𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟏

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙀𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙤𝙧𝙨 

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╰┈˚ · ° .  I HAD KNOWN PANIC LIKE THIS BEFORE. All consuming, eating me away from the inside. Then, I had been kidnapped, tortured and commanded to kill, this, well this was different. But the panic was the same, keeping me from breathing a proper gulp of air, with my lungs screaming in pain.

How? How was it possible? He was my mate. We were mates.

Mate. Mate. Mate. Mate. Mate.

Dread. A simple as complicated emotion that threatened to drown me. The wall that contained my emotion had crumbled to dust, spilling everything and overthrowing me completely with their intensity.

My heart ached in my chest, a searing pain that made my eyes cross. Leaving Azriel only now that the bond had cemented wasn't what my soul had wanted me to do. It was pushing me back to him, where I would be safe in his arms and with his lips seared on mine.

But I was panicking, and I was afraid. And I felt... betrayed.

He had known. He had known for all this time. From the first time he had seen me, he had known that I was his mate. And he had said nothing.

Was it because he didn't want me? Well, he for certain did an awful job at making it look like that. Was it because it was me? Did he want the bond but with someone else? Self-hatred was common for me to feel. My past was inevitable. I had done so many things, and I wasn't ashamed of any of it. Or maybe I was. But I did them to survive, I wasn't going to be ashamed of that. With my sisters it was different, they lived in a different world then my own. The Inner Circle understood what and why I had done everything.

I didn't know. I didn't know anything.

Love is weakness, my little creature. Braken, always him and his words were a constant reminder carved in my head and heart. I was afraid. I had run from any form of emotional intimacy that wasn't with Feyre as long as I remember. Few people had breached those high walls, but this, a mate bond, it scared me to my bones.

My mind wasn't working, I wasn't even sure I was still awake and coherent. I could only hope that my magic worked on its own, bringing me where it decided. To somewhere safe. Where there was someone safe.

The second of relief that came from the red mist of stars that were so similar to the one shining above Velaris passed when my feet touched the ground.

Three pairs of heads snapped at the same time in my direction. Somehow I recognized Feyre and Cassian through the blur that had become my eyesight, but it was only the violet of Rhysand's eyes that I could focus on.

I had no strengths to stay upright, my knees failing me making me tumble ungracefully on the floor.

"Maiven!" My sister had yelled in both fright and concern, eyes widened at how Rhys had moved with such quickness that had been only a blur.

He caught me before I could crash down, lowering me down with softness that didn't belong in the chaos that had become my mind. I could feel his concern for me like it was tattooed in my chest.

"Vee." Rhysand placed his hands on my cheeks, angling my head towards him so that our eyes could meet.

"What happened?" Cassian asked. His wings flared on his sides with his rising worry, and his fingers twitched over his weapons as if ready to kill whoever had caused this.

"Maiven." Rhys tried again, but I was lost to the chaos and spiraling thoughts. "Maiven." This time, he tried to speak through the Eardreor bond, only then I became coherent enough to the world around me. "Talk to me."

"He is- He is my... Azriel– he–" I couldn't finish the phrase. I couldn't say it. The words wouldn't form, remaining blocked only in my mind. But as Rhys closed his eyes with a sigh, I knew that there was no need for me to say it. He knew. I didn't care at that moment, maybe later I would be more annoyed at the fact, but it wasn't his place to tell me anyway. Just like it wasn't mine to tell Feyre of their bond.

"Come on, I'll take you home." He said with soft eyes, leaving a kiss on the crown of my head as he hugged me closer. His heart beated loudly in his chest, his blood flowing quicker through the arteries and veins. It was like a lullaby that helped me breathe.

"No. Stay here." I said, "We are not done here." And I needed a bit of time for myself, "I'll go to the breach at the Spring Court. I will winnow from there." And before he could say anything back in reply or stop me, I was gone in a swift of red and blinking stars.

──── ⋅⋅•☽⟡☾•⋅⋅ ────

𝐑𝐡𝐲𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐝'𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐯

╰┈˚ · ° .  Centuries I had waited to meet the heart of the person that would share the same beat of mine. I remember the tales spoken by my mother, of the High Lords of the Night Court that never felt complete until their Eardreor had been with them. I remember her words, how she couldn't help but awe at the thought. She used to tell me that nothing was stronger than two hearts beating the same tune, a platonic bond that wouldn't be surpassed by any other.

Mates, as rare as they are, never guaranteed love between the pair, but Eardreor bonds are different.

One day you'll meet the matching heart to yours, and nothing will ever be the same. Hate and love do not exist, just the profound feeling of being home— My father had said to me once.

He had not been a great man, nor the best lover to her mate, but he had cared for Amaya— his Eardreor— with a force that I couldn't believe he had ever possessed. I had been jealous of it once, of what he could give her— even if platonic— and not do the same thing for his mate, but as the centuries passed, I understood. My parents were mates, destined souls, but their hearts had beaten differently in their chest.

I remember the day of Amaya's death. We were on the battlefield, fighting for three days without rest against Hybern's warriors. I remember the moment the arrow was shot, how it pierced through the air bending to the will of Tamlin's brother as he manipulated the wind. We hadn't expected for a battalion from the Spring Court to be so far up in the North, and we had paid the price.

Amaya hadn't been the target, my father was. But we were tired from the incessant battle, her energies depilated. So Amaya hadn't had the strength to use magic, or maybe it was the strain and sword fighting that she was doing for a day at that part without her bloodsinger abilities that hadn't made her think to block the arrow with magic. She threw herself in front of the poisoned arrow, hugging my father's back to protect him as the deadly end pierced her heart from behind.

And then I remembered the scream that tore from my father's throat, like an animal in anguish without any hope. Raw and bloody that I could still hear it in my nightmares. Magic had exploded from his core, so powerful that he had annihilated the entire battlefield— our and enemies tropes— if I hadn't been as powerful as I was, I would have been killed as well with all the others.

I had never seen my father cry before until Amaya whispered her last words for him only. May the stars lead you to the true night. And light your way through the dark.

He had never been the same after that, like his entire being had crumbled to ashes and he was just a corpse full of hatred walking around. I knew that as he died, he had smiled at the prospect of being reunited with the only person that he had ever loved.

I had spent decades hidden away in a library once, reading everything, all the books and journals that had depicted stories of bloodsingers and the Eardreor bond. The yearning for my matching heart had been something that I couldn't have escaped for centuries. And then I did, with a girl with crimson hair and a scarred heart that beated the same tune of mine.

When the red mist and the stars disappeared from the room where we were staying at the Archeron estate, I could feel the string in my heart unraveling, getting longer the more Maiven traveled further away from me. I had to place a hand on my heart as it suddenly ached at the anguish and fear that I had seen clearly on her face.

I didn't know how I stayed there, how I didn't follow in a whirls of night and stars yearning to make the tears pooling in her gray eyes dry up.

"What in the Mother's name just happened?!" Cassian shouted, hands thrown into the air and eyes lost to the place where Maiven had been a mere second ago. "Where did she go?"

When I rose on my feet, I passed a hand through my hair letting out a heavy sight of concern. Without looking at the two other people in the room that couldn't have heard the conversation that I had with Maiven through the Eardreor bond, I explained, "She is going back home."

"Why? What happened?" Feyre asked, concerned shining through her blue-gray eyes that were glistening with tears that she tried to not let fall.

"Wasn't she with Az?" Cassian asked, "He was tracking her with his shadows as soon as she winnowed away."

"Yes she was." I said curtly, not knowing how much I should share.

"And?" Cassian pressed on, getting more antsy at my lack of words.

"Her part of the bond snapped in place, didn't it? She is freaking out because she is his mate." Suddenly Feyre said, stealing my breath away. I wasn't aware that she knew, how did she know that?

"How do you know?" I asked, wincing when my words had a bite behind them, "Sorry." I cleared my throat rather awkwardly. The Eardreor bond was riling me up to keep Mavien safe in any way possible. Them digging for information wasn't helping my protective instinct.

"It's okay." She assured me, "I understand." I wasn't sure that she really did but I appreciate it. "Azriel told me this morning. I chose to fly with him because I wanted to talk about their relationship. I wanted to make sure that he wasn't just playing with her feelings." I smiled at her words, at how she had no shame in admitting that she was trying to protect her sister. I knew that if that was what Azriel was doing, Feyre wouldn't have thought twice about using her rather powerful, as untrained, abilities to kick his ass. "Are we sure she can winnow back safely?"

I gave her a nod, "Her magic is doing everything itself. It will lead her back home."

Her brows furrowed, her lips parting slightly with confusion,"What do you mean?"

"Maiven is connected with Velaris, her magic will bring her there without her needing to direct it. It will keep her safe." I explained, and as an afterthought that warmed my heart, I added, "Just like it did when it winnowed her here."

I saw the way Feyre softened as she understood my words, how her lips stretched in a loving and breathtaking smile that made my soul reach for hers into our own uncompleted bond "You." She said, "Her magic brought her here to you." 

✎

˗ˏˋ 𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞 ˊˎ˗

Hello everyone!

We have a new POV unlocked!! Rhys is such a cutie omg. He loves her so much. As I said before and I will say it for the rest of my life, Maiven and Rhys are my Roman Empire. 

 I hope you liked the bit of backstory for Amaya and Rhys's father!! Those two are tragic, honestly. She died for him, and he destroyed an entire battlefield in his grief.

(Both of them still remain assholes) But they are cute together.

I love the Eardreor bond honestly, (I want to remind you that the bond is completely platonic!! )

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

˚ · ° . 𝐔𝐩𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐞 . ° · ˚

𝐓𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐲

𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞!

– 𝐋𝐨𝐥𝐚 ☾