room217prayer:
Feyre, the High Lady
High Lady of the Night Court, Defender of the Rainbow and the… Desk.
¬ Feyre, ACOFAS, page 7
In the same chapter, Feyre’s laments how Rhysand doesn’t care to follow and watch the court budget, and so she began looking into it.
The fact is… The way it’s phrased. It can make it look both as Feyre doing so for her and Rhys or… that Rhysand couldn’t care to do that for her and him.
I’d look through the court budget that Rhys never really cared to follow and see what could be moved around for the possibility of such a thing. For him and for me.
¬ Feyre, ACOFAS, page 7
In Rhysand’s defense (wow)… I too, might not be interested in the plans my young and neo fae wife could come up with, after learning recently how to read (and thanks to the questionable way I teached her) and without no one teaching or helping her.
So… why is Feyre put behind a job, the desk, she can’t actually do and do well? It’s almost like it’s only for… Appareance or in waiting for her to reduce her work, to vanish from the seat of power and control.
Feyre is indeed already thinking (still on page 7) about hiring a secretary: Someone to read and answer those things [the pile of papers and letters], to sort out what was vital and what could be put aside. Because a little extra time to myself, for Rhys…
Someone else, not her - The High Lady -, to decide what is important and what’s not. And not for efficiency, so she can be a better ruler no… For her. For Rhys, as she put more force behind him.
Who’s to say this person won’t be someone Rhysand suggests is better for the role? Someone who will do all the work, while Feyre reaps the benefits?
They are not fair and equal rulers between them. They, supposedly, are both High Lord and Lady, but… Feyre is reclused at the desk - a job she’s not fit to do as of now - without her even knowing what Rhysand is doing or where he is. She woke up alone, with him so far away she couldn’t reach him.
When she did he told her where he was and what he was doing, why wasn’t she informed beforehand? Why wasn’t she there? She’s equal to him, not under him, no?
And to that… Even her own citizens don’t call her High Lady, but just… Lady.
Your help has been crucial, Lady, one charity matron had said to me yesterday. You have been here nearly every day - you have worked yourself to the bone. Take the week off. You’ve earned it. Celebrate with your mate.
¬ ACOFAS, page 8
Not only she’s called only Lady, but is talked down… Doesn’t the matron sound just like a boss giving rest to her employee? But it’s Feyre who is, supposedly, the ruler. She insisted there was so much more to do. Insisted and objected twice, before she was negated and shooed out the door, that was then locked behind her.
She said, on the same page at the beginning: Until I’d been politely, graciously, told to go home and enjoy the holiday.
Do you think she was told politely and graciously? Maybe the first time, the second? She was shooed out. The High Lady of the Night Court.
Was it really done out of the kindness of the heart of the matron? Who wanted Feyre to take rest (while her people are still working to the bone, thanks to the war the IC brought to them?) Or was it a mix of that + her looking down to Feyre - seeing only her as the Lady. The wife of their High Lord? - or… Was it thanks to the order of someone else? Someone who wanted her to not push herself too much? To not get too much involved? MHM.
Anyway. Is Feyre truly and fully the High Lady of the Night Court? Or is it just a decorative tile, given to appease her in a moment, used to make Rhys look better in retrospect to Tamlin? Because it doesn’t seem the IC, herself and “her” people actually consider her so.
Now she has a baby, Nyx, to take care too. Do you think she has any time now for even her desk job? Mhm… I do wonder…
In little and simple: no, I don’t think or see her as actually being the High Lady of the Night Court, nor I’m sure the “ritual” they made was legit or about that.
We’ll see, do I trust SJM? Nope, but it’s fun to theorize and analyze things.
1. “High Lady of the Night Court, Defender of the Rainbow and the… Desk.”
— Feyre, ACOFAS, pg. 7
This is meant to be a joke, but it lands poorly—especially in context. Feyre, who has been granted the unprecedented political title of High Lady (a role that supposedly shattered centuries of patriarchal tradition), reduces her function to paperwork and PR fluff.
• Defender of the Rainbow refers to her symbolic association with Velaris’ artist quarter, and not the Hewn City or Illyria, which desperately need actual defending.
• “…the Desk” is a throwaway line, but the implication is clear: Feyre feels disconnected from real power or responsibilities. Her job is the desk. Rhys still makes the decisions that matter.
And this is page 7. We open the novella with Feyre already bored of ruling, dismissing it as chores rather than responsibility. That’s not a good sign.
2. “I’d look through the court budget that Rhys never really cared to follow…”
— ACOFAS, pg. 7
This is an enormous red flag.
• First, the fact that Rhys doesn’t care about the court budget—the literal financial foundation of his court—is wildly irresponsible. This isn’t just a throwaway detail. It suggests a long-standing disinterest in governance, the sort that, in real-world monarchies or democracies, leads to bankruptcy, mismanaged resources, or worse.
• Second, Feyre is only “looking through” it to see what she can move around for personal or private reasons (like maybe opening a studio space or hiring help). Her engagement with the budget isn’t based on public need or long-term planning—it’s self-interested, even if mildly so.
This is damning because it shows that neither of them take the infrastructure of the Night Court seriously. Feyre’s quote even implies she’s picking up Rhys’s slack, not because she wants to govern, but because someone has to.
3. “Someone to read and answer those things… because a little extra time to myself, for Rhys…”
— ACOFAS, pg. 7
This moment is both sad and telling. Feyre is considering hiring a secretary not to improve her efficiency or better serve her court, but so that she can have more personal time—for Rhys.
• She’s overwhelmed, which is understandable. But instead of building a staff or restructuring responsibilities (as a real High Lady might), she immediately frames her desire to offload work as a way to preserve her romantic relationship, not improve court operations.
• There’s no reflection here on how to use her position to protect the vulnerable, address systemic inequalities in Illyria or Hewn City, or even shape public policy. It’s all about getting through the paperwork so she can have free time.
This quote undercuts the argument that Feyre is a new kind of High Lady. She’s not acting like a reformer, strategist, or political leader. She’s acting like someone who’s accidentally ended up in charge and doesn’t know what to do with the power she holds.
4. “You have been here nearly every day - you have worked yourself to the bone.”
— ACOFAS, pg. 8
This line is meant to paint Feyre as hardworking—but it falls apart under scrutiny.
• She’s been at a charity, which is valuable work—but it’s the easiest form of leadership to romanticize: charitable appearances and small-scale public aid instead of structural reform.
• If Feyre has time to spend nearly every day at one charity, it suggests she’s not addressing the actual systemic crises in the Night Court—such as:
• Gender-based oppression in Illyria
• Generational trauma and forced servitude in Hewn City
• The lack of any institutional structure for Velaris’ governance outside the IC
It’s the equivalent of a modern monarch spending their time handing out food at a shelter while ignoring parliament, military corruption, and social unrest. Noble, maybe—but politically irrelevant.
The Pattern: Feyre and Rhysand Are Symbolic Rulers, Not Strategic Leaders
Together, these quotes paint a very clear picture:
• Rhysand ignores financial planning and uses power emotionally.
• Feyre is disillusioned with her role and focused on personal or symbolic causes.
• Neither of them meaningfully engages with the full scope of their court’s responsibilities.
• The only part of the Night Court that truly thrives—Velaris—is an isolated, elite bubble. The rest of their territory suffers, and they do little to address that.
This isn’t just a failure of leadership. It’s a failure of vision. They don’t seem to grasp that being High Lord and High Lady means more than being beloved. It means governing.
And worst of all? The book treats this behavior as charming. As romantic. As aspirational.
But for readers who are paying attention—who are looking at Illyria and Hewn City and the lingering scars of war—these early passages in ACOFAS are proof that the Night Court is deeply broken, and its rulers are too busy being in love to fix it.
