Lady of Nightmares | ACOTAR | Rhysand's Sister x Azriel

Leona of Ironcrest

Some centuries ago (Azriel is about 20)...

Aetos, son of Lord Crastus of Ironcrest, knew he was being watched.

He had felt that way for days. There was no hard evidence, save for a prickling feeling at the back of his neck, and the icy clench of his veins whenever he was alone but somehow wasn't.

But most unsettling of all was that there was something wrong with his shadow.

Nothing too obvious. He had brushed it off as his eyes playing tricks on him at first. But for days now, though he hadn't quite been able to put a finger on why - or how anything could be wrong with a shadow - but knew something was off nonetheless. Out of the corner of his eye, Aetos swore it moved in ways he did not, grew and shrank where it should not, just enough to unnerve him.

Like it had a life of its own.

He didn't mention it to his parents, nor his brother. His father would scoff; he was not a very imaginative male, and the idea of telling him that his shadow was beginning to scare him was excruciating.

His mother would either sneer at him as well - and hold it over his head far longer - or would get far too interested and trap him in her library for days trying to research what it could be. Besides, any mention of shadows made Lady Elenora flinch, a tic going in her eye.

His brother Darion, nine years his junior and newly turned twenty, would likely just laugh at him and not take him seriously. Darion took very few things seriously, and treated life like it was one big joke.

And then there was her.

He was so unsettled by the subtle but strange events of the past week, that Aetos actually sought out the female whom his mother had sworn was the bane of her existence. The female who his father resented but could not keep away from; she was his mate, after all, and no matter how Lord Crastus wished he was not bonded so closely to a lowborn whore, there was little he could do to resist being drawn to her. The female who Aetos and Darion had belittled and scorned for so many years; in Darion's case, his entire life.

Aetos, on the other hand, remembered a time before Leona had come to Ironcrest. When his father and mother had still smiled at each other.

He remembered the day she arrived too, shortly after Darion's birth; a tall, coltish girl who couldn't have been older than seventeen. Her eyes had been full of stars, then, and her delight at being taken into such a grand household was obvious. He remembered her as lively, free-spirited, dreamy and warm. She was pale, for an Illyrian, with light brown hair and skin that was not so dark as the rest of them, and her eyes were a vivid hazel, green and brown. Very beautiful, yes, but young and naive.

Even as a child, he thought her foolish. His resentment towards Leona had built from his mother's tears and bitter remarks, though at first the young female had been nothing but kind to him.

Not that she was ever unkind. She would not dare. But the kindness had turned to fear, warm and well-meant gestures turned to flinches and lowered eyes. The light in her eyes had faded within the year, yet still Leona held that hint of vulnerable naivity, as though she could not understand why everyone was so cruel to her. Why her mate treated her in the brutal manner he did.

Despite what was undoubtedly a slow descent into misery, the young female had still been thrilled with her pregnancy, no doubt hoping a child would make Crastus love her, respect her, treat her like a fae rather than an animal. Aetos' mother's resentment had grown with Leona's stomach. None of them had been able to predict how his father would react.

When her child was born, the boy was strong and healthy, with a head of black hair already and large wings that had nearly torn his mother apart. Yet Crastus had barely looked at the baby, and the hopeful smile had slid from Leona's face, curdling to heartbreak. Aetos had seen that expression on her face far too many times. Stupid girl; how did she have any heart left to break?