A Court of Lightning and Shadows

Thirteen

TW: rape

——

Briar was seated next to Azriel and Elain. The entire Inner Circle was seated around the dinner table.

Everyone was busy with their own conversation, even Azriel was talking. Briar listened and ate quietly.

Briar's head started pounding after a while. She rubbed the palms of her hands in her eyes as she squeezed her eyes shut. When she looked up, everyone was still talking.

Her head started getting heavier and the voices of the Inner Circle turned way too loud.

She excused herself, her vision becoming blurry.

She walked outside into the garden and found a tree to sit against. Briar held her head in her hands. The world was way too loud.

She couldn't stop the tears that slipped down her face, the pain became unbearable.

When she looked up, the clouds above her turned darker.

Azriel was standing in front of her, a few feet away with Rhysand at his side.

"Briar, are you okay?" he asked. He tried to get closer to her, but Rhys made him keep his distance.

—
Azriel POV

Azriel took a step towards Briar. Rhys had followed him outside, feeling that something was off.

It started raining, the clouds turning dark.

"No, no, no don't." Briar said, crawling further against the tree.

Azriel eyed Rhys, finding his brothers eyes fixed on Briar.

Feyre had also followed them outside, standing next to Rhys.

Briar started clawing at her head while she repeated the word no. Azriel looked back at Rhys, asking for permission to approach her.

Rhys shook his head. He held Feyre behind him.

The clouds started rumbling and the rain started falling harder.

Thunder rumbled hard above them, but there was no lightning.

Briar stopped with what she was doing and looked at Azriel with wide eyes, "Get away." she said.

Azriel didn't understand. Rhys had already taken a few steps back.

"Get away, Azriel. I can't control it." she screamed as she started sobbing.

Rhys grabbed Azriel's wrist and pulled him back.

It only took one step before lightning erupted from the sky. Briar looked up with wide eyes, she was almost glowing purple.

She tried to push the lightning away, only for it to come closer to her.

Lightning now shot out of her hands, pushing against the lightning from the sky.

It stopped raining, the sky already clearing while the lightning pulled away.

Briar fell over, her head hitting the ground hard.

Azriel was staring at her with wide eyes. Cassian and Nesta were at his side, their faces filled with confusion.

Amren stepped forward, "I told you, it was going to happen."

Azriel walked towards Briar, who now laid passed out on the ground.

He held her close as he walked to the house. His heart was racing, but he couldn't get the words out of his mouth.

——

Briar POV

Briar opened her eyes. Her head was still pounding, but not as bad as before.

She didn't know how long she had slept. It could've been hours, or days since she passed out.

She suddenly remembered what happened. It was a blurry memory. She remembered going outside for some fresh air, because she suddenly felt unwell.

Then a storm started. Briar only remembered lightning, nothing more.

Azriel was sitting on a chair next to her bed, his eyes closed.

Briar sat up. She was wearing sweatpants and a shirt. Someone had changed her clothes.

She was too exhausted to care.

The room she was in was her old room at the river house. Briar recognized it.

Azriel's eyes opened. He looked relieved as he found Briar awake.

"How long did I sleep?"

"You were out for almost two days." her eyes widened at his answer.

"Did... did I hurt someone?" she asked. She wasn't sure what happened to her, what made her do what she had done.

Azriel shook his head. "It wasn't your fault." he said.

Briar fixed her eyes on her sheets. She felt bad about what happened. She could've hurt someone.

"Rhys wants to talk to you." he said.

Briar muttered a soft okay and watched Azriel walk out of the room. He turned around before opening the door, "I'm glad you're okay." he said and turned on his heels.

A few minutes later, Rhysand walked into the room, Feyre at his side. Briar let out a small sigh of relief when she saw the female.

"How are you feeling?" Rhysand asked.

"I don't know."

Rhysand sat down, "I want to help you control it. You need to let out your powers more." he said.

Briar nodded. If it could prevent it from happening again, she was okay with it.

Rhysand looked at Feyre, probably using the bond to talk to her. She smiled at Briar and walked out of the room.

"You can stay here for as long as you need, you can still train with Azriel. He will move back for the time too." he said. "We want to keep an eye on you. Incase... you know."

Rhysand looked at her with sadness in his eyes. Briar gave him a questioned look.

"I'm sorry."

Briar tilted her head, "For what?"

"For what..  he did to you. For what you've been through." Briar's eyes widened.

"You went into my mind." she said softly.

Rhysand nodded. "I didn't want to, but it was necessary. I needed to know if you're brain had any damage and what caused the sudden outburst."

Briar's eyes pricked with tears. He knew what her brother had done. What her father did all these years had been no surprise.

Briar couldn't meet the High Lord's eyes as she started talking, "He...  touched me more times than I can count. He raped me."

"I felt your fear. I am sorry no one helped you." he said.

Briar sniffed as tears fell down her face. "We will find him."

Briar muttered a small thank you.

Rhys left and closed the door slowly.

She cried herself into another long sleep.

——
Azriel POV

Rhys came back.

Feyre, Elain, Mor, Cassian and Azriel were seated in the living room.

"She will stay here for some time." he said.

The room was quiet.

"What she's been through is... bad. I saw and felt it." Rhys said. He sat down next to his mate.

Azriel felt bad for her. He wanted to comfort Briar, to hold her. But he couldn't. And she couldn't too.