Rhys, where did they come from? I asked, we had winnowed to the residence above the Court of Nightmares from the River House. We had been enjoying an evening meal with Mor when the warding around the residence had alerted us to an intruder, we'd left Mor with Zurri,  in Velaris, promising to send word if anything was amiss.

I  don't know, it makes no sense, the warding should have stopped anyone entering the place, Rhys replied silently. I chewed my lip as I thought,  I had let Rhys be the first to be seen, blending and bending the shadows of the room around myself, keeping me hidden as Rhys spoke to the three newcomers. 

Two were fae, that much was obvious from the ears, the male had a brutal tattoo winding down the left side of his face. The third member of the group appeared to be human, but he held himself with that preternatural stillness that the other two did, perhaps he was a half breed. The two definite faes' scents were entwined, like pine and crackling embers woven together, lovers or even mates, I guessed. Although the human and the female shared an uncanny likeness, from their identical eyes and hair colour to the way that they both cocked there heads, they could be siblings, which would mean that the human was definitely part fae.

I decided to step out from my shadows then. 

~~~

We winnowed them down through the mountain below us, into the cells held in its belly. We didn't bother restraining them, if they were stupid enough to try something, the combined magic of Rhys and I would easily subdue them. 

"Who are you?" I asked finally. We'd deposited them in one of the larger cells, a large bench across the back wall, a single threadbare blanket and a few buckets, some empty, some filled with water where in one of the corners.

"No one, just passing through," the blond male said, he was large, close in size to Cas, the second male was perhaps slightly larger. He was older than the other two I realised, though I don't know how I knew, he seemed less volatile, to have the patients of a male who had lived for centuries.

"You already said that," my voice was flat, "what are your names?"

The two males seemed to look to the female between them, their leader I supposed. She signed, as if deciding something, and waved a hand in front of the silver haired one, "Rowan," she waved to the other male, "Aedion," she pointed to her self, "Aelin. And who are you?"

"Feyre," I said, I point to where Rhys stood, "and my mate Rhysand," The fae female just looked at us.

"Well, Aelin was it?" Rhys said breaking the silence, "Care to tell us how you got here"

"I already told you, I don't know," the smile she gave set my teeth on edge. Mother above, this will be a long evening, I thought to myself. "Look, just let us out, and we'll be on our way," Aelin said.

"See," Rhys slipped his hands into his pockets and slouched against a wall, " it's damn near impossible to get that far into my territory let alone my living room, without us noticing," Aelin just gave a shrug.

"And yet, here we are," the other two stayed silent, they seemed to be sizing us up, preparing to fight I realised. So I decided that enough was enough, as Rhys asked another question, I let my mind wander and stretch until my magic had it brushing up against Aelin's. She didn't appear to have any mental shields in place, foolish, I thought and took the final step into her mind, making sure to keep a clear path out.

 I caught a glimpse of a dense green forest as a memory flashed and then was gone, other flashed and I stepped into it. It was of pail stone and wood buildings on a warm day, the male- Rowan was leaning towards me, her, with a content smile spread across his face, 

"I have a surprise for you," his voice was deep and enchanting, but this wasn't what I needed-

"Get. Out." A low voice said, it took me a moment to realise it was coming from the room I was standing in and not the memory. 

"I said, get out," Aelin hissed, as a wall of flame enveloped the memory  and shoved me out of her mind. I looked over at Rhys, whose face remained calm and bemused in a way that tended to annoy others. And although it would do very little, Rowan angled his body, so that he was almost shielding the female.

Aelin

"Do that again, and you'll find you won't like the consequences" Aelin's voice was hard, she ought to melt the skin from her bones, "if you want information, ask for it."

"How? How did you know I was there?" Feyre asked.

"I've had practice," Rowan's shoulders stiffened as she spoke.

"I'll ask once and only once more," Rhysand said, annoyance hardening his voice, "what is your business here?" 

"Again, we have no business here," the tedium of the conversation was beginning to get to Aelin too, and to top it off she was beginning to feel nauseous. "We don't want to be here nor did we intend to come here."

"Say that what you're saying is true, how exactly does one just poof appear in an unknown location?" the male asked from where he still lent against the damp wall.