TIMELESS - An ACOTAR Fanfiction

CHAPTER 15

“What in the - ?” Zivia almost shrieked. “How long have you been standing there?”

She remembered the rustling sound among the trees – surely that wasn’t him?

Drakon was unnervingly staring at the Illyrian as he took his position in between them, his wings barely brushing her elbow. “Long enough.”

Azriel, to his credit, only bowed once and said, “I’ll go ahead.”

She was staring at his retreating back when Drakon cleared his throat and she looked to see her father –arms-crossed over his chest and his lower lip jutting in an apparent pout.

“What?” she asked.

“I don’t know. You tell me.”

“No,” she snapped back. “You tell me! What are you up to, spying on other people’s conversation? Even that was beyond you, father.”

Drakon put a hand over his chest as if hurt. “I was not spying, especially not on my own sweet daughter.”

Zivia stared at him. Then she turned to leave.

“Wait!” her father called after her. “Fine.” He turned to the direction of the estate in the distance then looked back at her. “Let’s have dinner first. I’ll talk to you after.”
She agreed. After all, she couldn’t stay mad at her father for long, what with his pitiful face and all. She was about to go when Drakon stopped her again.

“Where’s Seth?”

“He hasn’t been back yet?”

“No.”

Zivia scratched her neck in annoyance, her forgotten anger at her Seraphim brother coming back. “I’ll get him.”

“Be quick.” Drakon said. “We don’t want the others to be kept waiting.”

She was about ready to finally go when her father called again.

“Oh, and don’t get lost.”

She let his words get lost into the wind as she took to the skies.

It wasn’t long before she found Seth. The stupid guy had somewhat made a commotion in the middle of the city that can’t be hard to miss even from a long way up. After landing, she carefully nudged her way towards the center of the crowd, mindful of hitting others with her wings, then pulled her brother by the elbow.

“What in the name of the Mother are you doing?” Zivia whispered albeit furiously.

She studied the person Seth was having an argument with – a burly man with too much of a beard that covered almost his entire face. But even that abundance of facial hair couldn’t hide the gleam of anger on his eyes.

“Ha, thank the Cauldron you’re here.” Seth replied. “This stupid prat just wouldn’t listen.”

“What?”

“WHO ARE YA CALLIN’ AN EDYEET?!”

The man’s voice sounded like grinding boulders when he bellowed that Zivia almost stepped back. She quickly positioned herself between the two before chaos broke out.

“Isn’t that obvious?” Seth drawled, totally unfazed by the man who’s easily twice his size. “Of course I’m talking about you, knobhead.”

“Seth, shut up.”

Zivia heard a weapon being drawn and she turned to see the man wielding a bronze scimitar pointed directly at Seth.

“Call me that one more time and I’ll slice your head off!”

“Now now, gentlemen. Maybe we can sort this out, you know, peacefully.” Zivia was determined to end this quarrel quickly so she can have her dinner already, but it seems Seth has other plans of his own.

“Was that supposed to be a threat?” He mimicked a frightened coward. “Oooh, so scary.”

She gave Seth a look. Really, now?

The man moved quickly for someone his size, but Zivia was able to block his path before he was able to throw his first strike.

“Get out of the way or you’ll be the one I’ll be taking in place of that whore,” he sneered.

“Who?”

“MOVE!”

He sidestepped her and went directly to Seth, who was waiting across from them. The man was extremely furious as his attacks were all clearly killing blows. Seth, on the other hand, just deflects every single blow effortlessly, simultaneously shouting taunts at him.

“That idiot wouldn’t listen, Ziv. He couldn’t even take a no for an answer from a lady.”

“Seth, stop it. We’re called for dinner and we’re already late.”

The other seraphim doesn’t seem to hear her and instead, drew out his own weapon. “Maybe lose the beard? Poor girl was terrified. Even I wouldn’t want to sleep with a hairy ape like you.”

“Oh fuck you Seth!” Zivia shouted. “If that guy doesn’t kill you, I will.”

She moved out of their way and instead busied herself with the gathering crowd around them. With a little tweak of her illusion, she managed to make them all go away thinking that the absurd scuffle was over. Then she turned her attention back towards the fight. It was kinda impressive how the man was holding his own against the seraphim warrior, but this has to end.

Zivia reached her hands out and pulled apart the two with a strong gust of wind, sending the man skidding across the mud. Luckily for Seth, he was able to quickly get his bearing and avoided a nasty swim over a murky puddle. “That’s enough.”

She glared at Seth as he sheathed his daggers and walked towards the man who was still lying on the ground, looking disoriented.

“Don’t get up, at least for a while. Looks like you’ve hit your head when you fell.”

The man groaned and looked at her begrudgingly. “Fight’s not over.”

Zivia blew out a breath and crouched down to his level. “A friendly advice from someone who knows that other idiot” – she pointed towards Seth – “Don’t even bother. He’ll gut you in a matter of seconds if he wanted to. So, just stay there, alright?”

She stood up and looked down at the man. “Also, you should learn how to handle a rejection like a real man. If she said no, she meant no. That’s easy enough to understand, and if I heard that you touch another lady without her permission, I will personally hunt you down and put your head on a spike to burn. Understood?”

The man spat at the ground near her feet and sat up. He was leering at her, then, quick as lightning, pulled a knife from his belt and attacked.

Just an inch away from piercing her body, the weapon stopped and clattered to the ground. The man cried out in pain with the iron grip of the shadowsinger on his hand. He whimpered as he cradled his broken wrist to his chest. The hatred in his eyes were now replaced by utter terror.

“Go.”

A single word from the Illyrian sent him scampering away like a true coward that he is.

“Well,” Zivia shrugged. “I’ll take that as a no then.”

She turned to Azriel and smiled sheepishly, holding both her palms up. “I know, we’re late. I am so sorry.”

“Heyy!” Seth sauntered over to them. “Fancy meeting you here, gorgeous.”

“Oh for fuck’s sake Seth, let’s go.”

Zivia grabbed her brother by the ear and the three of them winnowed back to the estate for dinner.

*****

“Ah!” shouted Cassian as they entered the dining area. “There they are. Chicken’s just about to get cold.” He promptly sat himself down the table.

“Manners, Cassian.” Rhysand reprimanded him.

“I’m sorry,” Zivia apologized. “We  got a little” – she eyed Seth from across the table, talking to her father – “sidetracked.”

Drakon raised an eyebrow at her as he motioned for her to sit beside him.

“My apologies for being the cause of delay, Lord Rhysand,” said Seth. “I had a little scuffle with one of your subjects.”

The High Lord’s brows furrowed as he regarded the seraphim. “No need for formalities here. Rhys is fine.” He then turned to his spymaster and a silent conversation passed between them. Understanding dawned on his features and he let out a sigh. “I’ll see to it that he is properly dealt with.” The High Lord addressed Drakon with a meaningful nod before proceeding to start dinner after they all sat.

Although her stomach was still partially full from her earlier late lunch with Seth, Zivia had no problem chowing down on her food to the point of almost licking the plate clean. She seemed to have developed an appetite ever since having a taste of the night court cuisine, what with all their rare herbs and spices.

“Easy now, Ziv,” whispered Seth. “We don’t want any more holes on that belt.”

If only they weren’t on a formal dinner with the High Lord and Lady, she would’ve run him through with a fork and knife. Instead, she settled for kicking her brother under the table. She heard him choke on his wine.

“I was just kidding,” he chuckled. “You’re as fit as fiddle. A quite large fiddle, that is.”

As Seth was about to swallow his food, Zivia elbowed him on the side causing him to drop the piece of roast on his lap. “Ow.”

“That was your fault.”

Seth picked up the meat and flicked it at Zivia while he casually reached over to her plate. “No worries, nothing a few days of fasting can’t fix. I’ll have this.”

“Hey, that’s mine!”

They fought over a spoon of pudding like children, kicking each other under the table. When Zivia tried to grab it from Seth, he pulled it away too quickly and a blob of mousse came flying straight towards Drakon.

“Maybe we should – “

SPLAT!

Silence descended over the table like a blanket of snow. Everybody halted mid-chew and was staring at Drakon, whose face was now half-covered with gooey chocolate. The High Lord made a wheezing sound and he casually covered it with a cough. Cassian was not so subtle.

“It was Seth.”

“It was Zivia.”

They were both still holding the now empty spoon between them as Drakon slowly turned and gave them the evil eye. They quickly settled on their seats and Zivia found her napkin to be suddenly interesting. From across the table, she saw Azriel chewing with a suppressed smile on his face. For a brief second, their eyes met, and in that instant, all the guilt and embarrassment she didn’t feel for all the stupid things she did her whole life finally caught up with her. She looked away and shrank in her seat, wishing so hard to vanish right then and there.

“As I was saying,” Drakon continued as he wiped the mess off his face. “We should send a party if the case is as you suspect.”

The rest of their conversation faded to a background murmur as Zivia solely focused on eating what was left of her pudding in silence.

*****

After dinner, Drakon sent Seth and his daughter back to the House of Wind ahead, opting to stay behind to clarify some more things with Rhysand.

With the mess they caused during the meal, the two obeyed without another word and left as quickly as possible, probably to settle things at their own end.

“Those two will be the death of me,” Drakon sighed as he watched them fly away bickering into the night.

He heard a chuckle behind him and turned to Rhysand, his High Lady standing beside him.

“She grew up to be such a wonderful woman,” smiled Rhys. “Just like her mother.”

“You better not let Miryam hear that. She’s been rubbing that in my face for as long as I can remember, saying that Ziv takes after me only whenever she does something stupid.”

“Can’t argue with that now, can we?” Rhys cackled.

“If it’s any consolation,” piped in Feyre. “She definitely got her sense of humour from you.”

“That wouldn’t have been so bad if it wasn’t coupled with Miryam’s dark sarcasm.”

“She really is a perfect combination of you both,” she said.

A cold breeze prompted the three of them to go back inside the warmth of the mansion.

“I already told Azriel to send word to the High Lords,” said Rhysand as they settled into the parlour. “Although their replies might take some time given we’re still recovering from the previous war.”

“And there’s the matter with the Spring Court,” added Feyre.

Drakon could’ve sworn something flash in Rhysand’s eyes but the tone of the High Lady was hard to miss. “I take it you still haven’t settled things with Tamlin.”

“There’s nothing to settle with that fool,” scoffed Rhys. The disgust he tried to hide earlier now obvious. “If we’re going to have to do this without him, I’d be more than happy to do so.”

“Ah, but we’re not the one to decide that, are we?” He cast a meaningful look both at Feyre and Rhys. For the short time they had to catch up after the battle, Drakon knew how deep their resentment is toward the Lord of the Spring court. But he also knew that he couldn’t entirely blame the man. Besides, this isn’t something where personal grievances should be put into highlight. There is much higher at stake here than that.

The High Lord seemed to get the message.

“If there’ no response by the time we’re due to counsel with the others, I’ll send my spymaster to personally warrant his appearance.”

“I’ll go too.” Feyre volunteered.

Rhysand looked at his mate and a silent argument passed between their bond.

“Very well,” Rhys relented after a while, then looked at Drakon. “All that’s left then is to wait.”

Drakon nodded back at him.

It was difficult for both of them. He knew they just barely survived a war not too long ago and he’s already asking them to take part into this new-found threat. Turns out, their fight for peace is far from over – not just for Prythian but for the whole continent as well.

*****

“Ow!” screamed Zivia as Seth pulled at her wings while they were flying back to the House of Wind. “Let me go!” She reached for his face and grabbed a handful of Seth’s hair.

“Argh!” Seth was struggling to fly upright with his head in between Zivia’s wings. “We’re both going to fall!”

Their mid-air squabble lasted all the way to the house’s veranda, hitting a few posts and crashing into the overhang floor with both having lost a good amount of their feathers.

“Okay okay, enough!” Seth held his palms up in surrender as he struggled to catch his breath. “Time out.”

Zivia practically wheezed air out of her mouth as she also tried to slow down her racing pulse. Totally out of energy, she plopped herself unto the floor and weakly kicked Seth.

“What do you think they’re talking about back there?” she asked.

“Weren’t you listening during dinner?”

“Nope.”

“Oh right,” Seth flicked a clump of his down feathers at her as he chuckled. “You were too busy getting embarrassed in front of the shadowsinger.”

“I’m going to pluck you bare when you fall asleep tonight.”

“It’s not ladylike to go into a man’s chamber when he’s sleeping you know.”

She propped herself up on her elbows and faced Seth. “I might have heard something about a council meeting.”

The other seraphim busied himself removing more of the feathers stuck in his hair and clothes. “Hmm-mm. They plan to arrange an assembly among the High Lords of Prythian within a few days. Most likely to discuss –“

“About Koschei.”

“ – and the mortal queens.”

Zivia heaved a sigh. She knew it was going to end up like this, but there’s still that tiny part of her that hoped everything can be resolved without the looming risk of another war.

“Maybe I shouldn’t have told father.”

She only realized she said that out loud when Seth spoke. “You know your father cares a great deal about you. All of us actually, if you still haven’t figured it out yet.”

The curtains billowed from the breath of wind drifting through the surrounding mountains. It came with the chill of the night air but they remained sprawled on the deck of the House.

“Honestly Ziv,” Seth continued. “What were you thinking, going alone to the lake like that?”

“I wasn’t alone.”

“You can’t confront him by yourself armed only with your blazing sense of justice, righteousness and revenge.”

Heat crept up her neck, and Zivia straightened herself into an upright position. “I know that!” she lowered her voice, afraid she might lose control of her emotions. “Of course I know that. It’s just that I … It’s – “

Seth scooted closer to her and held her by the shoulders. “Look at me Zivia.” He lifted her face by her chin so that their eyes meet. “I know that you still blame yourself for what happened with Kara and the others, but it’s not your fault. You couldn’t have done anything – nobody could have.” He squeezed her gently for assurance and it almost made her shed the tears that were forming behind her eyes. “Koschei is too strong for any of us alone but together, we might stand a chance at defeating him.”

Zivia stared at her brother’s deep brown eyes burning with determination so intense it warms her trembling body. Seth was the only one who didn’t looked at her with pity after the incident at the lake and it was also his urging and constant support that saved her from wallowing in dejection.

She lowered her head, sure she was about to burst out crying when he enveloped her in his arms in a tight embrace.

“Did you write that speech beforehand?” she cry-laughed against his shoulder.

“No. It was completely improvised.”

“Are you done?”

“Do you want me to continue?”

“Please no.”

They both chuckled.

“Just promise me one thing Ziv,” Seth said as he stroked her back gently. “Don’t do something that reckless ever again.”

Zivia buried her face deeper into his chest, inhaling that crisp, refreshing evergreen scent that is uniquely his. “You know I’m terrible at promises.”

A sharp pain blossomed on the inner side of her wing and she knew Seth pulled another feather off.

“Alright! I promise,” she conceded.

They stayed like that for a few moments until Drakon arrived and found them.

“Please don’t tell me you two finally decided to confess your love for each other.”

They quickly pulled away and stared disgustingly at each other.

“Eww no!” sneered Seth, looking at her like she was a bug he wanted to squish. “Gross. Why would you even?”

“No?” Drakon smirked at them. “Thank the Mother. I had a mini heart attack for a second there.” His smile turned to a frown when he noticed all the feathers littering the floor. He rolled his eyes skyward and gestured exasperatedly. “If you keep this up, you’re both going to end up bald. Now off to bed you go before you find yourselves in another petty argument.”

While Seth traipsed into his room, Zivia stood up and dusted herself off of feathers. Drakon was watching her with mild anticipation, his hands tucked behind his back.

“I know what you’re going to say,” she started before he could beat her to it. “It is not what you think at all.”

“Oh?”

Her father waited for her to go on, barely moving away from his spot despite being only a stride away from the nearest chair.

Well, it wasn’t going to be a long conversation anyway, Zivia thought. Hopefully.

She struggled as to how she’d go about this. How would she tell her father? It wasn’t like she wanted it all to happen as it did.

“I had no idea it was going to be like that, believe me. I’m just as surprised as you are. I mean, I didn’t expect any of it.”

Drakon tilted his head. “I wasn’t exactly surprised.”

“You weren’t?” She frowned.

“Yes,” he nodded. “I kinda knew you were going to have to, one day, and I get it.”

Now that’s a curveball. Zivia had always known her father to be the overbearing one, telling her off every chance he could get.

“Is it…really okay with you?”

Drakon let loose a sigh and walked towards her. “Sunshine, I completely understand how you feel. I always have. It’s just that I’m worried about you.”

“There’s no need to worry, father.”

He gently gripped her hands in his, the gesture bringing warmth to her cold fingers. There was sadness in his eyes.

It’s alright, she thought. She’s not going to let herself be hurt.

“What if he killed you?”

“No. He wouldn’t – wait WHAT?”

Zivia wasn’t sure she heard right. “What did you say?”

Drakon didn’t seem to hear her either. He reached and pushed a fallen strand of hair back over one of her ears. “We could’ve lost you, Ziv.”

The gears inside her head appear to be jammed; she couldn’t make sense of where their conversation had gone into. “I – uh…huh?”

Her father’s face was full of sympathy and she still couldn’t follow why he’s hugging her that tight.

“You shouldn’t have tried to face Koschei like that. You can’t blame yourself forever.”

Oh.

Koschei. The lake.

Of course.

“Fuck.”

Drakon pulled away from her. “What?”

“What what? Nothing.”

You stupid, stupid idiot.

“You look confused. Are you all right?”

“Yes!” Zivia replied with a little too much fervour. “Perfectly fine.” She forced a smile even though deep inside, she’s more than ready to throw herself out of the balcony already.

Why on earth did she think it was going to be about him?

Drakon was looking suspiciously at her and it was all she could do not to meet his eyes.

“Zivia?”

She scratched her nose, as she does whenever she’s nervous, and faced him. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have gone to the lake alone – “

“Azriel was with you though.”

“ – and tried to face Koschei. I know I almost died – “

“But the shadowsinger saved you.”

“ – and...” Zivia paused. “Yeah, that’s right.”

So her father already knew, of course. “Okaay,” she drawled. “So we’re done here? Can I go sleep now?”

Her father crossed his arms. “Aren’t you going to tell me about your trip to the continent? You know – “ he raised his brows at her. “ – with Azriel?”

“What?”

Drakon’s face was held in a tight manner, as if holding back a laugh he so wanted to let out. The cogs started working on her head.

“You sent him after me and Seth didn’t you?” she was shaking her head, still refusing to believe it. Her father’s feign at ignorance just confirmed it. “OH TO HELL WITH YOU, FATHER!”

Zivia grabbed the nearest object she could find and threw it at her father. The vase shattered loudly, spilling water and flowers into the marbled floor. Drakon was grinning, a glint of something shady in his eyes.

She cant believe she played right into her father’s game. He spurred her on and like a dull-witted cow, she took the bait.

“You wouldn’t tell me anything,” he reasoned.

She made a rude gesture and stormed into the hallway.

“It’s okay, sunshine,” he shouted after her. “I wouldn’t tell him.”

A whish and a dagger embedded itself into the beam near where Drakon stood. He chuckled and sauntered into his own bed to retire for the night.