2_-_court_of_mist_and_fury_a_-_sarah_j._maas

CHAPTER
24
It took hours for Elain to work her charm on the staff to swiftly pack their bags and leave,
each with a purse of money to hasten the process. Mrs. Laurent, though the last to depart,
promised to keep what she’d seen to herself.
I didn’t know where Rhys, Cassian, and Azriel had been waiting, but when Mrs.
Laurent had hauled herself into the carriage crammed with the last of the staff, heading
down to the village to catch transportation to wherever they all had family, there was a
knock on the door.
The light was already fading, and the world outside was thick with shades of blue and
white and gray, stained golden as I opened the front door and found them waiting.
Nesta and Elain were in the large dining room—the most open space in the house.
Looking at Rhys, Cassian, and Azriel, I knew I’d been right to select it as the meeting
spot.
They were enormous—wild and rough and ancient.
Rhys’s brows lifted. “You’d think they’d been told plague had befallen the house.”
I pulled the door open wide enough to let them in, then quickly shut it against the bitter
cold. “My sister Elain can convince anyone to do anything with a few smiles.”
Cassian let out a low whistle as he turned in place, surveying the grand entry hall, the
ornate furniture, the paintings. All of it paid for by Tamlin—initially. He’d taken such care
of my family, yet his own … I didn’t want to think about his family, murdered by a rival
court for whatever reason no one had ever explained to me. Not now that I was living
amongst them—
He’d been good—there was a part of Tamlin that was good—
Yes. He’d given me everything I needed to become myself, to feel safe. And when he
got what he wanted … He’d stopped. Had tried, but not really. He’d let himself remain
blind to what I needed after Amarantha.
“Your father must be a fine merchant,” Cassian said. “I’ve seen castles with less
wealth.”
I found Rhys studying me, a silent question written across his face. I answered, “My
father is away on business—and attending a meeting in Neva about the threat of Prythian.”
“Prythian?” Cassian said, twisting toward us. “Not Hybern?”
“It’s possible my sisters were mistaken—your lands are foreign to them. They merely
said ‘above the wall.’ I assumed they thought it was Prythian.”