Rhysand/Unknown x OC
Warnings: None
Word Count: 1234
Rhysand is gone again. It had been almost 3 months since he returned home, and Anna was struggling. He is distant, cold, quiet. And as much as she would love to blame it on his trauma, it seemed he was only this way with her. He opened up to her a few days after being home, told her everything. The torturing, the mind games,...the assault. They spent hours just talking, catching each other up on one another's lives. Anna couldn't understand what was wrong.
She tried forcing it out of him...that was bad. Rhys became explosive, screaming at her to stop...there was so much yelling. He yelled until he broke down at her feet again. Anna hated seeing him like this. Rhysand is broken and despite her efforts nothing was helping.
Except when he would leave.
Rhysand for 2 months has been traveling allot. Mostly in two weeks periods, 'working'. He says that he's trying to restore what Amarantha ruined. Fix the towns she destroyed, get the towns people back on their feet. There was something about it though, the way he would return home. A bounce in his step. A smile on his face. The only time he truly ever smiled since returning home. Something wasn't sitting right with her and she was bound and determined to figure it out.
When Rhysand returned that night, Anna confronted him.
"Where have you been going?"
"I told you Anna, I have been working to restore the surrounding cities." Rhysand groaned, clearly agitated at how often he received this question.
"I know you're lying Rhys. Something is different, you aren't telling me something." Anna revealed, trying to make it clear that she wasn't going to take any bullshit this time.
"What do you mean? Everything is just like it was before Anna." Rhysand griped. Even the way he said her name wasn't the same. The sharpness made her flinch.
"I can't feel you anymore." Anna shuddered, tears threatening to fall. Rhysand's face fell and he knew exactly what she meant. They both knew from the very beginning, even at 16 years young, that they would never have the bond that a true mated pair would have.
Just after the war, they decided they wanted more. Something more meaningful. Something more real. They found a witch willing to bond them. This was something that they had learned from other fae, fae who either had no luck finding a mate or those who unfortunately lost theirs and craved that connection with their new love.
Similar to a mating bond, they would be connected at the deepest part of their soul. They would be able to feel one another's feelings. Emotionally, physically, and mentally. They would be able to sense when one another was in danger and locate them almost at the drop of a hat. They would be able access each other's minds and communicate. Something Rhysand could already do, but to Anna, it was a cool new trick. But there was one thing and one thing only and Anna remembers it very clearly, as though she can still hear the witch's voice.
"There is only one thing that can come between this type of bond and that is a stronger one. The second either of you find your true mate and the bond snaps into place, this one will disappear as though it never existed. There will not be a daunting feeling or a sense of loss, you will simply stop feeling them at all."
Anna was told there would be no 'daunting feeling', but she remembers the exact moment. Despite the distance and the curse, she could still feel a small part of him deep in her core. That is how she always knew he was okay, she held onto it like it was life or death. Constantly checking for it, and suddenly it was gone. Before the panic could set in of thinking he was dead, he had appeared in her room, and she had forgotten all about it. Until this morning, when she woke up and he was gone...again.
"I stopped feeling you minutes before you came home, and you are clearly alive so that can only mean one thing Rhys." Anna huffed completely defeated. She had just gotten him back and it felt like she was losing him all over again.
His façade fell. He no longer tried to hide the look of defeat on his face.
"Anna, baby...I am so sorry." He began walking towards her, attempting to explain and comfort her.
"Back up." Anna snapped. Her world was crashing. Over 500 years, falling apart in front of her. Completely out of her control. She knew, they both knew this was possible. They fell in love so young...there was so much time for them to find their real mate. But to Anna it was real. She loved him with every part of her being.
"What am I supposed to do now? "Anna whispered, so quiet most would think she was talking to herself, "Am I just supposed to stop loving you? Act like the last 500 years never happened?!"
Anna waited for a response, but Rhysand didn't oblige.
"WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO RHYSAND?" She heaved, unable to catch her breath as the inevitable panic attack began. "How am I supposed to go on like we were never...like we...Rhys..." Anna pleaded for an answer. How was she supposed to go on like everything is okay. She is a part of his court. His right-hand girl, his second in command. How is she supposed to work with her-
"Wait...is that where you have been going?" Anna was shocked as her brain put two and two together. She never thought Rhys would go low enough to go behind her back to see another woman. "Have you been seeing her behind my back?"
"Anna it isn't like that, I promise." Rhysand rushed to defend himself, "I have done nothing with her like that. Nothing more than friends. I swear, she doesn't even know about the bond."
Anna continued to piece the puzzle together. Why did the bond take so long? Why didn't she know the bond was in place?...Unless she didn't know about mates at all.
"Is she the human? The curse breaker?" Anna scoffed, "You are throwing all this away for a fucking human?"
"Feyre isn't human anymore Anna, she is just as fae as we are." Rhys snapped, defending his new mate.
"Feyre huh? Tamlin's girl? Really Rhysand, like honestly, that seems like a good idea?" She could hear as she belittled him and his choices. She knew how much of a bitch she was being. But in that moment? She couldn't care less.
"I didn't choose this Anna, if I got a choice, I would've picked you, I would've picked you years ago." Rhys began to cry. Anna knew deep down that he was being honest, that none of this was truly his fault, but she was hurting so much, her rage was blinding her.
"Well I hope you two are happy." Anna snapped rushing out of their home slamming the door behind her. She was long gone, not bothering to stay behind long enough to hear as Rhysand wailed. Mourning the loss of His Anna.
She didn't stay back to watch as Cassian and Azriel ran in, Cassian holding his best friend, tears in his own eyes as he watched his brother fall apart.
