Two months later, the girl was still alive.

Ruth was Auriella's eyes and ears out there, taking in every piece of information that she could gather to bring back.

The girl's name was Feyre, a human who resided in the Spring Court, hopelessly in love with its High Lord, who was at the mercy of Amarantha.

Auriella never expected the girl to survive the first trial. From her room, Auriella could feel the rumbling of the mountain, loud screeching, and cheers coming from Amarantha's subjects. Every cheer felt like a failure in Auriella's mind, unsure if whether the girl had survived.

But when Ruth came back to her, she revealed what her two out of three trials consisted of.

The first trial was a huge, man-eating, wyrm. Amarantha had made a maze, dropping Feyre inside of it, wanting her to find a way to kill the wyrm. Ruth had mentioned how impossible it seemed of how she killed the monster, but she did, coming out with major injuries to her body; injuries she somehow survived.

The next month, the second trial had come. Feyre had to solve a puzzle before a ceiling of nails came onto her and one of the servants of the High Lord of Spring. Ruth mentioned that the girl only had one chance to choose the correct answer and she did. Now, Auriella was intrigued, knowing that Amarantha was not the right person to best.

But now, the third month came. It was the final trial.

Auriella could not control her nerves, feeling like her mind was running in circles because of what was happening. She could not bring herself to sleep the night before, thinking of how the girl, Feyre, was so close to bringing the Fae to freedom.

Freedom.

It seemed foolish to believe that she, along with all the others, could see the outside once again. Before Feyre, she had run out of hope, had given up on fighting, but now, she was unsure of how she felt about everything.

Auriella paced around her room, biting her nails, and trying to think of something else other than the final trial.

But suddenly, her door opened.

One of Amarantha's guards stood there with a rope and a rag in his hands. He gestured for Auriella to come towards him and she did. He bound her wrists, tied the rag around her mouth, and led her out of her room for the first time since she had been put there.

Auriella could feel the change that was happening Under the Mountain. It seemed that Amarantha's subjects were on edge. They did not expect the girl to survive this far.

As the guard led her into the throne room, Auriella could see Amarantha on her throne, staring at the glass of wine in her hand, swirling it in circles. Her other hand was on the handle of the throne, tapping her fingernails on the black quartz.

For the first time, Amarantha was nervous.

Auriella never thought she would see the day where someone had the upper hand against the Lady Under the Mountain. It was a surreal sight to see; the face of fear.

Then Amarantha's eyes locked onto Auriella, noticing that someone saw her nervousness, saw the first flaw in her.

Auriella's was dragged to the stands, forced to be next to the guard. He took off the cloth from her mouth but left her hands bound. She had to witness whatever wickedness Amarantha had planned for Feyre. From where she sat, people were trembling in their seats. The High Lords sat on either side of the stands, their faces hard and emotionless under their themed masks.

She could see the new High Lord of Summer, Tarquin, standing a couple of spaces down, his hands clenched into fists and biting the inside of his lip. Auriella remembered when Amarantha had killed Nostrous, the former High Lord of Summer. She didn't witness the killing herself, but it didn't take long for the truth to be spread throughout Under the Mountain.

People mentioned that it was brutal. Nostrus had tried to rebel against Amarantha, which angered her to the point where she ripped off one of the black spikes of her throne and tortured the Fae male to the point of death in one night. No one could do anything but watch.

Tarquin was anointed High Lord soon after, being the next one in line to take the title.

Auriella took her eyes off of him, scanning the crowded stands for her father, wanting to make sure that he was safe. She found him on the other side before he spotted her, but she quickly looked away, relieved that he was there.

Suddenly, Amarantha made one motion, making everyone grow silent under her command. Auriella shuddered, not knowing what to expect.

Moments later, the stone doors of the throne room opened.

Auriella watched as a girl with golden brown hair, wearing a stained tunic and trousers, stepped through the threshold, her head high and staring right at Amarantha, stopping at the foot of the throne. Feyre.

As Amarantha spoke to Feyre, Auriella noticed how deep Amarantha's hatred was for her. Even if she wasn't screaming or torturing someone, her voice was dangerously low and lethal. One movement of her power could send someone right into the afterlife. It was terrifying to witness.

Auriella heard Feyre confess her love to the High Lord of Spring, who didn't even react to the words she had said. She could see the disappointment appearing on the girl's face.

Amarantha turned to Tamlin, "No final words to her?" she asked him.

The High Lord of Spring did not answer. Did he truly love the human girl who was sacrificing herself to save his people and the rest of the Fae?

When the High Lord did not respond, Amarantha grinned, turning her attention back to Feyre, "Very well, then." she says.

Then she clapped her hands twice. The stone doors opened once more.

Thress hooded figures were dragged into the throne room, their hands bound to their backs. They all were forced to their knees before Feyre. Servants carried daggers on velvet pillows, standing behind the kneeled faeries.

Auriella's heart dropped when Amarantha mentioned what she wanted the human girl to do. Her task was to kill the three faeries with the daggers provided.

Auriella could see the pure horrified expression take over Feyre's face. She could see her hesitation, her mind trying to figure out what she could do to get out of the situation. But eventually, her eyes faced the dagger, taking it in her hand and stepping up to the first faerie.

"Not so fast." Amarantha chuckled. Then the servant took off the hood of the faerie.

Marcellus.

Auriella felt her entire world stop. She looked to Amarantha, who briefly locked eyes with her, her grin beaming with victory. She knew.

This wasn't a trial meant just for Feyre, but a punishment meant for Auriella too.

She blinked her eyes several times, wanting this to be a dream. She pinched herself, wanting to wake up from this horrible nightmare, but this was real. Marcellus was about to be killed right in front of her eyes and she could do nothing about it.

Her friend who helped her forget, who comforted her through tough times, who tried everything to make sure that she survived, and a person she loved; was going to die by Feyre's hand.

Auriella could hear him pleading with Feyre to not kill him. She could hear his voice break as Feyre lifted the dagger to execute the killing blow. He yelled at her, begging.

Auriella's tears flowed down her face like a stream. She cried out, wanting to see Marcellus's blue eyes once more before the light left him forever.

Then Feyre plunged the dagger through his heart.

Auriella screamed, but her mouth was quickly covered by the guard.

She saw how his body fell back onto the marble floor, his eyes lifeless and blood pooling around his chest. She saw him take his final breath before his soul left the mountain.

"Now the next. Oh, don't look so miserable, Feyre. Aren't you having fun?" Amarantha said. Auriella wanted to run to her, to choke her with the same whip that she used to punish her with. She wanted her death to be the most gruesome one she'd ever witness.

As Feyre grabbed the second dagger, the servant took off the hood of the next faerie.

Poppy.

Auriella felt like she couldn't breathe. This couldn't be happening, not to the people who cared about her the most, who she loved being around and kept her content.

"You don't have to lie, Auriella. This isn't easy for any of us who are damned to be here for all eternity. I've learned to embrace the truth. I am going to die here. How? I'll find out soon." Poppy had said to her.

Auriella could see Poppy whispering something; a prayer.

She saw Feyre freeze in place, her face filled with regret and remorse for what she had done and what she was about to do. Feyre looked at Poppy as she recited her prayer, tears streaming down her face.

For a moment it was silent, Auriella heard the soft whisper of Poppy's prayer and her heart broke at the nervousness that she heard in her friend's voice, but she knew that she had accepted death, that she was going somewhere where pain didn't exist.

Then Feyre gripped her shoulder and plunged the knife through her chest. Poppy's life left her and her body slowly hit the ground.

Auriella's screams were muffled in the guard's hands, who kept it tight around her mouth. She could not bear the ache in her heart, she felt her spirit rip apart, something that she had never felt before. She struggled to get out of the guard's grip, but he held her in place.

Soon, Feyre grabbed the third and final dagger. She stood in front of the last faerie, her face stricken with grief, and her hands stained with blood.

Then the servant revealed the third faerie. The High Lord of Spring.

Amarantha's laugh echoed throughout the room, snapping her fingers, revealing the false Tamlin sitting next to her throne. Feyre's face held pure disbelief.

Auriella couldn't focus. Her mind was running circles, feeling as if she might faint at any moment if this did not stop. She wished she was the one there instead of Poppy and Marcellus, ready for the dagger to end her life. To her, it would be a mercy.

She wouldn't have to suffer eternity with Amarantha. She wouldn't have to be tortured to the point of death like Clare was. And she wouldn't have to bear the burden of thinking about her two friends who forcibly gave their lives; her two friends that Amarantha put there because she knew how important they were to Auriella.

"You," Amarantha said to Feyre.

Auriella turned her attention back to the trial, seeing that Feyre had already plunged the knife into Tamlin's heart, but he was still alive. There must have been some kind of trick that Feyre figured out.

"I'm going to kill you." The Deceiver said, using her power to knock Feyre onto the ground, crushing her bones. Her screams pierced through the room. Auriella struggled in her seat, frantically trying to get out of the guard's grasp, but she couldn't move.

She was useless.

Auriella heard Rhysand cry out to Feyre. She saw him take out the knife from Tamlin's chest and go for Amarantha, but her power sent him flying back into the stone wall.

Amarantha used her power to break Feyre's bones. The girl's limbs were in unusual places and she could do nothing but let it happen, as Auriella could do nothing but watch as Feyre's life was slowly leaving her.

Tamlin yelled out to Amarantha, pleading with her to stop, but the Lady Under the Mountain was feral. She wanted Feyre's blood spilled onto the floor, she wanted to cause her pain for as long as she could, and she wanted to prove that humans were incapable of such affections for the Fae.

As the whole entire room was silent throughout the ordeal, one final word came out from Feyre's mouth. A word that changed everything.

Love.

Then Amarantha dealt the killing blow, snapping Feyre's neck. A crack that echoed throughout the room.

Moments later, the masks of the High Lord's came off, dropping to their feet. Then the whole room erupted into chaos.

The High Lord of Spring lunges at a frightened Amarantha, turning into a beast mid-air, and begins his vicious assault. He was too powerful for her to do anything to stop him. In mere seconds, she became the prey and he was the predator, ready to feast.

And soon, it was Amarantha's blood that was spilled onto the ground. Tamlin had ripped out her neck and a sword was plunged into her head. Auriella took in the beauty of it. She didn't know how there could be such a pleasant satisfaction in someone else's death, but there was in hers and she enjoyed every moment of it.

The High Lord of Spring went over to Feyre's crumpled body, holding her tightly.

The Faeries started rushing out of the throne room, seeing as Amarantha's creatures were no longer around them like they had all disappeared into oblivion. Auriella just noticed that her guard's hand was no longer covering her mouth.

As the throne room was in complete pandemonium, Auriella felt someone grab her hand. Ruth. Her face was tear-stricken, horrified at what she had witnessed.

"We have to get out of here, Daughter of Dawn. You must not see this any longer. Your fathers will follow us out soon." Ruth says.

As she drags Auriella out of the stands, she turns back to see the friends she lost, letting their deaths be seared into her mind, not wanting to forget them. Then she looked up at Clare's corpse that still hung from the wall, knowing it would be the last time she would see her.

Ruth and Auriella blended into the crowd that was struggling to get out from the mountain, pushing and shoving their way forward. The dark corridors slowly became bright, signaling that they were close to the exit. Auriella was frantic, not wanting to spend another moment in the wretched mountain.

And soon, the brightness blinded her.

She smelled the scent of nature and looked up at the blue sky. She dropped to her knees, even when there were people running around her. She sobbed, feeling the grass beneath her, and knew that this wasn't a dream.

She was finally free.