Chapter Text
Azriel shifted back through the shadows. Another weekly check in. Another moment where he watched Elain and felt his fury build. While he was not human, he had always thought that their marriages were filled with love. Their lives were too short to marry for anything other than love. His shadows had brought back whispers from the moment Elain wed Graysen. He had ordered them to monitor the Archeron sisters when he was unable to physically visit, but he had never imagined these visits would be necessary for Elain. He had accepted that her marriage would happen and it would keep her safe. He needed for her to be safe.
His concern for Elain had spiked when the shadows brought news that she was sequestered in a small cottage on the estate, not in Lord Graysen’s manor. The first week- he thought it was merely that Lord Graysen had not finished the promised renovations prior to their marriage. The second week- he sent the shadows daily. This week- he snuck into Lord Graysen’s fortress and waited outside her cottage. He needed to see with his own eyes what his shadows had told him- so he had come every week since then. Before he took this information to Rhysand, he had to be sure of what he suspected. If they were to act to protect Feyre’s family, this could not be a mistake or a misunderstanding.
He froze as Elain stared through his shadows and he hoped he was invisible. More than once, he suspected that Elain could see through his shadows and more than once he had shook that thought from his mind. In 500 years, there were only a handful of Fae that had the ability to see him in this form and Elain was mortal. Painfully mortal. He felt a pang in his chest and watched as Elain winced. He shifted ever so slightly and watched as her eyes continued to track his shadows. How did she always know when he was near? He only allowed himself to relax as she rose to her feet and went back into the cottage.
He moved through the estate, sending shadows, gathering evidence, hunting for Lord Graysen and where he was spending all of his time. He found him in the manor, sleeping next to another human woman. Before he realized it, he had unsheathed Truth-Teller and was stalking out of his shadows towards the bed, ready to uphold Elain’s honor. He caught a movement out of the corner of his eye and slipped back to the shadows, his rage short-circuited. He watched as Lord Nolan waltzed into the room and he ground his teeth together. Graysen’s betrayal was well known and accepted by his family. A piece of the confirmation he needed.
“It is her day, Graysen. We need her trust. We need you to stay in her good graces.”
Her. There was only one her they could possibly be referencing and his heart ached. Elain. Elain was being used and he knew that she did not see it. He knew that it would only hurt her to reveal Graysen’s motives. He knew that she would not leave Graysen, even if Feyre offered to help her start over. She was married. She was human. Leaving her husband was not an option and he felt a bolt of panic go through him. He could not protect her the way he had promised Feyre, even when every particle of his being screamed at him to take her from this place, now.
“They haven’t even shown their faces. How long must I continue to service her?”
Panes of glass shattered and the humans spun towards it. A hound let out a howl and the room went completely silent before Lord Nolan and Lord Graysen sprang into action, grabbing his indigo pants. Azriel let out a sigh as his siphons glowed- the glass panes the only evidence of his concentrated outburst. His powers were dangerously close to erupting, so he shifted through the shadows- first out of the manor, then out of the fortress, then across the lands to the wall- where he took to the skies and flew for Velaris. He was scheduled for a meeting with Rhysand this afternoon, but this took precedence. The Archeron sisters, and their safety, were a priority to his High Lord.
He landed at the House of Wind, determined that Cassian should also bear witness to what he was about to reveal. He suspected that Feyre Archeron was special to Rhysand and if Rhysand lost control, Cassian needed to be there. They had learned long ago to tag team each other if emotions were running hot. He saw Feyre and Cassian sparring and let out a sigh. He was not sure that Feyre was ready for this news, but she knew of his assignment. She knew that he had been keeping watch over her sisters as they awaited word from the Queens.
“You weren’t due back until later today.” Feyre’s observation rang out as Cassian whipped around and he locked eyes with his brother. The distraction cost him as Feyre slammed into his side, knocking Cassian off balance. Azriel had long ago learned to school his features to be neutral or brutal- whichever supported the mask that he wore. Even Cassian and Rhysand still struggled to read him, but he let his rage bubble to the surface enough that even Cassian could clearly see it. He felt Feyre take a step back and he forced his features back to neutral, his point made.
“What you suspected- it’s true.”
He nodded as he looked towards the sky- any plan that he had required Rhys’s approval. All of the plans he had required them to deceive at least one of the Archeron sisters, if not all of them. Something he had done thousands of times in the past without pause, but this time felt different. This time it felt like there were high stakes if it went wrong.
“It's good that I’m already here. What’s true?”
“Lord Graysen’s treatment of Elain is worse than initially reported and for nefarious purposes. My shadows are stationed to bring any additional information to me.”
The wind echoed in the ensuing silence. Rhys’s attention turned to Feyre as her mouth fell open and she began shaking her head. She had thought they would be able to keep her sisters safe and this revelation ripped that comfort away from her. He hated that this was the news he had to deliver today, but he knew that it was necessary. He felt Cassian studying him as he waited for Feyre to calm and Rhys to turn his attention back to him instead of comforting their new ally.
“What do you mean by worse, Az?”
“She is in a cottage, away from Lord Graysen’s manor. Purposefully separated from him and his stream of lovers. She’s lonely, but still clinging onto hope. They’ve isolated her well- I've made weekly visits to confirm it. They are also waiting for someone to show their faces- I assume that would be you, perhaps Rhys as well. There may be a way to remove her without revealing what we know. Keeping her in the dark is the key to her continued safety.”
“She’s not going to believe it. She loves him.”
“Then it’s a good thing we’re not going to tell her why she is being summoned away, Feyre darling. Azriel’s right- getting her out of there as quickly as possible is more important. The truth will have to come later.”
Dirt. Dirt was one thing that hadn’t changed since her marriage. She knelt in her promised garden, tending the plants she had painstakingly selected. Her delight at marriage had faded quickly- her wedding night had only begun to show her what was ahead for her. The night had been- unremarkable and cruel. She learned that night that she would not share a home with Graysen, instead she was giving a small cottage where he would visit. He had said it was to keep her safe from their enemies, but she wondered what enemies they could possibly have inside of this fortress.
She suspected that it was the Fae that Graysen and his father, Lord Nolan, were most concerned about. Feyre had sent them a wedding gift, but she dared not explain to Graysen what Feyre had become, what was in her family. In the weeks after meeting Feyre’s new- family- she had spent a great deal of time thinking about how those Fae had treated her. She knew it was only a glimpse into what the Fae could be like, but she could imagine that they had more in common than most mortals would believe. Rhysand had respected her wishes. Cassian had put Nesta in her place. Azriel had helped her to politely keep the peace as their home was about to erupt.
Azriel. A cloud of blackbirds raced across the sky and she felt her chest tighten. Every time he stumbled across her memory, she felt something similar. It was an ache she could not remedy and she did not understand what it meant. In the short time after their visit, he had come back to check on the manor a handful of times- to protect Feyre’s family. At least that was the explanation he gave when she found him admiring parts of her garden one evening. She glanced into the shadows and shook her head, it must be a trick of the light. The shadows whirled this way, as if in greeting, as she stood and moved back to the cottage. It was time to truly begin her day.
Thursday. She slipped off her garden clogs next to the door and then hastily shook off her apron. She had tarried in the garden for too long and she wanted to be presentable before he came to attend to her. In the past three months this had become her routine- it was the day that Graysen normally visited. She still hoped that he would change his mind and that she would be welcome into the manor properly. If she was to have Graysen’s children, it only made sense that she should be welcomed in his home.
She clung to the hope that this was just a way to ease into the family. She clung to the hope that the threats would be eliminated and they could begin the life she had been promised. She clung to the hope that the Graysen that had courted her, proposed to her, and married her would return to her. She believed it could happen and she believed she could speed it along- if she could just get word to Feyre. If she could just impress upon her sister how important it was that the threat of the Fae disappear- that Feyre and the Night Court disappear from her life forever.
The day passed. Her maid silently brought her meals and she tried to keep her mind busy with an appropriate hobby. She read. She continued on a cross-stitch project that Nesta had brought her during her only visit. She rose at the sound of any footsteps and returned to her seat, disappointed, as another servant passed by. Where was he? Had he forgotten her already? She had nearly given up when she heard his heavier footfalls. The night had fallen, but he was here. He had not forgotten her. He stopped in the doorway and she searched his body. No injuries. He was whole. Any threat he had met this week- he had bested.
Her eyes focused on the envelope in his hands. A letter. The wax seal was unfamiliar, but the deep ebony shade with an amethyst streak stilled her. Feyre. It could only be a letter from Feyre. Why would Feyre contact her this way? She was sure that at least one of the Fae she had met could infiltrate this place and take her at any time they chose, but she would never tell Graysen that. It struck her then that Feyre was giving her this- she was giving her normalcy when this was no longer normal for Feyre.
“Your sister has requested your presence. You will be leaving tonight.”
AN: I’ve gone geeky on flower and bird and color symbolism for this story. So endnotes are going to include meanings so that there’s no question of what I’m trying to get across.
Indigo- narrow-minded, intolerant, prejudiced
Blackbirds- r epresents a shift in perception in a spiritual and magickal sense