shadows don't lie

Chapter Thirty-Three

Azriel stayed with her overnight, and into the next day, doing nothing besides watching her and making sure she had everything she needed.

He brought her food, water, and even some books that the House had supplied for him when he had no idea what to choose. He knew better than to wonder what kind of books though, especially considering Nesta had been the one to make it sentient.

Not that a living house really made sense either.

Azriel tried to use the books to ger her to talk to him, or even to crack a smile. Her emotionless expressions were beginning to sting, and he just wished that she could just say something, even if it were to yell at him.

He had dropped the small stack of books onto the side table where they were within reach, telling her with a forced smile, "I'm pretty sure those are the smutty ones, in case you were wondering."

But she hadn't been wondering, and her only response had been a blank stare. The same had happened all the other times as well.

He had thought that she had wanted to speak a few times, had sensed her urge to speak, but she still hadn't said anything.

Her shadows had slowly reappeared over the hours as well, more and more mixing with his until he couldn't really tell who's was who's.

Not that he minded in the slightest.

He was glad for it, because along with the return of her shadows, the black on her arms had begun to fade already, and he knew that the pain had almost entirely gone away with a quick tug on the bond.

The peculiar look she had gotten when he did it had caught his attention, and he wondered for a moment what it felt like to her.

When he had left to go get her lunch, he had taken a quick flight down to the Manor to talk with Mor about it, but he quickly realized that she hadn't even been there to begin with.

He ended up running into Elain though, carrying a bundle of flowers in through the front door, a mix of roses with other large blooms among greenery.

She had almost literally stuffed it into his arms, telling him with a smile, "Put these in her room and tell her they are from you."

Her cheeks had been bright red, no doubt from the cold, and Azriel just accepted them speechlessly.

Upon his return to the House of Wind, the house supplied him with a vase, and Azriel put the flowers on the bedside table next to the books.

Even with the flowers that turned the air sweet she still didn't say anything, but in the following hours, he had seen her staring at them, her brows lowered slightly.

That was how the first two thirds of the day passed, in quiet contemplation and silent hoping.

It was almost dinner time now.

Azriel trudged through the halls, a tray of food along with a mug of hot chocolate and whipped cream

The hot chocolate had been an afterthought, but he thought that Inei might want something besides water to drink with her food, and so he had gone back to get some made.

Balancing the tray in one hand, he knocked lightly and entered the room.

Inei was sitting up, reading one of the books, and her green eyes flitted up to meet his.

He set the tray down on the bed next to her, putting aside a smaller, covered plate, and she took a long drink of the hot chocolate before reachign for the food.

She ate silently, her eyes glancing up every couple of bites or so, and once she had finished her meal, he grabbed the smaller plate, and uncovered it.