A Court of Shadows and Lies / ACOTAR FF

Chapter 4

I was toying with the glowing necklace that sat around my neck, my belittling thoughts still yelling at me, when I closed the bedroom door behind me. My magic was in a deep slumber, no matter what I had done to try and wake it, it had stayed dormant. I sighed loudly, knowing that I was in this for the long haul.

I averted my gaze to the spacious room in front of me that was made up of a lounge and a kitchen.

To my immediate left was the small lounge area. A fireplace, with fresh logs ready for burning when the cold nights fell upon Velaris, was pressed against the wall with bookcases in either side of it. In front of the hearth was a wooden oblong coffee table, with a long brown leather settee directly behind it, creased with time and use. Two accompanying leather armchairs were pointed at an angle towards the coffee table and fireplace.

Ahead of me was a kitchen. It was fitted with cabinets, a cooling system to keep food good for longer periods of time, an oven, a shining sink and an island with two chairs nestled under it. The island housed baskets of fresh fruit and vegetables, to which my stomach growled loudly at. A large dining table, that seemed out of place in the quaint cabin, sat to the right of the kitchen. A little bit further right to the wall was a closed door with what looked to be key locked.

However, the back of the room was what caught my attention.

Two bay windows jutted out of the cabin, each with a seating area, netted curtains, an array of pillows on each, and a throw over the backs. A total of five pictures hung on the wall, two on the far left, before for the first window, followed by a long piece of artwork, then the second window, and finally the last two paintings.

I walked up to the first two pictures closest to the living room.

The first painting was a young boy whose large, velvet-looking wings curved around him, shielding his face from the person looking at him through the artwork. Shadows hugged around him on the floor and over his shoulders as he sat on the cobbled, worn floor. The print was emotional and raw. I hadn't seen this sort of passion in a long time; it actually reminded me of the work in Mother's study – this was where all the goodartwork was, and not the retelling in the throne room.

A shiver ran down my spine as I continued to study the artwork. I promptly moved onto the picture.

The second painting was more abstract, a winged shadow in the darkness with seven blue lights jutting out of the person. I cocked my head to the side, unsure of what to make of it. Was it a memory from the creator or was it a memory of the subject of the artwork?

I walked passed the first bay, mulling over my last question, before I paused in front of the large painting in front of me. My jaw dropped, my thoughts flattened, as I looked at the painting of the three males who were in my room earlier. They looked younger, not as war-torn, and stood on top of a familiar mountain. Cassian, Rhysand and Azriel had their arms hooked around each other's shoulders, smiles beaming from each of their faces.

I turned around briefly to the door directly behind me, a booming laughter from one of the males shook the entire cabin, followed by three others laughing with the original male. For a moment, I had forgotten the last time I genuinely laughed with good company. I wished I could laugh like that right now.

Sighing, I moved my attention back to the painting, my eye catching Azriel's painted ones. I blinked slowly, the tug turned into a low fire in the bottom of my stomach. He was annoyingly handsome, even with that cocky, carefree smile that was in front of me. It was different and I wondered when was the last time he had smiled like that.

I felt the urge to reach out to the male in the painting. Furrowing my brows, I lifted my right hand towards the painting but paused when the air shifted in the cabin. I turned my head to look over my shoulder and found Azriel staring at me from the door pane leading outside. Behind him and beyond the door were Cassian, Rhysand and Feyre who were engaged in a deep conversation, with Feyre looking bothered. They were all stood in the shade of the trees that were plastered around the cabin, off the cobbled pathway that snaked around the home towards Velaris.