A Court of Golden Shadows

Chapter 12

It was just a party, right? What could go wrong? Azriel was already at the house with Rhys and Feyre waiting for Nesta, Cassian... and Gwyn. He started to feel the room getting hotter with each second that passed and his mind started wandering to dark places. He pictured in his mind every second and moment of the night. He started thinking about Gwyn. What kind of dress would she be wearing? Would the color of her dress match her eyes? It wasn't until he felt a small weight on his feet that he reacted and looked down to find Nyx staring at him with his big blue eyes that looked just like his mother's.

Azriel leaned down and picked Nyx in his arms. Every time he saw him, he seemed to have grown even more than the last time. He had just learned to crawl and, since then, he has never stayed in one place. His shadows started moving around Nyx and the baby lifted his little hands to try to grab them anytime they got too close to him.

Azriel was fascinated with Nyx. And again, his mind started going to dark places. He pictured himself with a baby in his arms, but instead of being his nephew, he imagined the baby was his son. The baby was small and had dark hair and little wings on his back, just like him. But his eyes... his eyes were teal.

He couldn't take those teal eyes away from his mind until he heard Feyre's voice and he came back from his shock. Seeing little Nyx again instead of that teal-eyed baby.

"Ah, there you are. You wanted to play with uncle Az?" Feyre said sweetly as Nyx stretched his small arms to reach her.

"Lately, he has started crawling faster. So now it's even harder to find him."

"I can imagine. He already seems like a real troublemaker, just like his father." Azriel said with a chuckle.

"Hey, Feyre darling can also be naughty when she wants to." Rhys entered the room with a smirk on his face.

"Is that so? Who is naughtier, me or daddy?" Feyre asked Nyx. Nyx only stammered and extended his arms to Rhys.

"I guess we have an answer." Feyre chuckled as she handed Nyx to Rhys.

Azriel felt his shadows start dancing and that's when the door opened, Nesta entered and just behind her was Gwyn. Azriel sucked in a breath when he saw Gwyn enter in a beautiful one-shoulder silver dress. Her hair was pinned back with a crescent moon clip and at the center of her neck was hanging the necklace he had secretly given her last winter solstice.

Amren arrived a few seconds later and they all took off to the Autumn Court. Once they reached Beron's palace, Azriel spared a glance at Gwyn and he found her staring at the palace with a face full of astonishment. Her lips were slightly parted and it required actual effort to tear his gaze away from her mouth.

"Everyone knows their role. Let's get this over with." Rhys said as he reached for Feyre and linked their arms before entering the palace. Cassian did the same with Nesta and they entered just after Rhys and Feyre.

Slowly, Azriel got close to Gwyn. It was clear that she was nervous, so he took her arm and linked it with his as he leaned down and softly told her to breathe. Listening to his advice, Gwyn took a deep breath and nodded once. And just like that, they crossed together the doors of the Autumn palace.

Once they were inside, things seemed to cool down a little bit. Gwyn's eyes moved throughout the room, wonder shining in them. Rhys and Feyre were supposed to be with Beron and the nobles, distracting them and trying to get information off of Beron. Nesta and Cassian were the distractions. They were supposed to distract the rest of the party so it might be easier for Amren to look around. And Azriel and Gwyn were spies. Their job was to observe and get as much information as possible from the party gossip. Lucien was supposed to talk with some nobles and old connections to try to get more information about his father's weird behavior, but he was nowhere to be seen.

The musicians started playing a new song and Nesta and Cassian started dancing in the middle of the ballroom. Other guests started to join them and soon, the ballroom was full of couples dancing to the rhythm of the music. The song finished and Nesta started walking toward them.

"You should dance at least one piece."

"What?" Gwyn and Azriel both said in unison.

"This is a ball and you two will look suspicious if you just stay in one corner of the room. You should at least dance one piece and then pretend to be having a nice conversation."

Azriel could feel his heart beat faster and he was pretty sure that he could also hear Gwyn's heart. Slowly, he extended his hand to Gwyn without looking at her and a few seconds later, he felt Gwyn's soft, slender fingers slide on his rough, calloused hands. He pulled softly on Gwyn's fingers and took her to the dance floor. He adjusted his grip on Gwyn's hand and placed his other hand on her waist. He felt Gwyn's body tense under his hand for a moment before she relaxed and at that moment he could actually hear her heart beat faster.

Gwyn placed her free hand on Azriel's shoulder and, just like that, they started dancing across the room. Azriel saw how other couples were spinning their partners at certain points in the song and Azriel decided to try the same with Gwyn. He gave Gwyn two spins before returning her to his arms. Gwyn let out a small laugh that surprised Azriel.

"What's the matter?" He asked softly.

"What? I'm not allowed to laugh?" Gwyn answered sassly and Azriel just raised an eyebrow that made Gwyn laugh again.

"Remember that night at the library?" She asked. Azriel knew that she meant the night they had crossed paths at midnight in the library. The night that she had gotten him to sing.

"Yes."

"I was thinking that this felt like that night. If I close my eyes for a moment, it feels like that night. Just the two of us and a sweet melody that embraces the moment."

Gwyn closed her eyes and Azriel just stared at her, like he was lost in the moment. Then, she opened her eyes and locked her gaze on his. They were both lost in each other's eyes. They looked like a pair of lovers dancing across the ballroom, deeply in love with each other.