"Call a meeting," Nesta demanded as she stood to her feet. "We need all High Lords. All High Ladies."
When she was met with silence, she looked around the room and watched them stare at her in surprise, a glisten of betrayal behind their eyes.
"Nesta," Feyre whispered. "Please don't fill our ears with false hope."
Hissing through clenched teeth, Nesta pointed a finger at her sister. "Do not tell me what I know or what I understand. While you've been making memories this past year, I have been in every library in every Court. I haven't slept without a book in my hand or swallowed a bite of food without having gained new knowledge."
Her voice broke, shattering as she confessed to the room. "I may not have birthed her, but I raised her for those ten years. I watched her fail and succeed. I dressed her wounds and let her cry on my shoulder. She had me, too! And I pulled myself away so that you could be her mother, Feyre. I didn't do what was kind; I did what was necessary. I sat idly by, letting myself lose her, and yes, I will be the villain if it means she lives. So do not tell me I don't understand what there is to lose. I already lost everything."
Jaw trembling, she said, "I couldn't find a way to save her. So, I will make a way. This is a way."
Nova stared at Nesta with wide, tear-filled eyes, trying to wrap her mind around it all. All this time, she thought Nesta had walked away, happy to be unburdened with the responsibility of her. The things she'd said were still hurtful- still gnawed at her heart in the middle of the night. Had she meant them for what they were, or had she landed her target the way she, in her eyes, needed to?
In a deadly purr, Nesta said, "Call a fucking meeting."
Eira sat on Cassian's lap, happy to be a part of the group, but continued asking him quietly where Ana and 'Easel' were. He offered a small smile and would provide the same soft reply each time, "We'll visit them in a little bit."
Tarquin was the last to enter the dining room where the High Lords gathered, shuddering with cold as he was sopping wet. Ice crystals began forming over his eyelashes as Kallias quickly offered more blankets and fed the fire another log.
"What made you come to this conclusion, Nesta?" Thesan asked as everyone settled in their seats.
"My sister," Nesta said, standing to her feet, hands braced against the table. "She was created into this. By all of you." Her gaze settled on Eris. "Yes, it was your father, but the same magic. New things can be created if given the chance."
"The Courts have always been in place," Helion frowned, matching Adira's worried scowl as she locked eyes with Nova, who squeezed Hollis's hand beneath the table. "Feyre was a human, yes, but that is a drop in an ocean of magic. What says it wouldn't destroy us all?"
"What's the alternative?" Nesta asked. "We are already," she glanced at Eira, who observed her. "It very well may be our only option. What Nova brought back from her meditation corresponds well with the notion that Pyrthian is without balance. The seasons have their Courts, yet solars do not? There is Day, Dawn, and Night. Don't be so foolish as to assume nothing is amiss. Beron once said, 'The Courts will fall if not for the connection of The Star and The Snowflake.' We know Nova represents the Star, and Hollis represents the snow.
Cut the ties to bind the weak; we separate them from their Courts.
Tie the binds to find what you seek; they create their own.
"It didn't occur to me until earlier, when Hollis admitted to putting lights in the sky last night and Nova's ability to bring quiet to the world," she met her niece's eyes. "When you began to learn to speak with purpose, and recount your dreams, I realize now they were not dreams. The places you described from your dreams as a child are the same in your meditations—a place with lights in the sky and on the ground. You were envisioning your future home all this time."
It was Gwyn who spoke now, "To say nothing can be created from nothing is to say none of us should exist. We do not know what is or isn't possible until we experience it, but that does not mean it isn't. There may not be a way that is written, but we can, in theory, write it ourselves."
Exchanging a glance with Hollis, Nova could see the same unease he felt. It was an explanation that fit nicely in place like matching pieces to a puzzle, but if it was possible…how would they achieve it?
"To lead a Court…" Nova frowned and shook her head with a sigh. "We would mean needing something to lead." She met their eyes. "I will try anything, but what will we accomplish? There's no previous Court to take over, if it were created from nothing as you say it can, it would need…land—a people. We have none of that. How do you build something functional without a foundation? Especially when all our lands are in the process of being destroyed?"
She peered around the table, looking at each High Lord in turn. Waiting for a response, anything, but just as she was starting to lose hope, they'd have an answer when Bran slowly stood to his feet, and all eyes turned to him.
In a gruff voice, he began, "While I run the risk of… insulting my previous Court," he risked a glance at Rhysand and Feyre. A slight smirk ticked the Corner of Rhys's mouth as he watched him with a glimmer of pride and affection. Bran turned his attention to Nova and Hollis. "I pledge my loyalty and allegiance to the Dusk Court," he met Nova and Hollis's wide, shocked gaze, "My High Lord. My High Lady."
He lingered on Nova. "It would be my honor."
Kyra and Finch slowly stood, followed by Kole and Nieve…and Adira stood to her feet between her parents, their expressions twisted with surprise.
Unable to speak, they peered around at their friends before looking at each other.
Finch offered a small smile and quietly said, "If Peter were here, he'd be standing, too."
A tear rolled down Nova's cheek as she looked at the chair next to Finch that would have been his, and she knew he was right. She met her parents' eyes to find them smiling, and a memory resurfaced in Rhysand's mind.
Mor grinned as she watched Nova's new friends follow a trail they'd once taken as kids. They climbed to the top of a roof to watch the fireworks together. "They're not so bad." She murmured.
They followed her gaze, and Rhys's expression softened a little. It was like watching themselves years ago. He sighed softly and looked at Nova as she watched Peter help Sara climb onto the roof.
"Would you like to go sit with them?" He asked gently. It pained him to risk not experiencing this with her, but he also knew that those friends could be willing to take a dagger for her in fifty years.
Pledging their loyalty to her.
Gwyn smiled softly, "It seems we have at least the beginnings, and I found a spell that, while not its intended use, might prove itself useful in the circumstance. Shall we proceed?"
It felt more like a wedding ceremony than the creation of a new Court. Just without the dresses and flowers, Feyre thought, though Eira looked like she was ready to lay down some petals if given the chance without being asked.
Nova and Hollis, the center of the half-oval, with the dining table pushed against the far wall. Their new Court members stood before them, holding hands in unity with Gwyn in the center as the High Lord and Ladies took a space on either side of them.
Meeting Nesta's warmed eyes, Nova couldn't help but smile softly. Even if this didn't work and everything ended…at least she could say she'd forgiven her.
I love you, too. Nova caressed gently against Nesta's mind, not missing the glisten of her eyes and soft smile that graced her lips.
Before them, Gwyn held her hands out with her palms up. In it were the stones Nova and Hollis retrieved and cherished, for balance and courage.
"You are not giving the Dusk Court your gifts," Gwyn said and breathed a shaky breath. "We will use a Fleeting Spell… combined with a union ceremony. But rather than destroy, we will create. It is imperative that you place your piece of power with that intention. We have one chance. Are you ready?"
Thesan was first, holding his mate's hand as he laid his hand against the stone—the green and red pulsed like a glowing ember. Helion and Samma approached next, then Tarquin. Eris. Lucien and Elain proceeded as Tamlin watched beside Cassian. Then, Kallias and Viviane, and finally, Feyre and Rhysand.
Each time the stone was touched by magic, it burned a little brighter until Gwyn walked the stones to down the makeshift aisle and offered a small smile.
"Hollis," she addressed him gently, and he nodded. Though he was terrified, he didn't show it. "Hollis, Prince of the Winter Court. Do you accept the responsibility as a High Lord? Will you rule beside your High Lady and bring balance to Prythian? Do you swear your allegiance to the Dusk Court?"
"Yes, I do," Hollis said, keeping his eyes locked on Gwyn's before taking the red stone she offered him. It felt warm as it pulsated in his closed palm. He turned his gaze to Nova as Gwyn repeated herself to her.
"Nova, Princess of the Night Court. Do you accept the responsibility as a High Lady? Will you rule beside your High Lord and bring balance to Prythian? Do you swear your allegiance to the Dusk Court?"
"I do." Nova breathed as Gwyn placed the jade in her hand, and she curled her fingers around its warmth.
"Now," Gwyn smiled. "As I am pulling this out of my ass with high hopes…I do think now would be a good moment to seal the deal with a kiss of love."
Finch whistled and Nova laughed, but Hollis grinned, not needing to be told twice as he captured her mouth in a kiss that shook the world.
They didn't hear the clapping, didn't see their friends' and families' tears as they looked down at their tattoo-covered arms. Pricks of warmth bit pleasantly into their skin as swirls of artwork appeared. On Nova's arms, in black glitter that contrasted the white, were…fireflies. Dancing and weaving among the vines. Their tail ends glowed bright before fading back to black.
Hollis, though similar, was not covered in fireflies, but "Moths?" Nova asked. They weren't like any moths she'd seen before. They glowed an iridescent rainbow, much like the lights he displayed last night in the sky or…like a pearl. Just as hers had diminished to black, his turned white among the black moonflowers.
"Well," Feyre grinned, "Moths do come out at Dusk."
Finch beamed, "Aw, you're the moth to her flame…"
Sharing a snort, Nova and Hollis followed the sound of Emerie from the top of the banister above, with her birds-eye view, exclaimed, "The storm has stopped!"
Her father looked down at his hands, clenching and unclenching them as he met Eris's eyes. The last bit of power they'd used for the stones had replenished, and Rhys could feel himself regaining his strength. He could winnow again.
The doors to the dining room burst open, and Ana stepped in with a beaming smile and rosy cheeks. Nova didn't dare stop her tears as she rushed to her, wrapping her in a hug.
"I thought you were going to…"
Grinning and swollen with emotion, she nodded, "I know," she murmured, "as did I."
"Ana! Easel!" Eira clambered out of Cassian's arms and ran toward them.
Grinning, Azriel lifted her into his arms as she hugged his neck, and Ana hugged on her, creating a symphony of giggles as the High Lords and Ladies departed to be with their people.
Soon, all that remained were the members of the Dusk Court as they approached their new High Lord and Lady.
Bran smiled as they stood before them, "What would you have us do?"
Looking to Nova, Hollis raised a brow as she smiled and said, "I have a few ideas…"