A Court of Lightning and Shadows

Sixteen

——

Azriel POV

They finally landed in Windhaven. Rhys had given Azriel and Cassian the command to check on the camp and ask Devlon about Jodis.

Devlon had let the females train for weeks now, which surprised Azriel at first.

After months of pushing and visiting the camp, he had finally let the females do their own thing.

Even other camps were letting their females train without any objections.

Azriel hated coming back here. The sight of the winged females reminded him of what Briar had been through.

He kept his face blank as they walked to Devlon's tent.

"I didn't expect you two to visit today." he said while walking out of the tent.

"You never expect us, Devlon." Cassian said. Azriel stayed at his side, following every movement.

"Well, follow me." he said, leading them to the training rings.

"I told you. I always keep my word." Devlon said.

"Not always." Cassian mumbled hard enough for Azriel to hear.

There were seventeen females training. All of their wings clipped. There were old and younger Illyrians.

He was happy to see that many females wanted to participate.

Two Illyrian males were leading the training session. Azriel knew both males. They were younger than he was, but both good males.

"This isn't the only reason we're here." Cassian said.

Devlon turned to him, raising his eyebrows in question.

"Is this about the Fortin girl? I heard the stories about you two saving her." Azriel's nostrils flared at Devlon mentioning her name.

"We're not here for her. We're here to ask you if you've heard anything about her father, Jodis Fortin." Cassian started, "He has been missing for weeks now."

"Is that the male who fucked Keir's long lost sister?" Azriel saw Cassian's face go a bit pale.

"You didn't know?" he asked.

"Tell us what we need to know." Cassian commanded.

"Keir has a half-sister who went missing around 270 years ago. People started talking about that she escaped. Keir didn't care about her, he never mentioned her to anyone. That's probably why you don't know about it." Devlon told them.

Cassian turned to Azriel, looking just as confused as he felt.

"Thank you." Cassian said. He took off in the skies. Azriel followed him.

"How old is Briar?" he asked him.

"266 years old." he saw Cassian thinking.

"Do you think it's possible?" he asked. Azriel nodded.

——

When they arrived back at the River House, Rhys was already waiting for them.

Cassian started explaining what they learned.

"Keir told me about a half-sister once, that she was found dead." Rhys said.

"Briar's mom died while giving birth."

"Do you think her father will tell Keir? If Keir knows he has a long lost niece who is powerful..." Cassian said.

Rhys shook his head, "Keir isn't stupid enough to do that. Even if he knew about Briar's powers."