𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟒

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙃𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙒𝙞𝙣𝙙

▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃

▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃

╰┈˚ · ° .   NIGHT FELL ON VELARIS, stars shining in the dark sky projecting their gleam onto the streets. Light escaped the buildings casting the shadows to the corners, and warm the city with life. There were the people, families, roaming carefree around with laughter spilling from their lips that were adorned with smiles.

Rhysand winnowed the two of us just in the middle of Velaris. People waved at him as they passed, not an ounce of fear shown on their features at the sight of the dreaded High Lord.

"This is the House of Wind." Rhys said while tilting his head backwards to gaze at the tower before us,"The headquarters of The Court of Dreams."

The House of Wind was built into the middle and largest peak of the red flat-topped mountains that flank the northern side of Velaris. The mountain had holes and windows built in the uppermost part of it as it was literally carved into the rock.

"The House of Wind is warded against people winnowing inside. Bloodsingers are the only ones who can— not even me as High Lord can do it. The easiest way to get inside for everyone else is by flying. Otherwise, you must climb ten thousand stairs." Rhys explained finishing with a click of his tongue on the roof of his mouth.

"I'm the only one who can winnow inside?" I asked, brows lowered to show my confusion.

"Yes." The violet eyed male answered truthfully, before a grimace bloomed on his features, "Now, there is someone else that you still have to meet."

Amren— I thought. She was the last one of Rhysand's Inner Circle that I had to encounter still, and from what I had heard about her, Amren wasn't someone that you would want to anger.

"Come on." The High Lord sighed, steeling his nerves before picking me up in his arms ready to fly.

"You drop me-"

"And I fall with you. Yes, yes. I know." Rhysand continued, rolling his eyes as the rest of the phrase was uttered. We had the same discussion on three other occasions, fortunately for him, he still had to drop me.

Rhys didn't waste another second before launching up in the sky with a powerful beat of his wings, flying towards one of the balconies of The House of Wind. In just seconds we had landed perfectly on it, wings retracted on his back just in time to hear the booming voice of Cassian.

"And here she is!" The General yelled, yanking open the double glass door, lips twisted into a wide grin.

"Hello, little bird." I said, patting the Illyrian on the chest as I passed him by.

"What? No hugs." Cassian jested bracing his arms on the doors stopping me from walking any further.

"No." I deadpanned, stepping under the General's arm and escaping his barricade rather easily.

As soon as I passed the double glass doors, that room opened to a large and casual dining room carved directly from the stone— exactly like the entire tower. It was accented with rich wood, in the center of the room there was a long table with chairs fashioned to accommodate Illyirian wings, and an unfamiliar female stood just in front of it.

She was small and thin with smooth, tan skin. Chin-length, silky, straight black hair, and a pretty face. Amren had angular silver eyes that seemed to swirl like smoke under glass. The power that thrummed inside of her was something of the like that I had never felt before. Her pretty delicate physical body did nothing to tame the powerful aura that surrounded the female.

Fascinating. She was no fae.

Staring straight into her silver eyes, unflinching at the powerful creature in front of me. So much power.

The silence in The House of Wind was thick. The rest of the Inner Circle that was present didn't even dare to breathe loudly as what had transformed into a staring contest between Amren and myself continued. It wasn't just staring, no-– it was studying, searching for any weaknesses. Two predators against one another.

A tingly feeling crawled up my spine after a moment, my nose twitched at the familiar scent of blood. It didn't come from any person— more derived from an animal long dead.

A smirk tugged at the corner of my mouth breaking the stare to glance towards the table. A chalice rested on the surface, drops of blood stained the inside of the glass.

Blood. The tiny female that held more power than the entire inner circle combined together needed supplements of blood that she would ingest as if it was fine wine.

Filling the chalice up again didn't take much. I took it in my hands holding it out for Amren with a title on my head. A sign of respect for the powerful being and a piece of offering.

The black-haired female took a sip. Carefully to not break the stare that was once again formed between the two us. She lowered the cup and swirled the blood inside of it as a smirk formed on her lips. She titled chin down mimicking my previous movement. The sign of respect reciprocated. It was slight movement, probably not even enough for anyone else to notice from just a couple of steps further.

"I think we just sentenced the entire Prythian to ashes." Cassian mumbled, eyes wide to show his fear and concern.

"Don't worry, I will make sure that you are the first one to go, Cassian." I couldn't help but comment back with a grin.

Amren tsked getting back the focus on herself, "War is coming."

"Amren!" Rhysand grunted with a clenched jaw at the sudden words spoken by the female. From the look on his face, Amren stating that wasn't part of the plan.

"What? She should know." Her silver eyes glowed as the female merely gave The High Lord an unbothered glance.

"War?!"

──── ⋅⋅•☽⟡☾•⋅⋅ ────

╰┈˚ · ° .  "When were you going to tell me?" I raged, pacing back and forth with rising anxiety.

Rhysand had led me to his study, between a few grumbles, in the end he had revealed the truth. The truth about the King of Hybern wanting to reclaim the human lands for himself.

As we talked I had heard the rest of the Inner Circle arriving, remaining in the dining room with Cassian and Amren, but I knew that our voices could have been heard even from there.

"Tomorrow. I was going to tell you tomorrow with Feyre." Rhys answered through a sigh.

"Three months, Rhysand. You had three months to tell me that war was coming. Why didn't you say anything?" I asked. Rage lacing the words.

"Because you died! Under the Mountain you died too. It wasn't just Feyre." He snapped. "You cut your own throat open and bleed out on the floor of that treacherous throne room. I can still smell your fucking blood, Maiven! You did a lot of things. Horrible things that you had no choice but to do, and I was there to clean the blood off your hands." His rage softened as the emotion resurfaced. "I wanted to give you time to heal, alright? To have a somewhat normal life even for just three months after all the years that you spent with the League."

It was... hard. Hearing about someone else caring for you, feeling the truth behind their words. With Rhys, I knew they were sincere, the bond projecting his feelings and emotions down to me.

It was scary.

Love is weakness.

It was everything I could hear in my mind. Braken's voice and the coldness of a blade against my skin as those words were spoken. Over and over again.

"Do you remember what I told you that day? When you walked into Tamlin's manor like it was your own?" I asked, doing my best to keep my voice from trembling.

Rhysand's jaw clenched as did his fists. "Yes." He gritted out.

Nothing will make me break again.

"What I did Under The Mountain was nothing I hadn't done dozens of times before." I told him, making my voice hold nothing–– no emotion to cloud the words, "I am not made of glass."

I stared a the High Lord, all death and hollowness. The face behind the mask of the person that I tried to be. The assassin of The League.

But was I just that?

There was nothing else to add so I winnowed away.

──── ⋅⋅•☽⟡☾•⋅⋅ ────

𝐀𝐳𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐥'𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐯

╰┈˚ · ° .  For centuries I had relied on my shadows. They were a part of me, an extension of my being. Now they whispered in my ear, the yearning of my soul talked through the words uttered by them.

I had never in my life before craved even a single touch, a light brush of fingers against mine in this way. The want stole my breath away.

It had taken a single instant, three weeks ago she had touched my shadows for the first and last time, like her fingers had played a tune, strumming the chords of my soul.

The need for her had become a persistent want, I dreamed of the moment where I could have her only for myself.

"The girl has fire." Amren commented, twirling the chalice with blood between her hands.

The conversation between the two Eardreor was easily heard in the dining room. It left us all in silence, probably because we were too interested in hearing the conversation happening on the floor above. Maiven had winnowed away, that much was clear now.

"Oh! You don't even know." Mor chuckled, mirth lightening her sharp features.

My shadows were restless. More than a week had passed since my eyes had last landed on her. My heart was stuttering in my chest. She was so near and so far away at the same time.

Go. Go. Search for her. The dark tendrils whispered over and over again curling around the shell of my ear. Go!

Darkness engulfed instantaneously as I traveled through the shadows. I had no idea where she was. My mind emptied as I came up with a solution. For the first time I searched for the bond. Our mating bond. It materialized in my mind in the form of a bridge made of moonstone with red mist and shadows that wrapped around it. It was hard even for me to reach as the walls in Maiven's mind made everything dimmer, muddier.

Mating bonds were difficult to understand. Each one was different. Sometimes it snapped in place the first time you see the other person, sometimes it took years, centuries... And sometimes it snaps in place one sided until the other person is ready.

I knew that her walls, the protection that she had around herself were part of the problem of why our bond wasn't yet cemented completely.

But it was there. She was my mate.

I traveled through the space using the connection to find her, like a pull yanking me towards her, I had to only let myself be tugged.

I ended up on the top of one of the red stone mountains that flanked the House of Wind.

Sat on the snow cladded ground, there was Maiven. Her eyes focused on the city of Velaris that shined like stars in the night.

The cold wind blew her crimson hair away leaving me the perfect view of her face, her scent reaching my nostrils like an aphrodisiac.

A metallic scent that reminded me of blood sweetened by cinnamon.

"I still can't believe that it's real," The words were spoken softly, almost lost to the wind. Her eyes locked on the city unmoving. She knew I was there. It irked me and mesmerized me at the same time. "I had dreams of Velaris since I was a kid."

I knew that already. My shadows had sensed her as soon as Rhysand had winnowed them here. They heard every word uttered between them. They did not want to leave her.

I sat next to her, the cold from the snow did nothing as warmth from my soul spreaded throughout my body.

My eyes couldn't stray away from her. She was imperfectly perfect.

"I suppose that you all heard the conversation between Rhys and me."

I let out a breath, a puff of cold smoke coming from my mouth. "Yes." I said. The words coming out in a rough tone from my dried mouth.

Maiven nodded her head, keeping the silence stretching between us.

She was— I had no idea what emotion I could see on her face. Sadness, fear, awe, everything was merged together.

A tendril of my shadows shifted closer to her wrapping itself around her ankle. A small, barely noticeable smile formed on my lips as I noticed the effect. Maiven let out a sigh, her shoulder relaxing slightly.

"What?" She suddenly asked, her head turning in my direction with lips curled into the beginning of a smile. "Do I have something on my face?"

I bit the inside of his cheek to refrain from chuckling at the way her mood had so suddenly shifted, "No you don't."

"So you were just staring at me?" She raised up a teasing eyebrow, a mischievous smirk that made me want to form a grin on my face.

"I was trying to read you." I explained. Not a total lie. "It's not easy." I continued. It was better than saying that I was trying to memorize every little detail of her features. Like the almost invisible scars that were too faded to really notice at all, the small mole just underneath her jaw, the way she scrunched her nose when she was thinking...

"I can't read you either." Maiven admitted. I had a feeling that it was something rare, almost a defeat in her eyes.

Our eyes locked, the stars gleaming at us from above.

"Can I ask you something?" With her nod I spoke my question, the words exchanged between the two Eardreor coming to my mind. "What did you tell Rhys that day?"

Maiven turned her head towards the city, the missing presence of her eyes making me yearn for them again not even a second after, "Rhysand said that Amarantha would have enjoyed breaking me, but... I told him that someone already did and he made sure that I wasn't going to break again. Not from anyone else other than him anyway."

My shadows stopped moving on their own accord at the words our mate had uttered. My eyes darkened, hands clenched into fists. The pain that flashed in her eyes made bloodlust course through my veins. How I wish I could kill that male. Steal his life with my own hands.

"What I told Rhys before it's true." She continued, anawere of the murderous thought in my mind, "I am not made of glass. I know what I did. I will always remember it. But I did not shatter because of it." She said "I may have been human but I am not my sister. I don't have her heart. I would have not survived if I had it."

I would have not survived if I had it. The cruel truth.

I was aware of some of the things that Braken did to his assassin to train them. Not even half of the students survived for their ascension— the final part of the training, where the students became full League's assassins.

"You still have a heart." I found myself saying. "It's just guarded because of your past. But it doesn't mean that you don't have one."

"How do you know?" Maiven asked in almost a whisper.

"Because I saw it. We all did." I stood up then, needing to be closer to her. So I crouched down in front of her, my wings stretching to the sides. I raised a hand and brushed a strand of her hair behind her ear. "You are not your sister." I said "You don't need to have her heart."

My hand lowered to cup her jaw, thumb caressing the skin with strokes so light that it felt like mere whispers.

My voice lowered even more. Smooth and dark as shadows given form. "You are already good enough, love."

When Azriel rose, in a second darkness had engulfed him, leaving behind just the footprints of his boots in the snow, and his mate. His mate with a crack in the walls built around her heart. 

✎

˗ˏˋ 𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞 ˊˎ˗

Hello everyone!

Mai met Amren. They are going to be a killer duo. And I love them already.

AZRIEL POV!!! My man is already in love and totally obsessed.

I don't remember if I said this already but there is no Mor pining. 500 hoping for a mate bond with someone is just pathetic. Azriel, you can do so much better love.

The last paragraph is in Italics and underline— meaning, third person pov. I hope it makes sense!

Anyways, thank you for reading this chapter, I'll see you on Tuesday!

˚ · ° . 𝐔𝐩𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐞 . ° · ˚

𝐓𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐲

𝐓𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐲

𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞!

– 𝐋𝐨𝐥𝐚 ☾