A court of water and worlds

Chapter #6

Gwyn used to love sleep. A few years ago, if you had told her that she would be getting up at the crack of dawn, she would have laughed at you. Though Gwyn was at a good place in her life, she still didn't find peace through sleep.

Falling asleep at night had been an internal battle for the last two years. When your body and mind fight against each other... it takes a toll, but Gwyn would rather focus on her exhaustion than her nightmares anyway.

For the past two years, she has been having terrible nightmares.

Usually she would pace around her room until she'd be too tired to think, making her even more exhausted, but now when she had a nightmare, she would go to the training room.

Gwyn practiced her punches, or the eight pointed star movements with a sword, or even some knife throwing. Anything that felt like an illusion of power.

Gwyn woke up bright and early and as she stepped out of her bed she accidentally kicked over a pile of romance books. She muttered a curse and quickly put them up on her night stand. Her collection of books was growing quickly. She blamed Nesta and Emerie.

Gwyn bent down to pick up her latest read that had fallen off of the pile. It was about a queen with moon white hair and burnt gold eyes. A man with blue black hair and sapphire blue eyes. The man had magic and often used something called phantom hands in the bedroom. Gwyn flushed a little just thinking about it.

She enjoyed reading romance. She enjoyed reading about love, though a majority of these books had no trace of love in them. Just sex. Lust.

She was still getting more comfortable with it, but the books were helping.

Gwyn was hesitant to be touched romantically. It's not like she had the opportunity anyway, but by reading she knew that good things could come from touch, like pleasure. She was curious about it of course, but not enough to try it just yet.

Gwyn dressed in Nesta's old leathers and made her way to the training room.

She walked to the terrace breathing in the fresh air. She had come a few minutes early. She liked the view of the city from here. Far enough away that she was safe and close enough to appreciate its beauty. Nesta and Cassian's wedding hadn't helped her get over her anxieties of braving the outside world. The only place she felt completely safe was in her room.

Gwyn heard two familiar voices coming in the archway.

She turned and found Emrie talking to Mor. They were smiling at eachother like they didn't even know Gwyn was there.

"Hey," her voice bounced off the walls and startled them both which caused her to grin.

Nesta and Cassian were away. Apparently it's tradition to take a trip with your significant other after the mating. Mor was filling in for Cassian. Gwyn was itching to see Mor's skills: hand to hand combat and weaponry.

A couple more priestesses entered and Gwyn walked towards Emerie and Mor as she heard the beat of wings. She looked to her right and, sure enough, there he was, the spymaster himself. She kept walking over to Mor and Emrie, completely ignoring his presence.

She swore she heard a few of the priestesses sigh as the shadowsinger walked past them, she smiled to herself. Yes, the shadowsinger was beautiful, and Gwyn thought so too. He may even be the prettiest male she had ever seen, but that was a thought she deemed to keep to herself. She also didn't think of him in that way. She couldn't conjure up that sort of attraction because of what happened to her. But that didn't mean he wasn't nice to look at.

Gwyn continued to walk towards Mor and Emrie, "I don't get a good morning, priestess" Azriel voiced from behind her. She smiled and looked at him over her shoulder "morning shadowsinger."