A Court of Secrets and Moonlight

32: Clarity

Azriel

We all gathered in the townhouse the next morning, everyone clean of the blood and horror Leur and I had wrought the day before. I kept my back to the wall, kept my arm around her as she leaned her back against my chest, catching Lucien up on the events of the day before. I monitored the male closely, his reactions, the way he looked at my mate as she spoke, the eye he kept on Elain's small form curled next to Nesta on the couch.

Rhys sighed as he took a seat, nagging all of our attention. Feyre was already seated in the plush armchair next to her mate's, Mor taking up residence with Cassian on another couch. Amren was perched on the windowsill, toying with her nails, looking entirely bored. I kept my watch on her too.

"You didn't find anything?" Feyre said to the small female, kicking off the conversation.

Amren had been on the hunt all night. Some of the citizens of Velaris had painted their doors with lambs blood, left cups of it out for her, offerings for her to stay away. They knew that the Second was the monster shielding them from the other horrors of the world, whatever she was. Still, she found no other Hybern assassins or spies within our borders. Leur and I had thought the King might send at least a few more through with the ravens, a back up plan. Neither of us had gleaned that he would be so quite so arrogant.

Apparently, we were wrong.

Amren only shrugged, "Nothing."

Rhys shook his head, turning to us, "Any news on what the armada is targeting?"

Leur and I had woken up long before dawn and spent hours flying over the sea, circling and using our shadows to hide in the dusky clouds. I had spies stationed on them all hours of the day, and nobody had overheard a mention of what they were there for, why they were just waiting in the sea. Breaking into the control rooms this morning hadn't given any insight either. I found maps of all of the Courts, information about the armies of Prythian, general knowledge any good spy could find within moments, the kind of things that any good general would expect the enemy to already know.

Leur answered for us, "Seems it's acting as a spy base."

"They don't have anything substantial." I finished for her, "But they aren't being too secretive about their movements out there, so I'd guess it's a distraction for something else."

"That's where you guys tracked the ravens from?" Mor questioned, and Leur nodded.

We had spun a story about being in the middle of our spying mission when the ravens departed for Velaris, about being noticed by one of the ships and having to fight them off before we could follow. We had said that we tracked them to the library, found them as they were chasing Nesta and Feyre down the pit, decided to meet them at the bottom and take them out that way. It was a good enough lie, backed by convincing enough false memories shown to Rhys, that nobody questioned it. Nobody knew that we had laid a trap for the ravens, that it was all part of our plan, that we were waiting at the bottom of the library with Bryaxis the whole night.

"They're dead, right?" Nesta was the one to speak up, her eyes trained on Leur.

My mate gave her a deadly grin, even as my arm tightened around her, "What's left of them is nailed on the walls of the House of Song."

Feyre's sister only nodded at her, and Rhys spoke, voice cold, "They paid for what was done."

The image of the madness in Leur's eyes as she sawed their wings from their backs shot through my mind. I leaned down and pressed a kiss to her temple.

My girl.

"We can not let this information get out. The first attack on Velaris already showed we are vulnerable, this will make us look like a joke." Mor changed the subject, wary eyes turned on Leur and Nesta.