Azriel | Lux Ex Tenebris ✓

Chapter 68: Attack Without Warning

✧Misma POV✧

A sunflower standing in the middle of dark, night-blooming roses. I was so young and the morning so beautiful. The flower so pale and pure and unique. Joy sparked in my eyes, nearing the flower and bending downwards.

The wind was softly blowing over my head and through my hair moving strands of it into my face and over my chest. It smelled like grass and sea, salty and fresh.

Pick the flower, others sting your finger, make it bleed. Droplets of dark red liquid fell onto the yellow petals, staining it. Beautiful flower now ugly. Filthy. Dirty. Nymph-filth.

The sun was warm on my eyeslids, my fingers brushing the grass. "And exhale slowly." I heard Gwyn whisper somewhere close to me.

When the last petal falls the time has come. The princess dead, the prince the king. Long may he reign. Long may she sleep. Oh, stained flower petal—filthy with blood and dirt. Watch her bleed.

A weird story one would tell a child. But considering everything that had happened this weird story my sister had told me when I was only a few years old did not seem that odd anymore.

I wondered if she was thinking of me right now. If she knew where I was going and what I was going to do. Rani and Salim were among the Darkbringers, she knew what was going on.

Watch her bleed. Flower to flower. Princess to princess. Bone to bone. Blood to blood. Sister to sister.

"And inhale."

I straightened my legs, inhaling deeply. "And exhale. Very good, that's it." With that I opened my eyes, slowly sitting up. Next to me were Roslin and Ilana, their eyes trailing over me when I sat up. Their sighing and drooling over my mate beforehand had not gone unnoticed by me. I gave them a small, tight smile before getting up.

"Hey, Misma, before you leave can I have a quick word with you?" I bowed my head at my friend, curious about what the priestess might want to ask. In silence we waddled towards the end of the balcony, staring out at the City of Starlight.

"So, I don't really know why I feel the need to share it with you, but somehow I want to." I turned towards her, examining her cheeky smile, her brightly shining teal eyes and the faint blush staining her cheeks. Something was different about her. Something had changed. She always used to be beautiful but now she was stunning.

"You look beautiful by the way," I remarked before she could continue. I had a feeling that sometimes you simply needed to tell your friends that.

A grin spread over her face when she clasped my hand in hers. "Thank you. I wanted to tell you that we did it. Before he left for Illyria," she told me, biting down on her lip. More colour filled her cheeks and a big grin now also broke out on my face.

"Oh gods, I cannot in the slightest way express how happy I am for you. Both of you."

Toying with my fingers, she inhaled deeply. "It was crazy. And it was my choice. I chose him. I chose this and it felt so right. And Balthazar...gods, this male..."

"So good?" I grinned to that, suddenly realising that I smelled a bit too much of Balthazar on my best friend. And then realised how much I must always smell of Azriel...

"You have no idea. He was a virgin. I didn't matter, but he chose me to be his first. It was his choice as well. I was his choice. We chose each other. And then...then he kissed me and touched me in ways those books have never told me about. He was so gentle. And he felt so good. Is that too much information?"

"I think you also know a bit too much about Azriel from my stories so it is perfectly fine."

"Oh, right...Lord Wingspan."