Shadows Whisper | | Azriel

9

Astryn didn't sleep that night when the shadows led her back to the room Rhysand had provided her with.

She stayed awake in bed until there was a knock at the door. The shadows sprang to life, curling against her and whispering after the night of quiet.

"Rhysand," they informed her, "he has questions."

She contemplated pretending to be asleep and ignoring the High Lord waiting outside of her door, but she reminded herself that he saved her life and hadn't done anything to harm her. She had no real reason to fear him.

She got up and went to the door. She didn't know what it was still surprising to actually see him, to look at him and take in how truly massive he was compared to her. It reminded her of why she was afraid of him to begin with.

"Hello," she greeted nervously, stepping aside and waving him in.

"Hi," he replied, stepping into her room. "Would you like to get breakfast?"

"Will the others be there?" she inquired, her mind drifting to the few others she recalled seeing. There was a female who she recalled Rhys referring to as their cousin, another female who seemed mildly interested in the whole situation, and a winged male. And Azriel, of course. Azriel was the only one she hoped would be there. Maybe he would tell her what the different foods were again.

"No," Rhys answered, "it'll just be us."

She almost asked if Azriel could join them, but instead she just nodded.

Rhysand led her to the dining room, trying hard not to let himself think too much about the shadows clinging to his sister. It gave him questions that he didn't want answers to. He didn't want to ask those sorts of questions, not when she had only been free for a night. She was handling it all remarkably well, and he didn't think questioning why the shadows left Azriel in favor of staying with her would do her any good at the moment.

The walk was quiet, and Rhys pulled out her chair for her at the table when they got there. She thanked him quietly and he dismissed it with a hum as he sat across from her.

She couldn't help but think about how she wished Azriel was here so she could ask him what the food on her plate was, and what that orange stuff in her cup was. It certainly wasn't water. She didn't want to ask Rhysand those questions and see how angry it made him to know that she was so deprived of everything that she truly didn't know. Azriel had been saddened by it, and that wasn't nice to see either but at least he wasn't angry.

"I had some questions," Rhysand spoke carefully, "it can wait until after we eat if you'd prefer."

"Ask whatever you'd like," Astryn muttered, looking anywhere but at the High Lord sitting across from her.

"It's...do you know anything about your mother? If she's still alive or...or if she was involved in what was done to you?" he inquired, nervous and hesitant.

"I don't remember anything about my mother," she told him, "I was hardly even walking when they took me."

"I'd like to try to find her and see if she knows anything, if that's okay with you," he said, "there's a spell we could use to search for her. The same spell we used to find you."

"I don't know if it would be worth it," she mumbled, "she could be dead. And if she's not then the two possibilities are I was stolen away from her or she handed me over freely. If she handed me over, there's no point contacting her. And if I was taken...by now she probably thinks me to be dead. She has probably already grieved and moved on. I wouldn't want to harm her."

"If she thinks you're dead, there is no way she has moved on," Rhys spoke sternly, pain clear in his voice, "it's not...losing family is not something that's easy to recover from. It has been twenty years and I haven't recovered from losing my sister and my mother. I can't imagine it would be any easier to recover from the loss of a child. She would be happy to know you're alive and safe now."