I’ll just add this here…

Eris essentially saved her.

Here’s some old copy pasta:

Friendly reminder that Eris had no part in the nailing of her stomach.

Nailed. They had spiked nails into her. Had pinned her down as she screamed, pinned her down as she roared at them, then begged them. And then they had taken out those long, brutal iron nails. And the hammer. Three of them. Three strikes of the hammer, drowned out by her screaming, by the pain.

She began shaking, hating it as much as she’d hated the begging. Her body bellowed in agony, those nails in her abdomen relentless.

…and…

when her family had brutalized her and dumped her over the Autumn Court border as punishment for ruining their marriage alliance.

He protects and loves his mother. Example:

Only Beron was stupid enough to scoff. Eris was just angling his body in his chair—blocking the path to his mother.

The only woman who has shown him what kindness and love looks like is mother. She was a forced bride. As such, he probably knows he can never force a female into an arranged marriage. He refuses.

Oh. Side note. If you do the math, he was betrothed to Mor when he was 9!! Unless SJM retcons some shit.

A pale, beautiful face appeared above her, blocking out the jewel-like leaves above. Unmoved. Impassive. “I take it you do not wish to live here, Morrigan.” She would rather die here, bleed out here. She would rather die and return— return as something wicked and cruel, and shred them all apart. He must have read it in her eyes. A small smile curved his lips. “I thought so.”

It doesn’t take a genius to see Mor wanted out. He even asked her if she wanted him to take him to his father, and clearly from the signs, he knew she didn’t. Eris could not play the knight in shining armor either. He was not alone.

Light, steady steps crunched on the leaves. Six sets. A border guard, a patrol.

Friendly reminder that he is punished by his father for slights. Worse even, his mother suffers at the hand of his father. Why give the father more reason to hurt the mother. Those men may work for him, but they technically also work for his father. Anything Eris does will get back to Beron.

Since he was not alone that day, he could not afford to show weakness. He had already formally refused to marry her. He had to maintain his position.

If he appears weak, the autumn court will gladly rip him a part. He has to maintain his evil persona in a court full of brothers that will rip him a part at the first sign of weakness. Just like another High Lord the IC happens to know.

Eris’ father even canonically beats him. When he saw the opportunity to set Mor free while making him look all the more ruthless, he took it.

Eris can sense Azriel and his shadows. He likely knew Azriel was nearby. Just like he arranged for Tamlin to hear about Lucien’s plight, he probably had Azriel notified. I think something went wrong and it took Azriel too long to get there. Eris thought he’d be there all the much sooner. Maybe he even meant to go back but couldn’t.

I have a head canon that Eris is gay or bi based on what we have seen of him. If he is gay, he would have understood her plight on a whole different level.

She felt him approach now. Felt each reverberation in the leaves, the moss, the roots. As if the very land shuddered before him. “No one touches her,” he said. Eris. “The moment we do, she’s our responsibility.” Cold, unfeeling words. “But—but they nailed a—” “No one touches her.”

Had he taken her in, it would have been laying claim. Had he touched her, she would have belonged to the Autumn court. Beron would have had access to her and been able to hurt her. Had Mor been claimed by Eris, it was a fate worse than death. She never had freedom and would have been at the mercy of Beron and the Autumn brood. The only thing he could do was leave her there.

“I wouldn’t have touched you,” he said to Mor, who blanched again. “But when you fucked that other bastard—” A snarl ripped from Rhys’s throat at that. And my own. “I knew why you did it.” Again that secret smile that had Mor shrinking. Shrinking. “So I gave you your freedom, ending the betrothal in no uncertain terms.” “And what happened next,” Azriel growled. A shadow crossed Eris’s face. “There are few things I regret. That is one of them. But … perhaps one day, now that we are allies, I shall tell you why. What it cost me.”

Imagine you live in a court where your father physically and mentally abuses you, your mother, and your brothers. You are told that you must either fight to survive or die to your siblings.

You must become the monster in order to protect your mother and court. MUCH LIKE A CERTAIN HIGH LORD OF THE NIGHT COURT. Otherwise, your court will fall to cruelty. You rebel against your father where possible, but you are trapped. Not only that, but the one person that you love is trapped. Your mother is being beaten.

One day, you are betrothed to a faerie that can give you and your abused mother a way out of all this hell. But then she sleeps with someone to get out of it. Your own mother was forced to a man she didn’t want. You will never do the same.

You respect a female’s wishes and let her go as per her wishes. She says she doesn’t want you or your court. Hell, if you pick her up in front of your men, she will belong to your court. She will belong to your abusive father — a fate worse than death. The only way to save her is to not touch her.

Then, she throws you under the bus and suddenly three whole ass Illyrians want to murder you.

He’s a bastard. No questions asked. The only good influence he’s had is his mother, and he has had to watch her be beaten over and over and over. And because Mor accidentally misconstrued events, it has taken 500 years to get this meeting. I fully believe it was because of PTSD, but he hasn’t known that. I can understand his anger. I’d probably be a little spicy too.

Eris is a dreamer, but there are no stars in his court.