The Lost Heir

Chapter Two

"Did you just say mate?" Cassian asked in bewilderment.

Azriel felt Rhysand and Feyre's eyes on him as well, and tried to sit up fully. Everything had happened so fast, he couldn't believe any of it was real. But somehow, he knew in his bones that it had been. Could feel the newly snapped tether that now connected both their souls, even if it was growing weaker by the second, no doubt because the non-witch was trying to get as far away from him as possible.

Feyre squeezed Rhysand's hand once and moved back toward the entrance. "I'm going to get Madja," she said, then looked pointedly at Azriel. "Don't move."

He winced, but made no further moves to get up. "Rhys, who is she?"

"Will someone tell me what in the Cauldron is happening?" asked Cassian, moving to stand next to Rhysand, who hadn't so much as blinked. His eyes were far away, glued to the city below them, but Azriel knew he wasn't seeing Velaris, not really.

"Rhys," said Azriel, the plea in his voice breaking the High Lord's trance.

Rhysand met his eyes, then Cassian's. "I don't know. I've never seen her before in my life. But she looks exactly like-,"

"Your father," Cassian finished, thanks to Rhysand finally linking their minds.

Madja and Feyre returned, and his brothers helped Azriel onto a cot. "She said something to you, didn't she? What was it?" He'd heard her whisper something right before she winnowed away.

"Your Shadowsinger needs you." Rhysand said, repeating the non-witch's words as the cot disappeared into the hallway.

✶✶✶

Neala was waiting for Vela on the roof of the dark stoned castle that overlooked the Kingdom of Byvre. It was the first thing The Witch had claimed as her own the minute she'd won the war against its previous rulers. Vela had been but eight years of age when her mother had become queen, but she remembered the bloodshed like it was yesterday.

The dragon was angry, Vela sensed. "What was I supposed to do? Just leave him there to die?" It was pointless reasoning considering she'd done exactly that more times than she could count. "Look, we both made it back in one piece, which is really the most important thing right?" But something told her she had brought back more than what she'd left with. A new, strange connection to the Shadowsinger that she'd saved was now piercing through them both, and she needed to find a way to get rid of it.

Nothing good had ever come from such tethers. And if this was what she feared it was, from the whispered stories she'd heard over the last six hundred years, she was in deep sh-,

"There you are! What took you so long? I thought we had an agreement." The entrance to the roof was practically blown away by The Witch's angry burst.

Vela fought the urge to roll her eyes. "I just needed some air." It wasn't exactly a lie, but it was the best she could come up with when her mind was occupied by a myriad of other things. Velaris, Koschei, the Shadowsinger, and the bond they now shared.

"Is it happening again, then? Do I need to be worried?" The grey-haired woman approached Neala, who welcomed her touch.

Traitor, Vela thought. "No, it's not, quite, to that extent yet. If it was, you would be the first to know." She kept her face blank, hoping her mother would believe her.

"I hope so, Velaria. We wouldn't want any repeats of what happened the last time you lost control." The snide in her mother's voice was sharp enough to cut. Luckily, Vela had almost six hundred years of experience with The Witch's cheap strikes. She would not give her the satisfaction of seeing her crumble over something neither of them could control.