Flames of Cobalt and Crimson

The Debrief

Azriel

Rhys was rubbing his temples the way I often do and staring down at the untouched breakfast tray Cerridwen had brought him. His mood had darkened visibly as I had explained what I had just done in the hours before dawn, and who exactly I had found in the dungeons of the Hewn City.

"Mother above, Azriel," was all he said at first.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have gone so deep into the mountain without consulting you. I had planned-"

"Az," Rhys groaned, cutting me off, and he looked up at me, his eyes wide and pained. "Don't apologize. But you could have been killed, and we might never have known what had happened to you." There was nothing but sincerity in his face as he continued, "I'm learning to let other people do their jobs but, damn it all, I need you to trust me to let you go. I just need to know what's happening. Can you do that next time? Please?"

"Of course." What else could I say to that? We had been trying to get Rhys to delegate ever since he had become High Lord. If anything, I was grateful. "Though I suppose that means I should tell you what my new plans are."

"Ideally, yes. Though, if you'll wait a moment, I've asked Feyre to join us and she's just down the hall. I wanted to let her sleep this morning, but I have already passed along your report so far." Indeed, my shadows had warned me that she was nearby. A few seconds later the door swung inward and Feyre stepped through, moving deftly to the side and shutting it smoothly behind her.

My High Lady crossed the room toward Rhys with a fluid economy of motion that belied her days as a huntress and her months of hand-to-hand combat and weapons training. He pushed his chair back from the desk but didn't rise, smiling at her, and she took the invitation, perching in his lap and shooting me an impish but slightly apologetic smile. I gave her a small smile in return. "Good morning, Feyre."

Rhys raised an eyebrow for me to begin and circled Feyre's waist with his arm possessively. With the other hand, he finally started picking at his breakfast tray again, and popped a grape into his mouth, chewing.

"Well, first of all, I need to find Cassian. Have you received word yet?"

"We learned late last night that he'd made an appearance at Windhaven and had stayed at Rhys's mother's house," Feyre informed me. "He made quite a stir; our informant was a little unclear on the specifics but there was alcohol and at least one fist fight, that we know of. Apparently there were a lot of... let's call them 'rumors.'" She smiled a little wickedly at that. She always had been one of us. "We were extremely lucky that one of our people spotted him at all; a few hours after they started trailing him he flew away with a small pack."

Rhys chimed in now to add, "Based on the direction he appeared to be heading, I've sent scouts to two possible locations to wait and watch for his arrival. If my hunch is right, you'll be the first to know his whereabouts."

I nodded my thanks. "Once we find Cassian, I'm going to take him with me to the Day Court to speak to Helion." They patiently listened to my plans, pointing out possible pitfalls, but in the end they were nodding. I was pleasantly surprised that they were agreeing so easily; I had no intention of taking either of them with me into the Court of Nightmares, and it was usually impossible to keep either of them out of the thick of things. It seemed that Rhys's death and subsequent resurrection had resulted in a muting effect on both of them. It saddened me, but if it kept them safer then I would thank the Mother for it.

When everything was laid out and agreed to, I hesitated, looking to Feyre and then back to Rhys. I took a deep breath and straightened my shoulders before venturing, "May I ask you about something... personal?"