starfall. [ Rhysand ]

XXIII

plum bread.

Another month had passed, and Alexis was beginning to find solace.
Gradually, she started to dwell less on the past horrors she had endured in the previous months, thanks to her daily routine.

Her day usually began with the rising sun and training sessions with Cassian. Her combat skills had significantly improved. She could now hold her own in hand-to-hand and sword duels with him, though she still lost most of the time.
Her mastery over her powers had also grown. She could channel more energy and control the light she absorbed. She could project shards of light to cut objects or create energy balls that could explode on impact. However, she was still struggling to create a weapon out of light and had been attempting it privately in her room for weeks, reluctant to do it in front of Cassian, Rhysand, and Azriel to hide her constant failures.

Surprisingly, she had formed a strong bond with Azriel, the Illyrian Shadowmaster. While he was not very talkative with others, he was tender and helpful with Alexis. In a short time, he had taught her the art of winnowing, which had been quite challenging initially. Alexis had faltered and threw up more times than she'd liked to admit, but Azriel's guidance eventually made it click.

"Concentrate, visualise, winnow." He always repeated to her which became a mantra she constantly said before winnowing. She still couldn't cover long distances, but short distances were within her grasp.

In the afternoons, instead, Mor dedicated some hours of her day to teach Alexis about Prythian's customs and ordinary practices, which were entirely foreign to Alexis. They usually did it over a cup of tea and more often than not Mor ended up harmlessly gossiping about faeries from Velaris. Alexis liked it and always laughed the loudest when she would tell her stories about drunken adventures at Rita's, a nightclub they usually hanged at. That was the first time the Star had learnt what a nightclub was; that it could be a place to dance, socialise and get drunk but also a location to find faeries for sexual or romantical purposes. How many times Alexis had blushed when Mor had told her about one of her many nightly adventures with faeries she didn't even know the name of.

She also found enjoyment in spending time with Amren. She was not very talkative, just like Azriel, but Alexis found comforting spending time with her. They bonded through their constant research on the Cauldron and the Stars' powers to gain knowledge on their next strategy against the king of Hybern. They usually ended up nearly falling asleep on the stacks of books they laid down on the cherry wood table of the living room as much as they read. Alexis cherished these moments because she knew that Amren wouldn't sugarcoat things. If something was wrong or needed to be said, Amren would speak her mind, which reassured that their friendship was genuine since Amren would have told her definitely something if it was the opposite.

"Ah" Alexis cried out in surprise as Cassian's powerful blow to her arm forced her to drop her sword. It had been just a week since they switched to iron swords, allowing Alexis to acclimate to their weight. Luckily he had controlled his blow which was probably only going to leave a bruise and thankfully no deep cuts.

Cassian, with a mischievous grin, held his sword at her throat.
"Do you yield?" He asked.
Alexis huffed feeling Rhysand and Azriel watching them from behind as she couldn't hear their usual grunts when they trained. Also she felt a prickle to her scalp which always signaled her that Rhysand was staring at her. That day the High Lord of the Night Court had decided to train with his majestic wings out and no tunic on leaving Alexis speechless once she had entered the training room that morning. She still blushed thinking about it.