched again, this time using as much force as he had left and slamming into his side, sending him flying out of the circle. Despite more damage inflicted to the palms of his hands, he grinned as Kole stared at him in utter shock.
"That's it!" Cas grinned and clapped, and when Hollis looked over his shoulder, Kyra was beaming brightly, proudly. Even Azriel smiled.
Offering his hand to Kole, he helped him to his feet, and they both grinned. "Okay, that was…impressive. I didn't expect that. But you realize this means we'll be having a rematch."
Hollis smirked, "Challenge accepted."
Nova stared down at her full plate of chicken and rice, letting her fork hover over a thick head of steamed broccoli. She was famished, yet it seemed impossible to take a bite.
"Would you like some tea with your meal?" Feyre asked with a gentle smile. Oh, she knew that look. She'd felt it so many times before, and now her life memories before Rhysand, while with Tamlin, seemed so close again. It wasn't a good feeling; instead, it was an intrusive infestation of cobwebs clinging to her in a sticky residue. The many times she couldn't eat…couldn't sleep, and despite it all, the solid presence of Rhysand waiting in the shadows, always there and caring for her, managed to guide her through the most difficult times.
Now it was their turn to be there for her.
"Sure," Nova finally answered, "With honey?"
Feyre smiled and nodded, "Of course. I'll be right back, and I can eat with you." She wouldn't force her- she couldn't. As terrifying as it was knowing the one she loved was suffering so intensely, pushing, no matter how well-intended, could lead to disaster.
When her mother left, Nova stared down at the plate and cringed but stabbed the prongs through a piece of tenderly glazed chicken and put it in her mouth. Made herself chew and swallow, then repeat. If she were going to do it, it would at least be better while warm.
Why was it so difficult? Why couldn't she simply eat? A few days ago, it hadn't seemed like much of a problem, but now? Now it seemed as impossible as flying without wings.
Nova frowned and looked around the room. Was someone laughing? Indeed, she wasn't imagining the sound of laughter crescendoing down the hall, nearing her room. She watched the door open, and Hollis and Kyra stepped through, followed by two people she didn't recognize.
"Hey, Nova." Kyra grinned. "Came to bash your dinner party."
Hollis smiled sheepishly and nodded to the two, who looked shockingly alike, "Nieve and Kole."
Steeling herself, Nova remained placid in her expression as Kyra took the seat she had in her visits earlier. "We had to come tell you what happened. Okay, first of all, you must know that I did kick his ass. Which is fair, but then…"
"He kicked my ass." Kole finished with a snort, shaking his head. "Didn't know the little snowflake had it in him."
Hollis rolled his eyes but managed a smile. "Well, Cassian and Azriel seem to think the future training is promising. Remember how I told you about Baylor? Ansel started him in the arena today. Soon enough, he'll be ready to ride for my training."
"Think you'll learn to shoot a few arrows while mounted?" Nieve asked. "I can help. I'm an excellent mark."
Kole nodded, "It's true. She can hit a tree with an axe like it's nothing. Any distance."
Their voices collided with each other as they reminisced about their day, and Nova quietly watched them as she listened, an uncomfortable sensation settling over her. A strange knot that tied itself in the pit of her stomach.
Hollis grinned and turned his attention back to Nova, "What did you do today?"
Her eyes shifted down, and she stared at the linen that remained on her bed. She'd only been able to complete twelve minutes of the exercise Emerie had given her, and within those twelve minutes, she'd had to catch her breath three times.
I pushed a rag against a bedspread. Then, I lay in bed and cried, which was what she wanted to say, but instead she said, "I'd like to be alone."
Kyra frowned and nodded, "Of course…" She glanced down at her meal, hardly touched. "We'll talk to you later."
Not meeting their eyes as they slowly stood and walked toward the door, Hollis remained at her side for a moment longer, "I'm sorry, Nova. I should have asked if you wanted visitors."
"It's alright," she swallowed the lump that sat in her throat, "I'm just…tired."
Tired of it.
"I really am sorry…I'll see you tomorrow?"
Nova nodded and set her plate on the side table to settle in, leaving Hollis to wait a moment longer before he too vacated the room. Entering the hallway, he frowned at Kyra, sharing her worried brow.
Feyre frowned as she walked down the hall, addressing their expressions with confusion, "Is everything alright?" In her hands, she carried a silver tray laid out with a matching pot and cups, each accompanied by a saucer. Sugar cubes and honey sat in little jars with delicate serving spoons.
She'd hoped to make an event of the tea, just a little something to lift spirits, but now, as she walked past Kyra and Hollis' guilty expressions, she stared at her daughter, who had submerged herself under the covers and closed her eyes.
"We're sorry," Kyra murmured, "We thought she'd be happy if we visited."
Sighing softly, Feyre nodded. They had to do something differently. While this recovery plan may have worked for another, it was certainly not working for Nova, and something had to change.