Nala joined breakfast with a smile at Rhys. She raised an eyebrow, and he shook his head. He had gotten nothing out of Cresseida, she shook her head back, Varian had said nothing of value. The meal was a quiet affair. Amren stared Varian down and the man did the same to her. Tarquin spent the whole time staring at the spot next to Nala, Feyre's seat that was empty. Cresseida used most of the morning trying to get Rhys to give her attention, but the man focused on Nala and talked with her in vague sentenced that gave no information away to the rest of the table, but the two knew what was said.

Breakfast was a quiet affair otherwise, and the group was soon done and, on their way, out of the room to do whatever they needed to be done.

Nala left the castle and walked the city. Despise the warm weather and the sun warming all of Summer Court, Nala was wearing tight black leather pants with a high waist and black crop top that showed just a sliver of her midriff. Her heels were 15 cm tall and reached over her knees. Her wings were folded close to her body as she walked through the mass of people. Most of them looked at her with fear and walked as far away from her as they could on the crowded square. She stuck out like a sore thumb.

Nala's eyes took in every detail of the capital, every pathway, and ally and made a mental map to draw later. Finding anything? Azriel asked down the bond, he was following her through the shadows, making sure nothing bad happened while she was out of his protection.

Nala rolled her eyes. No, anything is as the High Lord says, no signs of him working with Hybern, not that I ever think he would, not after what Amarantha did to Summer Court and his cousin.

Azriel hummed down the bond and Nala had to hold back a shudder. Keep your eyes and ears open. Nala only nodded, knowing that he could see her through the shadows. The two had figured out a way to use each other's shadows to communicate without anyone listening and over distance.

"Miss?" A male in front of her said, his voice trembling as he looked at her. He looked to be a lesser fae, his skin dark like the rest of the court but it seemed to be more like scales than it looked like flesh.

"Yes?" Nala said, her amber eyes zooming in on the only fae that had been brave enough to talk directly to her and look her in the eyes. She felt Azriel's shadows move closer to her, placing themselves close to her body.

"You are from The Night Court, yes?" The man whispered, his hands shaking as he looked up and down the street, almost seeming afraid that her High Lord was just around the corner.

"I am, and?" Her voice got an annoyed tint in it. Her patience was running thin with this male. Why couldn't he just get on with it? She hated waiting.

His eyes grew darker, and her shadows suddenly screamed danger. He let out a battle cry and jump forward with a dagger in hand, a dagger pointed directly at her heart. Having sensed it coming, Nala took a step back and pulled out Cleaver in one switch movement. The curved blade caught the male's dagger. The sound of the blades clashing parred with the male's battle cry drew the attention of the whole street. Nala faintly registered the sound of a woman screaming and a child crying, but she focused on the male in front of her. He had pulled his blade back to his body and stood ready to strike again. Nala let Cleaver fall to her side, insulting the male in front of her, showing that she saw him as no threat, just an inconvenience.

"Fight me you night whore!" The male screamed, drawing gasped from the bystanders. They had all thought that it was Nala who had started the fight, not one of their own faes.

"No,"

The male swung again, this time for her head, hoping to catch her of guard but again Nala sidestepped him. The male stumbled a few steps and Nala used that timeframe to quickly end the fight. One good hit the back of the male's head with her dagger's handle sent the male down. The male lost consciousness, the second his head hit the pavement. Letting out a sign, Nala turned to look down at the male, the crowd that had gathered around them. No one moved, everyone either afraid or shocked by the short, winged female. Nala took hold of the male's arm and swung his limp body over her shoulders with impressive strength for such a small female. Folding out her wings she took to the sky before anyone could say anything to stop her.

She landed heavily on the balcony in front of the meeting room she knew Rhys and Tarquin were having their meeting in.

"What the...!!!" Tarquin and Varian shouted in sync as Nala dropped the still unconscious male at their feet. Rhys, to his credit, was able to keep a straight face, but Nala could see the surprise in the High Lord's eyes. Nala simply picked up her High Lord's win glass and took a sip while sitting down at his right side, her face sat in a dark expression as she stared down at the male.

The male groaned as he slowly came too, his head pounding and hurting. Tarquin stilled stared down at the man from his seat while Varian had stood from his to move to the male's aid. "Sir..." Varian put a hand on the male's shoulder, "are you okay? What happened?"

"That bitch attacked me!" The male spat and pointed at Nala, his eyes bloodshot and bleeding from the corner of his mouth.

Tarquin and Varian's heads both snapped to the female Shadowsinger. Nala looked up at the accusation, her eyes burning along with her fingertips holding the wineglass.

"Me? Attacking the likes of you?" Nala drawled out, lightly swirling the wine around her glass. "I would have no reason to randomly attack a random male in Summer Court?" She let out a dark giggle, sending shivers down Tarquin's back and sending Varian over the edge, making his back rigid.

"It does not make much sense no." Rhys agreed, taking a new glass of wine from the middle of the table.

"What reason does Night Court need?" The male growled as he slowly got to his feet with the help of Varian. "The Night Court High Lord's whore attack me at the market, my High Lord." The male pleaded to Tarquin, trying to use The Night Court's reputation to his advantage.

"Never talk that way about my sister ever again!" Rhys snared at the beaten male, slowly standing from his chair, and towering over him, his darkness swirling in his eyes.

"How would we know what happened? It's her word against his." Tarquin's eyebrow frowned. In his mind there where no way to know. Both parts made good sense.

Nala rolled her eyes and waved her hand in the air. Her shadows swirled over the tabled in circles before settling into what seemed to be a mirror. It showed Nala walking down the street from just an hour before and the male paled, while Nala just smiled.

"Miss?" A male in front of her said, his voice trembling as he looked at her. He looked to be a lesser fae, his skin dark like the rest of the court but it seemed to be more like scales than it looked like flesh.

"Yes?" Nala said, her amber eyes zooming in on the only fae that had been brave enough to talk directly to her and look her in the eyes. She felt Azriel's shadows move closer to her, placing themselves close to her body.

"You are from The Night Court, yes?" The man whispered, his hands shaking as he looked up and down the street, almost seeming afraid that her High Lord was just around the corner.

"I am, and?" Her voice got an annoyed tint in it. Her patience was running thin with this male. Why couldn't he just get on with it? She hated waiting.

His eyes grew darker, and her shadows suddenly screamed danger. He let out a battle cry and jump forward with a dagger in hand, a dagger pointed directly at her heart. Having sensed it coming, Nala took a step back and pulled out Cleaver in one switch movement. The curved blade caught the male's dagger. The sound of the blades clashing parred with the male's battle cry drew the attention of the whole street. Nala faintly registered the sound of a woman screaming and a child crying, but she focused on the male in front of her. He had pulled his blade back to his body and stood ready to strike again. Nala let Cleaver fall to her side, insulting the male in front of her, showing that she saw him as no threat, just an inconvenience.

"Fight me you night whore!" The male screamed, drawing gasped from the bystanders. They had all thought that it was Nala who had started the fight, not one of their own faes.

"No,"

The male swung again, this time for her head, hoping to catch her of guard but again Nala sidestepped him. The male stumbled a few steps and Nala used that timeframe to quickly end the fight. One good hit the back of the male's head with her dagger's handle sent the male down. The male lost consciousness, the second his head hit the pavement. Letting out a sign, Nala turned to look down at the male, the crowd that had gathered around them. No one moved, everyone either afraid or shocked by the short, winged female. Nala took hold of the male's arm and swung his limp body over her shoulders with impressive strength for such a small female. Folding out her wings she took to the sky before anyone could say anything to stop her.

She landed heavily on the balcony in front of the meeting room she knew Rhys and Tarquin were having their meeting in.

Her shadows showed what happened right up until Nala had landed on that balcony. The male, Ricko, her shadows said, was shaking a pleading for his life to his High Lord. Tarquin himself looked mad as fuck while Varian looked disgusted by the male's actions and lies to get Nala into trouble.

"So..." Tarquin said, cracking his knuckles as he slowly stood.

"Please my High Lord, please I beg of you" Ricko pleaded, falling to his knees.

"No," Tarquin snarled, "You insult and attack my guest and when brought to me, you lie directly to my face!" The High Lord growled, "take him to the dungeon and I'll deal with him later!" He snarled to the guards standing by the door. Both males moved without hesitation and dragged Ricko off to the dungeon. Tarquin took a few more deep breaths before turning around and addressing Nala. "I'm sorry that this happened to you at my capitol. I really hope that you will not hold this over Summer Court."

"I don't hold a man's actions against his court." Nala shrugged, taking a dig at many late High Lords and some current ones. Tarquin lightly nodded his head before sitting down and continuing his meeting about the Night and Summer alliance.