A Court of Lightning and Shadows

Eight

Briar woke up late. The sun had already reached its high. She yawned and stretched before remembering last night.

She had slept peacefully after her nightmare, thankful that Azriel had come in and helped her calm down.

Briar wasn't scared of the male. Not anymore. She hoped she would be able to face the other male too.

She would tell Feyre that she wanted to attend one of their dinners. Getting over her fear was only the first step.

There wasn't anything to do today, so she decided she was going to take a long bath to ease the aching on her back.

Getting into the bath took her a few minutes. After her bath, Briar got changed, putting on a shirt and loose pants.

She wanted to get out of her room and eat something. So she grabbed her cane and slowly made her way to the door.

Before she could grab the handle, someone knocked. Briar opened the door herself, revealing Azriel with Nyx on his shoulder.

Feyre had told her yesterday that Azriel was babysitting Nyx. Not his favorite thing to do apparently.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you." Azriel had his wings tucked in tightly.

"You didn't. I was just going out actually." Azriel raised his eyebrows at her.

"Do you want to help me with Nyx?" Azriel asked. Briar nodded, she liked the small boy.

Azriel walked in front of her on the stairs, in case she fell down.

She was getting better at it, but she still wanted to use the cane for better balance. Even though she was sick of it already.

Nyx outstretched his hands towards Briar. Azriel lifted him up, handing him to her.

The boy sat on her lap. He clapped at her, Briar smiled softly at him.

When she looked up, she found Azriel looking at her. He quickly looked away, making his way to the kitchen.

Briar made her way to the living room, putting Nyx on the ground. She sat down on one of the chairs.

The house was quiet, except for the crackling of fire. Nyx played with his toys, not paying attention to the world around him.

After a few minutes, Azriel came back with food for Nyx. He turned to Azriel, seeing food made him excited. Briar laughed at the sight of him.

Briar had finally eaten something and had been able to keep it inside.

Azriel had put Nyx to bed, leaving the house himself. He told Briar he needed to do something, but he would be back before Nyx would wake up.

Briar had spent an hour practicing her walking, even though Feyre had told her not to when she was completely alone.

She still missed the weight on her back, but she managed to walk a few feet without falling over.

Briar spent the rest of the afternoon downstairs, reading a book and watching the paintings on the wall.

She was sitting on a chair with a book open in her lap before she heard the door open. Voices filled the house. They weren't happy voices.

Four figures came walking into the room. Briar stiffened. She reminded herself that it was only Cassian, the General.

The male had the same hair length as her father. Briar froze.