insubordinate (gwynriel)

9

A/N: Okay, so I might have gotten a little carried away.... bet you'll never see where this one is going. She's a long one to make up for how long it's been taking me to update. Enjoy ;)

Azriel was gone for a little over two months. During that time, Gwyn bit her nails down to the quick and frequently got yelled at by Merrill for being spacey. She liked to think she'd never place so much emotional weight on a single person, but ever since he left, she'd felt empty and like half of her heart was missing. They'd had no contact at all. She didn't even know for sure that he was alive.

    She'd laid awake at night, tossing and turning as she ran through every awful scenario that she was imaginative enough to think of. She'd pictured him murdered for his espionage. She imagined a dragon swooping from the sky and plucking him away, the way a hawk would a small dog. She imagined an accidental fire. The worst by far to imagine was that he'd stumbled into a tavern late and night and had made a home between some other girl's legs. Okay maybe that wasn't actually worse than him burning to death, but she was feeling dramatic.

    She'd ached for him. She tried to slip her hands between her thighs and mimic the things Azriel made her feel, but nothing satisfied the fact that he was gone. So, she repeated the same day over and over, waiting for the day he'd return. When he was back, would he even still want her?

    "Gwyneth?" Merrill shouted. Gwyn sighed, rolling her book cart to the side and walked into Merrill's office. Merrill didn't even look up from the comically large book she was reading from as she held out a piece of paper for Gwyn to take. Gwyn read the first few lines. It was ingredients for a healing potion. It was a long article, so Gwyn didn't read it all. "Make sure this gets to the High Lord, please?"

    Gwyn nodded, tucking her hair behind her ear and heading toward the entrance to the main part of the House. It was not lost on her that this exact scenario was when she'd first met Azriel, when he'd bickered with her as she'd been looking for Rhysand.

    Gwyn knocked on the office door and after a few moments, Rhys opened the door. She was immediately greeted by just how tall he was. She'd been away from Azriel so long she hadn't necessarily forgotten it but hadn't been reminded of it in a while.

    "Gwyn," the High Lord smiled warmly, like he was pleased to see her face. He looked tired. The circles under his eyes were dark and his hair was messy in a way that the meticulous High Lord never looked.

    "Merrill sent this up for you," she smiled, handing him the paper.

    "Fantastic," he said, sounding relieved.

    "Is everything okay?" Gwyn most certainly did not have the right to be asking questions and Merrill would have beat her silly with a book.

    "Oh, yes," he said, as if he was remembering himself and his position. "No need to worry. A member of my inner circle was away traveling and was shot with a poison-tipped arrow. This was the remedy the healers needed the recipe for. I'll be sure this gets over to the medical wing.

    "I could take it for you," Gwyn offered, biting her lip. She hoped he didn't know she was only asking to go so she could be nosy and ensure that it wasn't Azriel who was shot with the poisoned arrow.

    "That would be incredibly helpful, Gwyn, thank you," Rhys sighed. "I'll be sure to report to Merrill how wonderful you've been." Gwyn beamed at him, genuinely taken aback by the High Lord's kindness and treatment of those who technically worked for him. He impressed her every time they'd met so far.

    "No problem!" She smiled, scurrying down the hallway and rounding a few corners until she arrived in the medical wing, which was truthfully just more a healer's office than anything.