A court of water and worlds

Chapter #8

"Gwyneth Anahita Bedara!" Emrie yelled right as Gwyn walked into the house.
Emrie started towards Gwyn and Gwyn set off in a sprint.
She did not know where she was going. All she knew was that she needed to get somewhere safe.
"Gwyn get back here, so I can knock you on your Ass!" Emrie yelled.
Gwyn kept running and giggling. "Em, I'm sorry, please forgive me," Gwyn said and Emrie was right in front of her.
"Ok, I forgive you," Said Emrie, "but I'm still going to punch you in the face. Emrie said, holding out her fist.
"You wouldn't," Gwyn said, narrowing her eyes at Emrie.
"O, yes I would," emrie said, lunging at Gwyn.
Gwyn ducked and ran under Emrie's arm. Gwyn kept running, and running until she ran into a hard wall.
Or what she thought was a hard wall.
—-
Azriel just wanted to bathe and go to sleep.
He was not expecting to run into a certain redhead.
"Hide me" he heard Gwyn say and his shadows surrounding her.
Emrie walked past him "if you see Gwyn let me know," she said.
Azriel tried so hard not to laugh, and nodded at Emrie, and she walked away.
"She's gone" azriel said to Gwyn, who was still swarmed by his shadows.
Two seconds later they returned to Azriel, how did she do that, command his shadows?
"Sorry," Gwyn said smiling, "I'm trying to escape Emrie."
"Gwyn, where are you?" He heard Emrie yell.
Azriel had to suppress a laugh.
"We'll, you must have done something terrible," Azriel said, confused as to why Emrie was trying to pummel Gwyn.
"It wasn't that bad," Gwyn said defensively, holding her hands up.
Azriel raised a brow at her, question and challenge.
"I can't tell you , Em would seriously kill me if I did." Gwyn said.
"Gwyn I got Em to calm down, I think she needs to talk," Azriel heard Nesta say from behind him.
Gwyn nodded and followed Nesta.
What the hell was that about?
He will never understand women, or maybe just Gwyn, for that matter.
Azriel had so many questions for that woman.
—-
"And they lived happily ever after, the end" Azriel's mother Layla said to him.
"Just one more?" Azriel asked quietly, holding his mother's hands.
His mother looked down at him, and smiled. Azriel loved his mother's smile. He rarely got to see it. "ok, one more." His mother said, kissing his temple.
"A long, long time ago there was a beautiful kingdom under the sea called Atlantis."
Azriel's eyes widened, "under the sea?"
"Yes," his mother said chuckling, "and in Atlantis dwell Merfolk. They were half fish, half people, they had tails and could breathe and see underwater."
"Really?" Azriel asked, eyes wide with curiosity. His mother nodded.
A loud, harsh knock sounded at the door, and Azriel flinched.
The door opened and Azriel's father walked in.
"Times up boy," he said in a harsh rough voice.
Azriel immediately got up and walked over to his father. He wasn't going to disobey him again. He remembered what happened last time...
His mother stood up quickly and his father took a step towards her, crossing his arms.
Azriel hated this stance, a Predator sizing up its prey. He could tell his mother was frightened by the way her hands were trembling.
Azriel wanted to do something to save her from what was about to happen next, but he was helpless.
He was escorted back to his cell in the darkness, where he could see nothing, feel nothing, and hear nothing—
Azriel opened his eyes and sat up rubbing his face. This dream or nightmare Azriel didn't know, happened too often to come as a shock to him. Thankfully, it was one of the better ones that didn't end with Azriel screaming and crying.
Still, this dream was not something he enjoyed having.
Azriel loved his mother.
He would visit her once a week for dinner, gardening, tea or star gazing.
Azriel didn't have a constant time of the day he would show up at her doorstep. He just went when he needed his mother.
Which happenes to be once a week.
Cassian and Rhysand would come up once a month with Azriel.
Rhysand loved hearing Layla tell him stories about his mother and Cassian always loved learning new recipes from her.
When he was just a boy, Azriel only got to see his mother once a week for one hour.
The rest of the time he would spend in a cell in his father's dungeon.
Azriel shivered at the thought. He never let himself think of that cell because if he did—
His shadows were now swarming around him, blocking out everything and wrapping him up in darkness.
When people see Azriel's shadows swarming him like this, they usually think they are hurting him or scaring him by trapping him in the dark.
But they don't understand that Darkness is not good or bad.
What lies in the darkness, is a different story.
Darkness should not be judged for what it is but for what it can provide.
For Azriel, his shadows provide a kind of darkness filled with comfort, and protection.
Azriel tries and fails to go back to sleep.
He keeps tossing and turning in bed until the sheets are wrapped around his waist like a tail.
He smiles at the thought.
He decided he's too awake to sleep but too tired to train, so he decided instead to get something to eat.
Azriel gets out of bed and puts on a shirt to go with his sweatpants.
He walks downstairs and hears something crash and someone muttering a curse.
Azriel takes a kitchen knife off the counter and has his shadows investigate.
He waited but his shadows did not come back, he kept calling them, but they wouldn't listen.
Did someone capture his shadows? no, that's not possible.
How would you capture shadows?
Azriel didn't know what was happening, but he knew he had to be careful.
He heard someone start to giggle, then their giggle turned into a full laugh, and Azriel knew exactly who that laugh belonged to.