🌻

Gwyn: What?

Cassian: What?!

Azriel: What?

Gwyn: *ends up on top of Azriel*

Gwyn: You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?

Cassian: Nesta stopped spinning ten turns ago. I’m surprised neither of you’s noticed yet.

Nesta, Emerie and Gwyn have been imprisoned in the Day Court. What could they have done to end up there?

This is just about my favourite Valkyries being silly and fun!! Also includes some Gwynriel because they own my heart ♥

Word count: 1.7k

Read on Ao3

“What the fuck is this?” Azriel’s shadows writhed around him as he tried to make sense of the letter Rhysand has just received from Helion stating that three of his Valkyries were currently being detained in the Day Court.

“Did you send them on a mission there without telling us Rhys?,” Cassian asked the High Lord, failing to keep his rising anger at bay.

Cassian wasn’t the only one loosing his temper. As soon as he had read the letter, Azriel’s shadows have been incessantly whispering all sorts of things to him. The Valkyries are in danger. We need to save Gwyn. She needs us. Azriel wanted to tell them that Emerie and Nesta were also in potential danger, but like his shadows, he couldn’t help but think about Gwyn only. Not that she could not defend herself. But Azriel would not forgive himself if anything happened to her while he could have prevented it. Helion might be one of their allies, a friend to them also, but that didn’t mean that any punishment he would inflict upon those who try to harm his court would be clement.

“No I did not,” Rhysand firmly stated. “I was hoping one of you would know what they are doing there. And more importantly what could they have done to justify being detained.”

Azriel abruptly stood up from his seat across the desk. “The only way to find out is to go there now and get them out.” He would not stand there and keep talking while gods knew what was happening to the Valkyries in the Day Court. As they walked out of the High Lord’s office, Azriel mentally prepared to unleash himself on anyone who has dared harm his Gwyn. No just Gwyn. Not his.

As they reached the outside of the River House, Cassian turned to face Rhysand. “I don’t care if Helion is one us Rhys. If any of those Day Court fuckers has laid a hand on them I swear to the Mother I will make them regret it.”

“Let’s not make any rash decision Cass,” Rhysand said calmly. “I care about them too but we need to assess the situation first.”

Before Cassian could mumble a protest, Rhysand placed his hands in his brothers’ shoulders and they winnowed to the Day Court.

.....

As soon as they stepped foot in the Day Court, the three males were greeted by one of Helion’s guards. One look at them and the guard was fumbling for words. The male was slightly trembling as he apologised for the absence of the High Lord and told them what happened to the three females.

When they reached their cell, they saw Nesta, Emerie and Gwyneth sitting on the floor and chatting as if they were not being imprisoned in the Day Court. Azriel restrained himself from giving them each a slap in face for having been so reckless. Don’t slap our Valkyrie. You should kiss her instead. We missed her. Azriel rolled his eyes at his besotted shadows before Rhysand spoke. “Can one of you give us an explanation for all this?”

All three females looked surprised of their presence as they stood up and adjusted their clothes. Azriel immediately noted their white and gold dresses, similar to the ones worn in the court they were currently in. Their outfits looked like they had been carefully draped on them while leaving their cleavage on display. Azriel noticed that Gwyn started to blush when she saw him staring at her. He quickly looked away to avoid making her uncomfortable. She is not uncomfortable. She likes it, his shadows almost sang.

The guard opened the metal doors to let them in and Cassian immediately rushed to hold his mate. You should do the same with our Gwyn.

Shut up, Azriel mentally scolded his shadows. They did shut up, but they also went straight to Gwyn and started twirling around her. It was as if they wanted to make him jealous by being the one able to touch her instead of him. It worked since, like a damned idiot, Azriel was jealous of his own shadows. It was made worse when she started giggling at their antics.

“We just wanted to see the pegasus,” Nesta answered when she let go of Cassian.

“We didn’t want to steal them,” Emerie continued. “Just look at them. Maybe come close enough to touch them.”

Cassian, who seemed more curious now that they knew the three females were safe, asked them, “How did you get caught?”

Emerie, Nesta and Gwyn all looked at each other before the third one explained nonchalantly, “Someone saw us and grew suspicious. I knocked them down before they could report but the horses in the stable started making noises while we were trying to hide him and that attracted the other guards.”

Knowing in which state the guard told them they left the other male, Azriel felt a bit of pride for being the one who taught her that. But he was still mad at them for sneaking around Helion’s palace without permission.

“You didn’t just knock him out Gwyn, you almost shattered his skull. You could have killed him.” Rhys was clearly still mad at them too.

“Well I didn’t,” Gwyn retorted and her sisters snickered.

Rhysand released a sigh before he added, “You are putting my court at risk with your stupidity.”

Emerie rolled his eyes at the High Lord. “Its just the three of us not the entire Night Court.”

Rhys pointed at the three females, “You are part of the Night Court so you represent it. And you are also at the head of one of my armies, which makes it worse.”

“Not to mention that you’ve also put yourself at risk,” Azriel told them as he crossed his arms.

Nesta also crossed her arms in an attempt to mimick him. “The only thing we risked was sleeping on the floor for the night,” she said while narrowing her eyes at Azriel.

“You think that would have been the only thing to happen to you?” Azriel raised his dark eyebrows at her.

Gwyn sighed in exasperation. “Oh come we already explained everything to Helion himself when he interrogated us. They wouldn’t have killed us for that.”

“Besides why do you think we are wearing these,” Emerie said while showing off their outfits.

Azriel tried to understand what Emerie said and suddenly the flowy dresses and plunging necklines made more sense. Both Azriel and Rhysand opened their mouth to make a comment but Cassian beat them to it. “So you intended to flash your tits so they would let you go?”

“Don’t be disgusting we wouldn’t go that far.” Nesta protested. “Be we knew that most people working in these stables were stupid males who wouldn’t resist our charms. Especially if we are wearing these.”

Azriel’s eyes instantly traveled to Gwyn. He felt the heat crept up his face when he noticed her already looking at him. One of his shadows which was still swirling around her arm made his way towards her neck.

Rhysand’s voice stopped Azriel from getting lost in Gwyneth’s eyes. “So what, you intended to ‘charm’ them before knocking them out?”

Gwyn shrugged her shoulders and added, “We thought we could pretend to be some random ladies lost near the stables. The knock out bit was a Plan B. ”

Azriel snorted. “Random lost ladies who were wearing weapons.” He started to wonder where exactly under that dress did Gwyn hide those weapons. He would have to ask. Just in case they have to be sent on a real mission in the Day Court in the future. Yeah that’s the reason why, his shadows snickered.

“The weapons were in case the Plan B went wrong,” Emerie shrugged in turn. None of the three Valkyries seemed to care that they had attack and almost killed a member of the Day Court. Azriel incredulously wondered how far they would go just to approach a pegasus.

Rhysand released a long sigh. “I’m tempted to leave you here just to teach you three a lesson.”

“Hey we didn’t ask you to come get us anyway,” Emerie said. “We would have been fine on our own.”

“Maybe we could convince High Lord Helion to give us a more comfortable cell for the night,” Gwyn added with an innocent but sly smile.

Azriel straightened and his shadows went slightly frantic, “absolutely fucking not. We’re getting you out of here.” There was no way in hell he would let Gwyn close to Helion. It was bad enough that the horny High Lord of Day has interrogated them before Azriel and his brothers got here.

Nesta watched Azriel with a mischievous grin. “Something wrong Az? You don’t like that idea?” No we don’t, the shadows agreed.

“He isn’t the only one.” Cassian also agreed with him. “We’re getting you out of here.”

Emerie gently elbowed Nesta. “I think your mate is getting a bit jealous Nes,” she added with a wink to her sister.

Cassian puffed out his chest as if he wasn’t imposing enough in the small cell. “I don’t need to be jealous of Helion.”

Nesta snorted but Gwyn didn’t hide her laughter. Azriel couldn’t help but smile, both at his brother’s confidence and at the laughter filling the space around them.

Emerie’s smirk widened, “hmm that’s debatable.”

Cassian rolled his eyes, “shut up Em!”

.....

Three days later, Nesta, Emerie and Gwyn were summoned to the High Lord of the Night Court’s office at the River House. Rhysand has received word from Helion concerning the Valkyries. Azriel was worried that Helion has decided to go back on his decision to not place any charges against them.

All doubts left Azriel the moment the three females let out very loud squeals of delight after reading the letter from the High Lord of Day. Cassian had to cover his ears to protect himself form the unexpected assault.

Helion was inviting the Valkyries to his court so he could show them his pegasi. Apparently, the Valkyries were already forgiven for everything. We must go with them, the shadows repeated ceaselessly. One look at Cassian and Azriel knew they would not let them set foot in the Day Court on their own again. They would not take the risk that Helion introduced them to more than his pegasi.

“Looks like our plan didn’t fail after all,” Nesta told her partners in crime.

“Oh it worked out better than we thought it would,” Emerie added.

Azriel and his brothers looked at females incredulously.

“You three are impossible,” Azriel sighed.

Gwyn winked at him before adding, “if you mean impossibly amazing, then yes we are!”

Azriel: this is not a slumber party

Cassian: i know but it feels like one

Azriel: we're in a fucking dungeon

Azriel, Nesta and Cassian - A Court of Thorns and Roses

Rhys winnowed through Velaris to the edge of it’s slums, to a tiny stone temple barely big enough for a service. There were a few priestesses gathered by the door, whispering in hushed tones that fell silent at his approach.

It was morning, still hours from sunrise, and thankfully most of the city had fallen asleep. The women parted to allow him through the open door to reveal a single, circular room.

Peeling paint on the walls depicted the Mother’s cupped hands while the domed roof reflected the swirling darkness of the Cauldron.

An irony, he thought, as he approached the alter on which they had placed her body.

The faint candlelight was enough to illuminate the eerie stillness of the veiled figure lying on the thick stone.

The strange energy in his muscles heightened with each grounding second. A part of him had expected to find some mistake, thought it was impossible but... The almost see-through cloth was so light it would have moved with even just her breath.

And it did not move because she was not breathing.

Rhys cast a look over his shoulder and the priestesses gave silent nods before shuffling out and closing the door. The sudden seclusion only seemed to agitate him more.

He half expected his hand to shake as he reached for the veil, his hand pausing over her face. He didn’t want to see. Not when she looked so much like the mate he had left sleeping in his bed.

After a too long pause he flicked his wrist and a draft of midnight air slipped under the cloth, blowing it away. His stomach tightened. She was too pale, too still, to be anything but dead.

Surreal. Unreal. Impossible.

And yet, Nesta was dead. He let the thought gather weight, let it break the surface, let it ripple. The strange anxiety and irritation seizing the very tissue of his body.

He watched it, the domino effect of her life – her death – play out in his mind. For Cassian. For Elain. For Feyre... Feyre and their child...

He brought himself back from that spiral. Back now, in the room, his eyes focused on her and the realisation finally sunk in. Nesta was dead.

Rhys lowered himself to the low bench facing the alter. He wasn’t sure what he felt as he looked at her – the usual anger did not come. She looked, for once, like a girl. Like Feyre’s sister. The thought was...strange.

He’d imagined death before, had learnt to fear it young – had nightmares of finding his brothers murdered, of seeing them fall in battle. But death had been far nearer and far crueler when it first came for his mother and sister.

This was not that.

Nesta had taken her own life.

His violet eyes closed as he buried his face in his hands. How had he not seen this – no, his mind corrected, she was so proud, so full of steel, she couldn’t – wouldn’t...

And yet, she had.

His eyes wandered back to her face; impossibly still, suddenly so young and too familiar.

He felt them on the edge of his mind before they appeared in the room. Rhys didn’t bother looking up though he felt them Azriel and Amren hesitate for a second at the site before them.

“How long?” there was an edge to Azriel’s voice

“Three days,” Rhys said though he knew what Az was really asking, “She’s gone.”

“Impossible,” Amren’s voice was barely a whisper as she moved around the opposite end of the alter and placed a hand on Nesta’s head, “Not with what she took from the Cauldron.”

He’d come here with much the same thought, expected to find Nesta drunk or feverish or sleeping.

The anxiety and stress rose but the anger he expected did not come, unable to pierce the disbelief. Had it been that bad? How had none of them noticed her that close to the edge? Cassian must have felt something. Or had she always existed in such darkness that no-

Rhysand.

His eyes shot to Amren, his mind grabbing onto that voice.

Find her.

His brows knitted and his eyes flickered to Nesta’s still form. Amren...

She is Made. More powerful than you or I, death is not so simple a thing, tangible enough that she touched it. Find her.

He sighed and focused his eyes on Nesta as Amren and Azriel exchanged a look.

Don’t do this

Az-

This is wrong. It’s sacrilege, even for us. She’s gone. And the last time you tried to touch the other side-

Az.

Rhys shielded himself from his brother’s concern.

He’d tried before, to enter Nesta's mind, but it had been so dark, so well shielded it was almost impossible to navigate. Had tried once too, to enter the mind of someone who was no longer there and spent days shaking with fear at the Nothing he had found there.

Still, if Amren was right, then there was a chance. A chance to save Feyre and the baby.

His mind reached out and met no resistance, just unending darkness. It was both familiar and entirely alien.

Closing his eyes, he let himself fall into it until it finally fell like he had the world beneath his feet once again.

Tawny dunes stretched the length of the coast and further ahead a line of fire divided the world. Rhys approached it. Beyond the line of flame was steaming black liquid, like an ocean of lava.

“Don’t cross,” he heard her before she materialised before him, though he had the strange feeling she’d somehow always been there.

She was facing away from him but the rigid posture and golden brown hair were familiar enough. This Nesta he knew, this one he could conjure anger for, this one with her steel spine.

“Come back.” The words were almost a command and a pang of guilt hit him, “Please...”

She said nothing, didn’t move a muscle and he suddenly remembered the too still girl lying on the alter. The dry heat blowing off the black ocean was becoming more unbearable by the second.

“She’s... Feyre is pregnant.” He said, glancing at the line of fire before him, wondering if he could reach across.

“Don’t.” Her voice was fainter now and when she turned Rhys saw tears drip from her eyes and burn away almost just as quickly leaving a small trail of steam on her skin. She looked so human now, he wondered if that was what she had become in death – the fear and anger heightened, if she had lost her power...

His eyes caught on a brand around her neck and wrists, something about them oddly familiar. He could feel the window of his time in this place closing. Out of the corner of his vision, he saw other figures, grey ghosts, step out of the air and cross the line of fire, wading into the dark until they disappeared beneath the surface.

Dying. And the longer he spent here, the closer he’d come to dying too.

Feyre. His heart seized with worry.

“Nesta, I will fix things I swear, with you and Feyre and Cassian and Mor – I will fix all of it, just come back, please. You’re the only one who can save her, save them.”

The hot wind whipped at her hair and the tears continued to burn away. “I’m not...”

The brand on her neck suddenly glowed red hot and the smell of searing skin filled the air. Nesta’s hands flew to her neck, her throat fighting against pain to speak “I- Don't-“

Rhys felt blood trickle down his nose, absently felt Azriel grab his shoulders and shake. No time. No choice. No. No. No

Nesta had taken death from the Cauldron, only she’d be able to save Feyre, to undo their pact, to help him trade his life for theirs if need be. He couldn’t leave without her.

He reached out, grabbed her arm and pulled. Pulled with everything in him. Pulled back to that small, stone temple at the edge of Velaris. Pulled back to that alter beneath the painting of the Cauldron.

This is one of my favourite commissions of hers it is an old one but a really beautiful one . So here is Gwyneth for everyone by artist scleart based on a Disney character .

Repost Not Allowed

Character belongs to Sarah J Maas

"I'll stare directly at the sun but never in the mirror

It must be exhausting always rooting for the anti-hero

Sometimes I feel like everybody is a sexy baby

And I'm a monster on the hill

Too big to hang out, slowly lurching toward your favorite city

Pierced through the heart, but never killed"

- Anti-Hero, by Taylor Swift

I've been waiting to comission this art for some time now and I couldn't have loved the result more. I love Taylor Swift and I think this song fit Nesta character quite well.

Art by: ehmandinha (instagram)

Trivia Game Night at the House of Wind - part II

✨switched mates edition ✨

trivia game night part I | fav gwyn fc: kennedy walsh (15/?)

Nesta: FUCK YOU!

Gwyn: *laughs*

Cassian: Shutup…

Nesta: Don’t speak.

Azriel: Oh, gods…

Cassian: That’s what she was saying last night-

Azriel: *gets the correct answer*

Nesta: Yeah- Fuck you!

Cassian: BABE?!

Gwyn: you didn’t contribute anything!

Cassian: *gets answer completely wrong*

Cassian: WHAT?! *outraged*

Gwyn: If this was a game about other worlds, I’d be winning…

Cassian: *messing up his answer* Sorry-

Nesta: How is this fair, he’s messing up every two seconds…

Cassian: No, I’m trying to read what I wrote…

[a few moments later]

Cassian: If you mess up once, you can keep going!

Nesta: Shut up! No-

Cassian: *continues reading his answer*

Nesta: SHUT UP- *hits him with her board*

Cassian: *trouble reading his own handwriting* hmm… *mumbles*

Nesta: WRONG! Cassian: I was just playing!

Cassian + Gwyn: *get point* YEAAAAAAAAH

Nesta: SUCK A DICK - YOU WOULDN’T HAVE GOTTEN THAT RIGHT IF YOU HADN’T COPY HALF OF OURS

Cassian + Gwyn + Azriel: *laughing hysterically*

Gwyn: *wheezing* You just turned into a fucking demon…

Azriel: *trying to answer the question*

Nesta: I don’t even know what the fuck you’re saying…

Cassian + Gwyn: *trying to solve it together*

Nesta: *muses* we are all to dumb… *looks over at what they are writing*

Nesta: *tries to steal their answers*

Cassian: *high fives Gwyn after winning* We did it!

Cassian: *goes to shake Nesta’s hand* Good game, babe-

Nesta: *gives him the middle finger*

Azriel: *competitive mode on* *throwing a tantrum because he lost*

Azriel: *pushes button on the ground* I’m done. I quit.

"Draw the cat eye, sharp enough to kill a man You did some bad things, but I'm the worst of them Sometimes I wonder which one will be your last lie They say looks can kill and I might try I don't dress for women I don't dress for men Lately I've been dressing for revenge"

- Vigilante Shit, by Taylor Swift

Art inspired by the fanfic "Where The Light Won't Find You" by @moodymelanistt, where Nesta goes rogue and becomes the queen of Hewn City. This fanfic is amazing and I can't recommend it highly enough.