A Court of Shadows and Lies / ACOTAR FF

Chapter 10

It was still raining quite heavily the next day, with the faint waft of chicken escaping from the dining-living-kitchen room.

I sat up in bed and, for the first time in a long time, I felt stronger. That wasn't saying much in the grand scheme of things, but the three meals Azriel had cooked me yesterday helped. My thoughts were still racing, screaming at me darkly, but my overall mood was better. As if I had something to wake up for. What that was exactly, I didn't know, but Azriel may have punched some sense into me.

Which reminded me, I needed to ask Azriel why he started that brawl in the first place.

Hopping out of bed shakily, I slowly changed out of my day-old pyjamas and into a pair of jogger-sweater combo, my body screaming at me in pain. My white dress was still in the wardrobe, standing out against the dark coloured clothing ready for the autumn and winter months in Velaris. I briefly debated throwing it in the bin because it reminded me of bygone days that I didn't want to return to at the moment.

I touched the hem with a sigh. Not today. It was one of Etta's presents to me, and one of the last bits of my connection to my family.

Drifting over to my bedside table, I slipped on the green bracelet gifted by Clotho – something I hadn't used since it was given to me – and pinned my sun pin onto the sweater. I quickly cast my gaze over to the table by the wall and saw my red diary, still in good condition despite my outburst, sitting slightly off centre. If anything was going to outlive Prythian, it was going to be that book.

Today, however, I didn't want to write my thoughts, nor did I want to read anything on a Stygian either. I wanted to do something different, break my cycle of being on my own. Would Azriel take me if I asked to explore Velaris in the rain? Or would he just stare at me and give me my answer? I guess I would find out in a second.

I left my room and found Azriel leaning against the stove, his nose nearly buried in the book he held in his right hand, and his brows furrowed. The Eight Divines and the World. Gods, that was written in the First Language, and a book that could only be found in the Summer Court. I didn't know Azriel knew the First Tongue? Or perhaps he didn't, which was why he looked like he was about to throw the book across the room.

"I didn't know you could read the First Tongue," I said, sitting at the island in the kitchen where a plate of roast chicken and potatoes was placed in front of me.

"I don't," he replied, looking up from the book at me. I picked up a roast potato and popped it into my mouth.

"What are you looking for? I know that book inside-out." I tucked into my meal, waiting for Azriel to reply.

"I just want to know if Stygians are part of this book."

I shook my head and swallowed. "You won't find it in that book. It talks about the Eight Divines: Mother, Dark Mother...and six others who aren't named but described."

"Do you know the names of the six others?"

"Nope. I'm not sure why their names are never talked about, even the last Deity War I was part of, I didn't know who I was fighting."

"Why did you fight if you didn't know who you were fighting?"

"Because the fate of the humans and Fae alike rested on winning that War. The one we fought is in Chapter 12, but to sum him up: he didn't like that Mother favoured her creations. He didn't like that her daughters went down to the world and mingled with them. He believed it would lead to impurities in the Deity lines but her daughters never mated or carried children. His children did."