There once lived a female who put others above herself, she felt it was the only way to truly be loved.
There once lived a male who thought he was alone, he felt undeserving of all the wonderful things life had to offer.
Their story was written in...
"we suffer more from imagination than from reality" -Seneca
✵☾⭒☽✵☾⭒☽✵☾⭒☽✵☾⭒☽✵☾⭒☽✵☾⭒☽✵☾⭒☽✵☾⭒☽✵
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"I don't wanna," I whine as I zip up my backpack. We are heading back to Velaris today, and while I am excited to see our families, I don't want to leave this little bubble we have here.
Nuala and Ceridwen graciously took my other bag with them when they came by earlier to clean. The sisters are silent but good company, loyal to the Night Court and Azriel. The thought of them being trapped with Rhys for 50 years away Under the Mountain sends a shiver up my spine.
"I know, my love, but we both have responsibilities. When all this is over, we can come here as often as you want," he says, wrapping his arms around me and swiftly taking my bag from me.
"I am aware and can carry my own bag, sunshine. But thank you," I say, snatching my bag away from him and looping it over my shoulders.
Even though we both can fly, Azriel insists on carrying me during the flight home. Cradling me close to him, he points out different natural landmarks and explains the history of the mountains. He lets me in on some of the finer details of his duties as Spymaster, telling me all sorts of trade secrets. His absence during these last two weeks must have been detrimental, but it is also a testament to how much Rhys loves his brother to let us go.
When Velaris comes into view, my heart stutters a little. I love this place. For the first time since Az and I decided I would stay here forever, I have been trying to figure out how to tell my sisters. Not to mention letting Alistor, Scottie, Gemma, and Rocco in on the plan. We might be at Defcon 2 by the end of it.
We land in the training yard at The House of the Wind in the early afternoon. I spot my sisters with Feyre and Mor finishing up stretching. Amren, Alistor, and Rhys have their heads together, studying a map. Rocco, Gemma, Cassian, and Scottie are noticeably missing, however. I just stand and look at them before we make our presence known.
Azriel watches me silently, knowing these happy quiet moments will be hard to come by for a while. We need to absorb enough of the light as we can before the darkness comes.
Rhys's eyes lift to ours and light up with mirth. "They have returned," he exclaims.
We are quickly shuffled from one hug to another while we catch up. Dinah and Audra steal me away quickly under the guise of helping me unpack, whereas Mor and Feyre shamelessly admit to wanting all the salacious details.
After plying me with wine and my favorite candy, the four got every single sordid detail and heart-string-pulling story from our two weeks away. Scottie and Gemma were going to be so pissed they missed the debrief, but I am sure they'll beat the stories out of me sooner rather than later.
