The Last Queen (An ACOTAR / Azriel fanfiction)

The Past

It was barely midday when Azriel grew drowsy and his eyelids felt heavy from having to lay down for so long. Daggerheart had curled up with her hair now spread out on the pillow and her forehead tucked against his chest. One of her arms was draped over his torso and she yawned softly before rubbing her face and falling asleep again.

Azriel tried to keep his eyes open but eventually gave up on the effort and fell asleep on his back.

His eyes opened when he realised that the pressure of Daggerheart's weight on his arm was gone. He pushed himself up and blinked the sleep out of his eyes but fell back on his bed when he heard the sound of water running in the bathroom.

He peered at her from under his eyelashes when she came out of there and stopped near the bed. She looked at him with her lips pressed in a thin line and her hands folded. "I'm going to assume that the high Lord can afford only a selected number of rooms so we had to share."

Azriel closed his eyes, "No. there are plenty of empty rooms. I bought you here."

"And why did you think that was appropriate?" She said a little louder this time.

He sighed, "I don't know. I didn't- I just don't know."

"Because it is not appropriate. You are the Spymaster of the Night Court and I'm the queen of the mortal realm. We should not have been in the same room under such circumstances, ever. Did no one try to stop you?" She threw her arms out in frustration.

Azriel groaned and sat up, "No."

"Unbelievable." She shook her head.

"It's not their fault."

"Not their fault?" She glared at him. "I was unconscious and they, your High Lord and his court, let you drag me here all alone."

"I said it's not their fault."

"Then whose fault is it? Is it mine?" She crossed her arms across her chest.

"No." He said in an irritated voice. "Rhys found you-" she put her hand up to stop him.

"I know what happened. And I'm sorry if it was too much of an inconvenience. I didn't ask for anyone to be there."

" Didn't ask?" Azriel heard his voice raise after a few very long years. "Didn't ask?! He saved you! You could have died! Something worse could have happened!"

"So you knew what happened to me in my drunken state !" She slammed her hand on a table. " And yet, you decided it was a good idea to haul me, in the same state, to your bedroom." Then, she let her arms drop by her side and asked with her eyes wide, "Who changed my clothes?"

Azriel rubbed his temple, "It was Feyre. I have no interest whatsoever, in seeing you naked."

She set her jaw, "Where is your High Lord?"

"I told you it isn't his fault."

"Was he there when you bought me here?" She demanded.

"I- Yes." He admitted.

"Then, it is his fault. I am an ally and a guest in his court and he sat back and watched as his spymaster-"

"Will you stop doing this?!" He yelled.

"Stop what? Did I say anything wrong? You knew exactly what had happened and you didn't think twice before putting me through that again."

"I did not-" he began but she cut him short.

"Does it matter? I almost get assaulted and then I wake up, head throbbing, in a dark room, sleeping in the same bed as a man I barely know. Tell me, what was I supposed to think? What was I supposed to feel?" Her voice broke a little near the end but she gathered herself quickly. "I'm grateful that Rhysand saved me once but I cannot forget that he also put me in danger again. Is this how you treat all your guests?"

"Rhysand didn't mean to hurt you. He knew I wouldn't hurt you."

"Do you know when to shut up?" Daggerheart yelled. "I don't care what you knew and what your High Lord knew! I don't give a damn! At the end of the day, this should have never happened. How far away are the other empty rooms? Why was it so hard to put me in one of them? Or in a room with a woman?" She cluched a fistful Of her nightdress. "Leave me alone." She whispered harshly.

"At least listen to me."

"There is nothing you can say that will excuse this. Now, leave." Her nails dug into her palm. "I will see the High Lord after a while. I hope he has answers enough to not make me demand you as a prisoner for putting my honour and my life at risk."

He didn't budge, "Who was that man? Do you know him?"

She threw a vase from the table and it shattered against his shoulder, "Don't you dare ask me about anything! You don't know anything about me!"

"We cannot let him get away with that!" He spread his arm in front of himself.

"There is no "we". He is my target. Now, get out of my sight!"

He stormed out of the room and Daggerheart collapsed on the floor in a heap of frills and tears. She wrapped her arms around herself as her body shook from the remaining shock of everything that had happened in the last two days.

Cassian and Mor almost flinched when they saw a piece of the broken vase stuck in his shoulder and the blood running down his sleeve. He didn't look at them as he winnowed out of the house.

Daggerheart watched the single bottle of liquor sitting on a table by the window with her head leaning against the leg of a chair from where she was still sitting on the floor. Her breath was laboured and her clothes were soaked in tears. She pushed herself up with shaky hands and, pressed her mouth to the bottle. The clear liquid burned down her throat and she winced after the first swig. She curled up on the floor by the window and pressed the cold bottle against her warm face and slowly drank herself away.

After a while, when everything became blurry and her head swam, she started panicking. She tried standing up but he legs gave out because of exhaustion and the alcohol. Her last resort was to hold onto the curtains and pull herself up but it was a futile attempt as well. She pulled her knees up to her chest and rocked herself back and forth.

A muffled scream escaped her throat when the door was pushed open. Barely any light came inside the room and she realised it was already nighttime. She had spent an entire evening getting drunk and now she was going to pay for that.

She pushed her back against the wall and her arm searched for anything that could function as a weapon.

It was only this morning that she had barely escaped him after getting drunk and she had made that mistake again. His footsteps were slow and steady and he lit a candle in the dark. There was no way she could hide now.

"Daggerheart?" Her gasp was too audible in the silence of the house and Azriel rushed over to her side when he saw her as the mess she was.

She threw the bottle away and wrapped her arms around his neck. He ran his fingers in her hair as she sobbed in relief. He pressed her body harder against his own as it continued to shake with each sob. Her tears soaked his collar and ran down his neck.

"I thought it was him." She dug her fingers into his arm.

"He is never getting near you again. I promise." He whispered and rubbed her arm.

"He will. He knows me too well." She said.

"Daggerheart." He pulled her head back and looked into her golden irises. "I will tear him apart limb by limb if he so much as breathed in your direction."

A few soft sobs escaped her lips and he gathered her up from the floor and gently put her down on the bed. "You're safe. Go to sleep."

She closes her eyes and hot tears spilled down her face. He wiped them away with his thumb and stroked her cheeks with his thumb for a moment before asking in a low voice, " Daggerheart?"

She opened her eyes and they shone like polished gems under the light from the candles.

"You loved him, didn't you?"