A Court of Shadows and Pain

Twenty-one

Azriel was standing at the exact same spot as yesterday as he waited. Valery wasn't here yet.

He thought back to a few hours ago, how his shadows had startled him awake and literally pulled him out of his bed. The shadows had pulled him towards Valery's room.

He had tried to shake the shadows away, ignoring them, but they had pulled him with so much strength that he gave in. He had definitely hesitated before walking into her room, listening for a few seconds first.

There had been some mumbling inside her room, words like no and don't. That was when he decided to enter the room, only to find her shaking and sweating in her bed. It took a few minutes before she finally opened her eyes, but when she finally did, he felt relieved.

When he finally took in her body, he could only feel shocked. He had obviously seen some of her scars, but not all of them. And even now he hadn't seen all of them. He had only been able to see the upper half of her body. Her arms had been bare, the scars that stained her skin looking horrible.

His shadows told him about Valery approaching. It didn't take long before she walked into the room, shadows close behind her. She looked terrible. Still beautiful, but terrible. She was wearing leggings and a sweater, her shadows no doubt serving as a coat.

He had never seen her in anything other than pants or leggings. Never leathers.

She was holding her sword on her back with a strap, daggers hanging at the front of her body. Valery gave him a small smile before turning her face back to stone. He returned the gesture.

"Everything okay?" he decided to ask her.

She didn't look at him at she muttered a soft yes. The way her shadows were flying around her told him enough.

"Have you eaten something?" he asked her, since he hadn't seen her in the kitchen and he had been up for a while.

She just shrugged in answer. It was enough for him to know that she hadn't. He wasn't going to force her, since he knew that she was way too stubborn.

"Okay, let's just go then." he said.

She walked outside, Azriel following her. She then let Azriel pick her up. A second later they were in the skies. Azriel noticed the large bags under her eyes. He couldn't help but feel worried. Her shadows were clinging to her body, while his had disappeared.

Azriel couldn't help the question from slipping out, "Did you sleep at all after what happened?"

She refused to look at him and ignored the question. Azriel sighed. Was he like this towards his family?

"I just want you to know that if anything like this happens again, or just in general, that I care." he decided to tell her.

Valery stayed silent for a few seconds. "Thanks." she muttered quietly. After that they both stayed quiet.

They arrived a few minutes later, landing on the spot Valery pointed to. They would be looking for any signs of camping spots, seeing as the Fae males were clearly hanging out in the woods.

The moment they landed, Valery shot out her shadows to scan the area. As did Azriel with his own. She did keep enough shadows around herself for protection.

"I'll let my shadows search for a bit. In the mean time we can go to my house. I have some stuff to collect." she said while walking next to him.

He nodded, curious to what she would need. He followed her without any objection. It didn't take long before they reached the wards. She let them drop like it was nothing.