The Symphony of Shadow

7: 'The Space Between'

A Z R I E L

Azriel stood alone, watching as Gwyn recounted the events of their mission to Nesta and Emerie - huddled into their own little group near one of the tall, arched windows of the House of Wind.

Rhys, Feyre, Mor and Amren had all come to the House to view the Blood Rose he and Gwyn had picked during their short mission to the outskirts of Illyria, just a few hours ago. The flower was deadly - known to give its victims hallucinations strong enough to elongate death to last one thousand years - but a beautiful sight all the same, and an important tool in locating the three remaining mortal Queens.

Emerie had stayed with Nesta at the House today, and the two had quickly ushered Gwyn away, presumably to extract every detail of the day's events. Azriel had a suspicion that Nesta kept distance between Gwyn and the Inner Circle on purpose: Although the eldest Archeron was on good terms with her family now, it seemed she still wanted to have a friendship that was her own, and not Feyre's.

That and the fact that she wanted to protect Gwyn. The Inner Circle would never harm her in any way - however, most people, excluding those that knew her, usually tiptoed around the copper-haired priestess, treating her like someone to be pitied. They didn't do it on purpose, of course, but if they knew Gwyn even a little, then they would know that being pitied wasn't something she particularly cared for.

Azriel couldn't really blame the Inner Circle for acting that way - they barely knew Gwyn, after all. But he couldn't blame Nesta for wanting her own friends either, especially considering how big of a part they play in the recovery of her trauma from the war. Gwyn and Emerie were a fresh start for her, and Azriel had found it strange how everyone had just expected Nesta to fall in with her sister's family at once in the first place.

"You admire her." Cassian observed, coming to stand next to him as he watched Gwyn talk. Azriel could argue with his brother, but the words Cassian spoke were the truth, there was no denying it, and Azriel himself had known it for a while.

"You don't?" He replied simply, letting no emotion show in his voice. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Cassian smile in response.

Gwyn laughed as she went through a specific detail of their mission, perhaps recounting the Sprites which they had encountered in the forest - a hint of a smile grew on his face at that. Gwyn's laugh was incomparable to any other he'd ever heard in his long life - a beautiful, free sound, one that that caught the attention of anyone in her proximity.

It was strange to admit, but he had grown fond of the priestess over the last couple of weeks, and thanks to their trip to Illyria, he could now officially say they were friends. Even if they'd accidently fallen asleep next to each other... Even if...

Guilt flooded through him, and he shook off the thought of what else had happened in Illyria - an event Gwyn wasn't aware of. Yet another secret he would have to keep - a burden he was used to, yes - but the number of secrets he was keeping from Gwyn seemed to be building up more and more: that they'd slept next to one another, the affect sleeping next to each other had on him, that the necklace had been re-gifted, why they'd been searching for the flower in the first place, who the cabin they'd stayed at had actually belonged to...

Trying to rid himself of the worry, Azriel shifted, causing the friendship bracelet that was fastened around his wrist to rub against his skin. No one had asked about Gwyn's gift to him yet - probably due to the fact that he mostly kept his hands behind his back - but he didn't mind wearing it, in fact, it had been nice to be on the receiving end of such a gesture.

In Illyria, Gwyn had also revealed to him her knowledge that it had been Azriel to gift her the necklace last Solstice. It hadn't been that much of a surprise for him to discover, he knew how intelligent Gwyneth Berdara was, after all. However, he still held the guilt over not telling her that the pendant was never intended for her, and Azriel often imagined all the possible ways she may react if he was found out - guilt did that to people.